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Showcasing motion in water and animals

Paintings win People’s Choice awards
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“In Hot Pursuit,” a watercolour by Helen Kellington.

Ducks, dogs, horses and waves splash and play among the paintings on display for this month’s Showcase Gallery exhibit.

The paintings were voted People’s Choice award winners from the Cariboo Artists’ Guild Annual Fine Art Show &Sale held at the Parkside Art Gallery throughout the summer.

Sheryl Fremlin’s “Horsepower,” a watercolour, features horses, displaying their strength and grace as they head to pasture after being released from the corral, was voted this year’s winner.

“The light and shadow patterns also help to create the illusion of movement across the surface of the painting,” says Fremlin, in her artist’s statement.

“My intention was to express the beauty, grace and fluidity of movement in this awe inspiring moment.”

Voted second for people’s choice, Helen Kellington’s watercolour, “In Hot Pursuit,” shows a dog, Angus, gleefully leaping through water after a stick.”

“It was easy to paint the dog because I know him so well,” says Kellington in her statement. “The challenge of the piece was to convey the movement of the water around and away from him and to capture all the colours reflected in the water.”

Water was also a theme in all three of the tied third place paintings.

Neil Pinkett’s “White Water” conveys the movement of water beading and rushing over itself at the bottom of a waterfall, while Lynne Flanders’ “Bath Time on the Lake,” shows three ducks preening and primping on a calm morning on Sheridan Lake.

Susan Kruse’s, “Evening Mallard,” shows the shimmering patterns created by a moving duck between the bright orange of sunset and the blue of the lake.

Leslie Ginther, Showcase Gallery manager, says there was only one vote difference separating the paintings.

“That’s people’s choice for you. People who don’t know much about art vote, people who do know something about art vote and it’s such a variety of people participating and even kids get to vote,” she says.

That result is a beautiful meld of styles showcasing some of the best of the guild’s summer show.

“The fact [is] that art is such an individual thing and there’s such a variety of styles. The other thing is the theme on motion — the paintings that won really portray that theme and most of it is a theme about living things that are in motion, including water. You can say that water is living. So it’s about living things that are in motion,” says Ginther.

“After that fire season that is kind of refreshing to see life in motion.”

The exhibit will be on display at the Showcase Gallery in the South Cariboo Business Centre until the beginning of October.

For those interested in joining the Cariboo Artists’ Guild or renewing their memberships, the organization will be holding their annual general meeting on Oct. 3 at 11 a.m. at the Parkside Gallery.

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“Horsepower,” a watercolour by Sheryl Fremlin.
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“Evening Mallard,” an acrylic painting by Susan Kruse also tied for third.
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“Bath Time on the Lake,” an oil painting by Lynne Flanders tied for third.
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“White Water,” an oil painting by Neil Pinkett