art of the Peace | Issue #7

A Publication for the Visual ArtsFall/Winter 2006 Issue 7

of the Peace‘06 SymposiumFabulous in Fibre3 Fairview Artists

CARMEN HAAKSTADLooking Within

www.artofthepeace.ca

art of the peace �

contents

Editor: Wendy StefanssonEditorial Committee: Karen Longmate, Dale Syrota, Carrie KlukasDesign, Layout & Advertising: imageDESIGNContributors: Jody Farrell, Wendy Stefansson, Eileen CoristinePublisher: Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association, c/o The Prairie Art Gallery, 10�09 99 St., Grande Prairie, AB, T8V �H3; Ph: (780) 53�-8111; [email protected]: Menzies Printers

Cover: Carmen Haakstad and his painting Two Trees With Stars

©All rights reserved Art of the Peace �006

Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Art of the Peace makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held respon-sible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions.

Art of the Peace Visual Arts Association acknowledges the financial assistance of:

Alberta Foundation for the Arts

City of Grande Prairie Arts Development Fund

unanswerable question 7the BUSINESS of art 10artists directory 19where it’s all at 22education & opportunities 24

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Carmen Haakstad

3 Fairview Artists

Tabitha Logan

art out there...

Hank Williams First Nation, The Mini-series

Writer/director Aaron Sorensen spent three weeks this sum-mer filming a television version of his widely-acclaimed in-

dependent movie, Hank Williams First Nation. Many of the same characters that appeared in the movie will be in the TV minise-ries, featuring a largely Aboriginal cast. A few have been recast, including the part of Huey, which will now be played by Grim-shaw/Peace River actor, Sheldon Elter. (Sheldon also appeared on Canadian Idol this summer, in which he made it to the top 14.) Filming for the series was done in Peace River, Grimshaw/Bear Lake, Dixonville, and Cadotte Lake. For one episode of the show, a real-life event was re-enacted, when a bear was filmed wander-ing down the aisles of the local IGA! The Hank Williams First Nation miniseries will air in November on APTN.

McNaught Homestead Sees Restoration

The homestead of the late Euphemia (Betty) McNaught, a renowned painter and teacher from Beaverlodge, received some long-awaited restoration work this summer. A half-mile of new

fencing was added along the highway; structures deemed beyond repair were removed, and the site was cleaned up. New trails were blazed through the woods. Old floor supports were replaced in the Appleton School building (built prior to the 19�0’s), which served as Betty’s studio. All of this was made possible through a $40,000 grant from the province, as well as the generous contributions of the County, Burlington Resources, D. Ray Excavating, Dalton Longson, Randy Boettcher, Larry Sanre-gret and a staff of volunteers. The ultimate goal of the McNaught Homestead project is to restore all of the original homestead buildings of the McNaught family. In so doing, they hope to honour both Euphemia’s pioneer life, and the work and inspiration that is her legacy to Peace Country artists.

Art That Heals

Since �004, The Centre for Creative Arts in Grande

Prairie has been hosting the Healing Arts Program Initiative (H.A.P.I.), an art program “de-signed to enhance the lives of those with physical, emotional and/or mental health barriers by allowing them to experience the many positive benefits of the arts.” Partnering with the John Howard Society Re-In-tegration Program, the Centre for Creative Arts aims to make available weekly arts classes to groups who need it. They are currently looking for groups and individuals interested in enrolling in H.A.P.I., as well as sponsors to help cover the costs of the program. Call Stephanie Hadley at 814-6080, or email her at [email protected].

Aaron Sorenson recreates history using Bonkers, the trained bear. Photo by Peace River Record Gazette

Happy participants at H.A.P.I.

Appleton School and Studio, photo by Vicki Hotte

art of the peace 4

History at Hines Creek

BRUSH ‘N’ TYME is a collective work of paintings by Hines Creek area artists. The �� paintings cover the top half of a 30’

wall at the Hines Creek Seniors’ Drop-In Centre. Each of the art-ists donated his/her time and materials and created an image that depicts aspects of life in the Peace Country. The project began in May, �006 and was coordinated by Sylvia Mierzewski. This gift from the artists to the community was unveiled at an official pre-sentation on October 11.

Stopped in Steel

Time and the B.C. Northern Winter Games were this

year’s themes for the Great Ca-nadian Welders Competition held in Ft. St. John in August. To win up to $5,000 in prize money, welders had �9 hours to produce the best sculpture depicting one or both of these themes. This year’s winners of the top prize – Arc Tech Weld-ing Team One members Randy Jordan, Justin, Jesse and Dave Diehl – combined both themes to create a 360-degree skiing scene topped by a stop watch. This sculpture, now owned by the City of Ft. St. John will be on public display during the �007 B.C. Northern Winter Games.

New Faces in the Region

Over the summer, The Prairie Art Gallery hired a new Execu-tive Director/Curator. Robert Steven took on the position,

beginning October �nd. Robert comes to the Peace Country from Kitchener, Ontario, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Master of Arts in Museum Studies and years of experience at the Kitchener-Wa-terloo Art Gallery.

At the Fairview Fine Arts Centre, Kerry-Ann Schatz has assumed the position of Curator/Program Co-ordinator; while at the Bea-verlodge Cultural Centre, Debbie Ducharme has taken over as the Office Manager, a job which entails everything from looking after the Centre’s day-to-day finances to hanging shows.

Art That Teaches

For many years, Holy Family School in Grimshaw, Alberta had an exterior courtyard that went largely unused. Now, following the vision and hard work of their First Nations Liaison Tracy

Zweifel, the students have a place that is beautiful and green, and honours the Aboriginal heritage of so many of them. Dave Matilpi, local Aboriginal elder, storyteller, artist, and teacher of holistic balance, painted murals on all of the walls, which he uses to teach essential truths and bring healing to students, staff and families. Here, the tree image – from seedling to young tree, to adult tree, to broken stump with a new branch growing from it – represents the ongoing cycle of life. The medicine wheel on the tree speaks of balance and wholeness; emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental. The nearly-invisible wolf at the top left is the spiritual guide of the female powers, which he feels need to receive greater honour than they have. The eagle is born on earth, but flies closest to the Creator, carrying the messages of the people below.

Ada Lovmo, Grandpa Kobbert Sowing’, oil. Photo by Eileen Coristine

Arc Tech Welding Team One, Winning Day. Photo by Eileen Coristine

Dave Matilpi’s mural at Holy School depicts the cycles of life. Photo by Lori Conellan

Robert Steven, Executive Director / Cu-rator of the Prairie Art Gallery, Grande Prairie

Peace Watercolour Society turns 30

The Peace Watercolour So-ciety is celebrating its 30th

Anniversary with a show and sale at the Fairview Fine Arts Centre opening on October 15th, �006. This organization of painters exhibits original transparent watercolours that define the classical approach to painting. Original members still with the group are Robert Guest and Inez Demuynck. Over the years, many shows have been held in various galleries throughout the Peace Country, with the art reflecting the mem-bers’ love of the region.

Peace Watercolour Society 1976 - First outdoor painting workshop along the Wa-piti. R. Guest, I. Demuynck, E. Gibson, S. Cox, E. McNaught, J. Adrain

art of the peace 5

Nancy Townshend’s A History of Art in Alberta,

1905 to 1970 begins to fill the gaping void in books about the art of this province. It covers the “first and second genera-tions of Alberta artists,” from the subtle watercolours of Wal-ter J. Phillips and A.C. Leigh-ton, to modernist painting by Maxwell Bates and Les Graff, to innovative printmaking by Marion Nicoll, and many more. The Peace Country is repre-sented by painters Euphemia McNaught and Evy McBryan.

McNaught is featured again in Mary-Beth Laviolette’s An Alberta Art Chronicle: Adven-tures in Recent and Contem-porary Art, along with Peace Country artists Robert Guest, Ken Housego, and Peter von Tiesenhausen. This book takes up where Townshend’s leaves off at 1970, the beginning of the post-modern period.

This is not a book to take along on a family vacation, as I did. It is a book that both requires and rewards a careful reading. That

said, art at the

end of the twen-tieth cen-

tury does in many ways

resemble the chaos of a

cottage full of family, where

multiple con-versations and

diverse activities compete for at-

tention. It is no longer possible to spin a single linear narrative about art. Rather, Laviolette weaves all the complexity, the pluralism, and the messiness of recent art practice into a loose mesh.

In both books, I alternated be-tween the delight of recogniz-ing names, places, and works that I know from two decades of living in Alberta; and feeling humbled in the face of all that I hadn’t known. The picture-less format of An Alberta Art Chronicle – all pictures of art works were included on a CD, rather than printed in the book – was a bit of a challenge, mak-ing it necessary to read beside the laptop, or make frequent trips to the desktop PC. None-theless, it was well worth the effort. Just don’t take it on your next family vacation!

If you’d like to see more art book reviews, let us know. You could even send us your own review or recommend a book.

art in this placeMenzies - 1/� page f/c

by Wendy Stefansson

Art Books in Review

art of the peace 6

C h r i s t m a s F i n e C r a f t S a l e

Thursday, November 30th, 4 - 9 pmFriday, December 1st, 11am - 7pm

10030 92 Ave. Grande Prairie

Jocelyn Morgan . Janis & Lisa Schau . Taylor PhillipsKaren Day . Kerry Parayko

a n d

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t o

a l lI am sitting across the table from Sarah Alford, drink-

ing good coffee and asking the unanswerable question of what makes craft craft, and what makes art art.

“I’ve heard a couple of inter-esting definitions,” Sarah says. “Bruce Metcalfe (a jeweller in the United States) wrote that he thought craft was loyalty to the medium, and art was loy-alty to an idea. And if you are working through your process by using a material, and that’s how you generate your ideas – the material gives it to you – and it’s this exchange with your material and you and your imagination. If that’s how you generate what you make, that’s craft. But if you have an idea and you will use any material in order to make that idea a real-ity, that’s art.”

We talk about the fact that there are some people who, when asked what medium they work in, have an answer and others haven’t because they don’t per-ceive their work in terms of a medium. The idea of craft, too, has long involved the concept of mastery of a technique, and that often requires a lifetime of dedication to a medium. You don’t just dabble in glassblow-ing, for example. The tech-niques are so specialized, and often the tools and equipment are so expensive, you have to be in love with your medium. But then, I wouldn’t want to say that artists never feel that kind of love, or aspire to that level of mastery. There are certain-ly both craftspeople who use

their chosen medium to convey ideas, and artists who develop their ideas through working with a material.

Sarah goes on: “The other thing I’ve heard that’s verging on satisfactory, is that ‘craft’ is a verb, and ‘art’ is a noun. And basically you craft your art.” (Paul Greenhalgh, Former Pres-ident of NSCAD). Craft, then, is the process or the technique; and art is the resulting object. In which case, we are all both craftspeople and artists.

Yet, I know I am capable of crafting an object that I intend to be art, but when it’s finished, it just doesn’t quite seem to make it. It doesn’t have that wholeness, or transcendence, or whatever it is – that quality that we can’t define, but we know it when we see it. Maybe it’s as simple as “beauty.”

Sarah is one of few academi-cally-trained artists I know who doesn’t feel uncomfort-able talking about beauty. She claims that, “when we have beautiful, hand-made, careful-ly-made, lovingly-made, beau-tiful things, our whole lives are different.” As Sarah explains it: “If you have a beautiful pen that somebody was proud to make, and you are using it, the letter you write will be different than if you’re using a mass-pro-duced pen. And the person who receives the letter’s life will be different because you used the pen. And these objects actually have meaning and can change the world.” It’s a good place to start.

unanswerablequestions by Wendy Stefansson

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art of the peace 7

George Henn

George Henn became interested in weaving while on a trip to the American south-west. There he saw Navajo people using their simple, portable looms to create

traditional blankets. When he returned home, he went out into the bush near his Bea-verlodge home, cut down some dried trees, and built his own Navajo-style loom. Since that time, he has taught himself to weave increasingly complex works.

George makes textiles, but primarily he makes tapestries. Tapestries were originally a medium for telling stories, George says; like a comic strip today. They were a sequence of pictures depicting a religious or historical event. People in less literate times would have read tapestries as a source of information. “Weaving mostly com-municates a message.” George’s Where Hope Meets Help tapestry is a case in point. Handi-capped people occupy the foreground beneath the peaked-roof logo of the Family and Community Support Services, for whom the piece was made. Above that are two swans in flight, representing the City of Grande Prairie; and a cluster of buildings representing the idea of a prairie com-munity, a grain elevator, a church, and a log home. Higher still is a tilled prairie landscape backed by mountains and sky. George says the whole piece represents the idea that communities used to do for their members what the FCSS does now.

George admits that “weaving is a solitary pursuit,” but it’s clear that he likes this aspect of it. And although he works alone, through his craft he is participating in a larger conversation. Like the tapestries of old, George’s tapestries tell stories.

Susan Loland

Susan Loland feels that her whole life has been leading up to this moment. When Susan first got into quilting about 12 years ago, she

did traditional piecework quilts, then moved on to appliqué techniques. Some of her best-loved works in this medium feature a “stained glass” style, with bold outlines and simple, organic shapes. Because these quilts were so popular, Susan taught herself to use design and quilting software to reproduce and share her patterns. Most recently, she learned to paint her own fabrics, giving her latest quilts a delicate, painterly quality. They have the washy look of watercolours, rather than the collaged look of quilts made with found fabrics.

Susan also loves teaching quilting. She sees teaching as an opportunity to support and encourage women in their struggles in life. She shares with them not only her successes, but also her false starts and her chal-lenges, which are all a part of the process. She encourages them to keep working through the difficulties to reach their goals.

Fabulous in Fibreby Wendy StefanssonThree Peace Area Artists

Radiant Christmas, Susan Loland, quilting with hand-painted fabrics

Sarah Alford, Millefiori Tapestry, hot glue

Geoge Henn, Where Hope Meets Help, tapestry

art of the peace 8

“I know that’s what God has for me to do,” she says; “to encourage women and support them through whatever they’re going through. And I get to use all the extra goodies He gave me to do it.”

Susan teaches out of the Patchwork Cottage in Grande Prairie, as well as in several locations in the Okanagan Valley. Her designs and her teaching schedules can be found on her website at www.blackeyedsusandesigns.com.

Sarah Alford

Sarah Alford’s work is not what you typically think of as fibre art. Her background is in jewellery-making; her materials are

various. Her techniques include drawing, wrapping, leafing, and papering. Her context is often the landscape outside her home.

When she first arrived in the Peace Country, Sarah was amazed by all the miles of barbed-wire fences. She felt that, like a wed-ding ring, a fence says “I belong to somebody.” It’s a “promise to tend and nurture.” Sarah wrapped gold wire around sec-tions of fence to give visible form to this idea.

Later, likening the white picket fence around her house in Dem-mitt to “a dress for the yard,” Sarah took reproduction Wil-liam Morris wallpaper, and began papering it. The paper, with its repeating floral motif, was like a textile or a tapestry. It was Morris’ attempt to bring natural shapes and subjects into the home, but Sarah has reintro-duced it to the outdoors. The place where the handmade and the natural meet, is a place of cre-ative tension and possibility for Sarah.

In another recent work, Millefiori Tapestry, Sarah recreated the repeating patterns of lace, drawing them with hot glue. Piecing together many panels of this glue work, she created a 16 foot long “fabric,” which she took outside and installed along an existing barbed-wire fence. She photographed the piece in all seasons and conditions: embellished by spiders’ webs in the summer, and hoar frost in the fall. Like a lace curtain hung out on the line to dry and never taken in, it became a part of Sarah’s landscape.

“It made me think about how people use craft and art and lace-making, and it was sort of the beginning of the idea of making ourselves at home in the world.” Sarah sees us taking a wilderness that is so foreign and projecting ourselves into it.

“We turn it into all these human stories, into a place where we recognize everything.”

Sarah is currently working on her Master of Arts in Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Radiant Christmas, Susan Loland, quilting with hand-painted fabrics

Sarah Alford, Millefiori Tapestry, hot glue

“We turn it (the wilderness) into all these human stories, into a place where we recognize every-thing.” Sarah Alford

art of the peace 9

the BUSINESS of artby Wendy Stefansson

Copyrighting the Land

An eye tree on Peter’s land

Peter von Tiesenhausen

Copyright law is something that concerns most artists

sooner or later, but Peter von Tiesenhausen has taken copy-right to a whole new place. His place.

Peter and his family live on land his father farmed near Demmitt, Alberta. Several hundred acres of it is home to old-growth forest. When you walk through Peter’s land, you come upon his artwork at every turn. There are boats, figures, spheres, pods, and towers in various stages of reintegration with the land. On many of his poplar trees, Peter has drawn small eyes into the bark with his fingernail. The whole place has become his canvas; a work of art in perpetual progress. Which is why when he was ap-proached by various oil compa-nies for access to the land, he refused. However, over time, it became more and more dif-ficult to deny them access, and he was asked for it more and more frequently. He was also threatened with arbitration if he did not allow access.

They offered him a standard sum of money, but he declined. They offered him more, and he declined again. Then in 1996, in a conversation with curator Sue Ditta, discussion turned to the topic of architects trying to copyright their buildings. An idea was born.

The next time an oil company tried to come onto his land, he warned them that it was pro-tected under copyright law as a work of art. Peter hoped that he had finally found a lawful way of protecting his project, and for a time there was some reprieve. But later, “oilfield personnel blatantly ignored posted signs forbidding trespass, entered on his lands with their truck, de-stroyed trees, and caused dam-age to the land.” (Report of the Alberta Energy and Utili-ties Board (EUB), January �3, �003.)

Then in December �00�, Peter represented himself in a public hearing before the EUB regard-ing Conoco-Phillips’ plans for a new sour gas well and associ-ated pipelines on land adjacent to his property. According to the report, Peter presented a slide show of his artworks and “claimed copyright protection to his five quarter sections of land on the basis that his artis-tic work was inseparable from the land. He explained that his lands provided the inspiration, materials, and setting for his work and that, essentially, it was the relationship between the objects that he constructed and the natural setting that con-

stituted his original creative ex-pression.”

The Board seemed to respect Peter’s position, but ruled that copyright law was not within their jurisdiction. Matters of copyright would need to be pursued in the courts.

To date, it has not been nec-essary to go that far. Peter’s copyright claims have never been tested in court, but the fact that several oil companies have decided not to pursue the matter leads Peter to believe that his case is a strong one. Alliance

Pipelines rerouted their project around Peter’s land at consid-erable expense. And Conoco-Phillips settled Peter’s damage claims out of court.

Peter has recently completed a project for The Tree Museum near Gravenhurst, Ontario, for which he marked a significant number of trees over their 400 acres with the symbol of the eye. Does this imply that Peter could now copyright the Tree Museum site? Will this land be defensible from future land-use threats under the Copyright Act because of Peter’s artworks?

Open Noon to 5 pm, Tuesday to Saturday10812 103 Avenue 780-835-2697

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art of the peace 10

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art of the peace 11

John Hall

John Hall’s vivid, often daz-zling paintings have been

widely celebrated, both here in Canada and abroad. They have been described by art critic Gary Michael Dault as “pictori-ally seductive, wickedly so.”

Since graduating from the Al-berta College of Art in 1964, John Hall has wrestled with the challenge of creating an art which involves framing reality in such a way as to announce that what is contained in the frame is not real. He is interested in the formal process of painting;

the tech-niques of translating what he sees into another medium. He tackles all aspects of our culture, and, with subject matter ranging from lollipops, masks, and fruit, to pencils and other everyday disposable items, celebrates in paint the way he sees light defining form “from a very specific place in space and time.”

While Hall’s compositions might suggest a lack of for-mal arrangement, they are, in fact, carefully considered, so as to welcome an interaction with the viewer. Author and creative writing teacher Ken McGoogan, who asks his stu-dents to “put themselves inside a painting” says that Hall’s im-ages “call forth (more) imagi-native responses than works of such masters as Picasso and Edward Hopper. Hall not only makes us look, really look at everyday objects, but makes those objects suggest stories,” McGoogan says.

For the Art of the Peace Vi-sual Arts symposium, Hall will

speak about the development of descriptive realist painting in the 1960s as an answer to what he calls “the increasing encrus-tation of convention on the once vital principles of Modernism.” New Realism, which includes photo realism, hyper-realism, and super realism, matured in the 1970s, enjoying both criti-cal and popular support. Hall will use his work as an example of the period, which he says “once again finds itself largely out of critical favour.”

Jeff de Boer

Calgary-based artist Jeff de Boer is best known for his

metal armour for cats and mice. While some would argue that his work appears to belong to the realm of fine craft, Doug-las Udell, owner of galleries in Edmonton and Vancouver, says his own interest in de Boer’s armour doesn’t stem from its craftsmanship, but rather its ar-tistic intent.

Art of the Peace Symposium ‘06

by Jody Farrell

Artists and art lovers will gather October 13 and 14, 2006, for the fourth annual Art of the Peace Visual Arts Symposium in Grande Prai-rie, Alberta. As in past years, the range of top-ics will both educate and inspire, and may even get you laughing.

John Hall, Muneca

Jeff de Boer, Samurai

art of the peace 1�

“Jeff takes the tradition of ar-mour and cranks it through his imagination to produce these tremendously interesting art-works,” Udell says. “He el-evates function into form, and through elevating the form, he moves into art.”

One happy owner of two of de Boer’s cat armours is the ac-tress Halle Barry, who became enamoured with the work when she saw it on the Cat Woman movie set in Vancouver.

De Boer grew up watching his father work as a tinsmith. In high school, he took an interest in metal work and started build-ing armour. He later majored in jewellery-making at the Alberta College of Art & Design, where he combined his new knowl-edge with his armour-making experience and created the first suit of armour for a mouse.

These days, de Boer is working on large projects, having just

completed a major group of sculptures for the centre court of the new Alberta Children’s Hospital. He is currently work-ing on a life size bucking bron-co made of barbed wire for the Glenbow Museum’s Mavericks of Alberta Exhibition.

At the Art of the Peace Visual Arts Symposium, de Boer will be talking about his works, both early and recent, and, he adds, “telling some of the best stories from my time as the world’s

only professional mouse ar-mour maker.”

Grande Prairie Filmmakers

Grande Prairie natives Scott Belyea and Riley Pearcy,

along with Derrick Doll and Derreck Toker, have achieved what only a handful of artists manage to do in a relatively short time: they have garnered international recognition and acclaim for their short film, idaho.

The movie, which runs just over 13 minutes, was filmed over four days in February, �005, in Delta, B.C., south of Vancouver. It’s a dark and hu-morous satire that takes aim at an unfeeling, overbearing corporate manager, whose em-ployees toil away in suits in a most unusual setting.

Written and directed by Belyea, with Pearcy as cinematogra-pher and producer, idaho has won several awards, includ-ing best cinematography at the Hollywood DV Film Festival in �005; best student cinematog-raphy at the Canadian Society of Cinematographers awards (Toronto) in �006, and best film at Youngcuts Film Festival �006 in Montreal. Doll was re-sponsible for idaho’s music and Toker was co-producer.

Pearcy, speaking from Van-couver where he works full time in the film industry, says idaho took about three months from pre-produc-tion to the final cut. He says the B.C. location’s weather, normally wet and cold at that time of year, was, for most of the four-day shoot, beautifully warm.

“We had this amazing sunlight glaring down on us the whole time. Where you would nor-mally need massive amounts of lighting, we were able to use the two lights we had.” The en-tire film was shot using only 55 mm and 1� mm lenses.

As for glitches, Pearcy remem-bers having his film school (the Art Institute of Vancouver-Burnaby) confiscate the camera he was using on the second day of filming, after he had failed to sign out a table he’d taken for

the project. He was forced to find another camera for the job.

“The guy (in charge of the Art Institute’s equipment room) flipped out,” Pearcy laughs, adding that following the film’s success, the school was very supportive.

Pearcy says working in the film industry pays well, but that, given its “crazy hours” and fre-quent trips to distant locations, “you really have to want to be doing it.”

The short film idaho will be screened at the Art of the Peace Visual Arts Symposium on Sat-urday, October 14, �006.

“Jeff takes the tradition of armour and cranks it through his imagination to pro-duce these tremendously interesting art-works.”

Gallery owner, Douglas Udell

(above) idaho DVD cover. (below, left) Riley Pearcy, (right) Scott Belyea

art of the peace 13

Despite a serious car accident that has

left him in a cast and hobbling on crutches, Carmen Haakstad is eager for me to under-stand the absolutely integral role art plays in his life.

He’s got journals of stories and poems, drawings, and fleet-ing thoughts he shares openly. He negotiates the stairs, with some effort, first to the ga-rage, then to the sec-ond floor of his Grande Prairie split-level house to show me his work-spaces – the lower one set up for painting the large-scale oil on ply-wood series he’d been working on before his accident; the other, a tidy, well-lit and acces-sorized studio where earlier works hang next to quick sketches and inspiring quotes.

From the mostly large, colourful pieces housed on every wall, to the abundant sketchbooks and well-worn jour-nals, everything in this

warm and pleasant home an-nounces “an artist lives here.” And yet, I get the impression Haakstad himself struggles with the notion.

“I always wanted to be an art-ist,” he begins. “Now, I see

myself as an artist doing fund-raising for a living, with the art moving gradually to the fore-front.”

Haakstad’s emergence into the world of art began in high school, but really took off when he entered the Univer-sity of Minnesota-Deluth on

a full hockey scholarship. He switched from a general arts degree to a Bachelor of Fine Arts, the heavy demands of his athletic commitment requiring him to stay on an extra year. He graduated in 1979, the universi-ty’s first BFA to have completed the degree by way of a hockey scholarship. The incongruous pairing of artist and athlete; that combination of deep reflection and full-out physical drive, was perhaps an early sign of what was to come.

The LaGlace native came back home, and, shortly after an exhibition of his BFA works, was made director-curator of Grande Prairie’s fledgling Prairie Art Gallery (PAG). Haakstad spent the next seven years helping to establish and permanently house the PAG, now a highly-esteemed Class A gallery whose status allows for international exhibitions. More than two decades of fundrais-ing for non-profit organizations followed. Today, he is the vice president of external relations for Evergreen Park, a multi-purpose fairground and trade show complex in the County of Grande Prairie.

“When I consider my art, I don’t know if I could do it full time. I like the interaction I have with people.”

Still, Haakstad approaches his day job in the spirit of an artist.

By Jody FarrellLooking Within

Carmen Haakstad, One, oil on panel

Carmen Haakstad, Nature’s Cross, oil on panel

by Jody FarrellCarmen Haakstad:

art of the peace 14art of the peace 14

A powerpoint workshop he’s designed to help people devel-op fundraising and organiza-tional skills includes several of his designs, most with spiritual overtones. He finds that the art, inspired by thoughts on human-ity and the need for benevo-lence regardless of race and culture, is a welcome addition to the mix.

“Working with volunteers has

been very exhilarating,” he says. “They are generally hap-py people who want to be do-ing what they are doing. I am interested in the attitude of vol-unteerism, and fascinated by philanthropists who have been successful and choose to give it all back to the community.”

Haakstad is also a good pro-moter. He set up a website in �004, marketing both his art and merchandise bearing his images. He manages to be af-firmative without being ag-gressive. There’s an element of confidence that many art-ists seem not to possess; one that was perhaps honed in his hockey playing days. He speaks of the marketing of hockey images as something he’s moved past. While they too held deep meaning for him at one time, he sees them as part of a more youthful per-spective. Haakstad feels that, at 50, his focus is increasingly turning to humanity and our daily treatment of our fellow man. The car accident, which also injured his wife Gail and eldest daughter Daneil, cou-pled with the loss of both par-ents, has impacted him in ways he is still figuring out. He has been working on a series of figures he calls “seekers,” in-spired by a drawing he made while pondering his journey in life. Many are lone, monk-like shapes, rendered in oil on plywood. They stand about five feet tall, and appear to be

in a state of deep contempla-tion. The paint is applied like a stain, highlighting the grain of the wood in such a way as to re-store it to its more woodsy, less manufactured origin. The fig-ures often reveal a swirl in the grain that resembles some flow of energy, perhaps a soul. In-terestingly, where earlier seek-ers’ hearts were located in the lower part of the body, a more recent one features the heart in its proper place.

“I’m always looking within for guidance,” Haakstad says. “That’s where the art comes from.”

Carmen Haakstad is one of three speakers featured at the Art of the Peace Visual Arts Symposium in Grande Prairie on Saturday, October 14, �006. He will talk about how art has influenced his path in life.

Carmen Haakstad, The Bat Maker, oil on panel

(Top to bottom) Carmen Haakstad, Battle of Alberta, pastel; Carmen in his office; Carmen Haakstad, The Emerging Bat, oil on panel

art of the peace 15

SuzanneSandboeSSuzanneSandboe

[email protected]

Phone: (780) 568-4124

ASA, PWS

P o t t e r yG l a s s

J e w e l l e r yH a t s

H o m e D e c o r eH a n d p a i n t e d S i l k

9918A 100 Ave. Grande PrairieP: (780) 513-1933 F: (780) 513-1949

homeaccents,original art, glassware,jewellery,GrandePrairie'slargestselectionof pottery.

bridal gift registryavailable.

9929 - 100 Ave, Grande Prairie, (780) 538-2771New Owner

•Aboriginal Art•Soapstone Carvings •Jewellery•Craft Supplies •Leather Products •Jade

Dale R. SalesPainting from life experiences, landscapes,

portraits, horses and western themes.

cell: 876-5432 [email protected] Ave. Grande Prairie, ABRe

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VISUAL ARTS ALBERTA1.866.421.1731

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art of the peace 16

9903 100th Ave Peace River, AB P: (780) 624-1984

Custom Framing & Gallery

Local PotteryOriginal WorkPrintsPhotographsCards

Trudy Plaizier

Dale Syrota

Exhibits with the Grande Prairie Guild of Artists & the Peace Watercolour Society

Ph: (780) 539-4046

Dale SyrotaPWS, CSPWCWatercolour Artist

Forbes & FriendsGrande Prairie

Willock & SaxWaterton Lakes

Wallace GalleriesCalgary

Scott GalleryEdmonton

Jim Stokes Quality Original Art

30th AnniversaryFall Show & Sale

October 15th - November 4thFairview Fine Arts Centre

Opening October 15th, 2 pm

Get the Big PictureGet the Big Picture

Custom FramingLocal ArtworkHome Decor

250 785 90999312 100th Street, Fort St. John, BC

Sonlight Gallery

Marjorie HennMarjorie HennPicture Perfect Small Gallery Beaverlodge Grande Prairie Beaverlodge Cultural Centre

780-354-2165

www.gppl.ab.ca Ph: (780) 532-3580 9910 99 Ave. Grande Prairie

art of the peace 17

Bernice Trider

“You didn’t know there was so much art going on in Fairview back then did

you?” Bernice asks, referring not only to the Peace Summerschool of Landscape Art, but also to three-day Peace Art Fes-tivals and university credit courses that she took part in during the 1980s.

“The Landscape School was great, really intense,” Bernice says. “I wished I was staying at the college instead of at home so I could have been totally focussed on it.” She loved the field trips to Whitelaw, Sand Lake and other local spots. Those locations inspired many paintings. One of those paintings, of Cliff Paul’s farm, won her the Peace Watercolour Society “On the Spot Painting Award.”

Bernice began painting in 1969, returning to her childhood love of art. “At school I couldn’t wait for Friday afternoon art classes,” she remembers. “Once, after my children were a bit bigger, I saw a local art show in all the store windows in Fairview. I was enthralled. I haven’t missed a possible workshop since.”

Oils were the starting point for Bernice’s painting career, but that all changed af-ter a 1980 course by Robert Guest. “I fell in love with watercolour because I liked what I did,” she explains. “My work was now so much more soft and subtle.”

Bernice is an avid art student who does a lot of research and reading. “I would have liked to have gone to college and learned design,” she says. Still a very ac-tive painter, Bernice is currently toying with the idea of watercolour portraits. Although a different subject, portraiture

is consistent with her style, which she de-scribes as realistic.

Clearly Bernice has enjoyed her times of learning and painting in the Peace. “I’ve had a great time,” she tells me, her smile the picture of pleasures recalled.

Greg Jones

“My mother put a set of paints in front of me when I was nineteen and con-

valescing from a motorcycle accident,” says Fairview painter Greg Jones. “That’s how I started.”

Greg then began taking local workshops and the credit courses that were held at Fairview College through Grande Prairie Regional College. Teachers like Jim Ad-rain and Robert Guest were very encour-aging and helpful. “Those classes were filled mainly with older ladies, many of whom became good friends,” Greg re-members. Since then many of those la-dies have attended workshops by Greg and are always asking for more.

In 1984 and ‘85 he attended Peace Sum-merschool of Landscape Art. Greg spent many hours in the field with the instruc-tors. “I really latched onto Laine Dahlen’s way of painting,” says Greg.

Greg had taken some drawing classes from fellow Summerschool student Do-ris Reynolds, but it wasn’t until later that he really appreciated the influence that she had had on him. “After I came back from art school, I recognized Doris’ tal-ent. It was a great influence to see this in a local person.”

Three Fairview Artistsby Eileen Coristine

Twenty years after the Peace Summerschool of Landscape Art, watercolour and landscape still reign supreme with these former students.

Bernice Trider, Summer from Seasons of the Peace series

Greg Jones, Harold’s Mercury. Photo by Ziggy’s, Fairview

art of the peace 18

artists directoryART CLUBSGRANDE PRAIRIE GUILD OF ARTISTSc/o 93�9 - 47 AveGrande Prairie, AB T8W �G6780-538-0616 [email protected] weekly to paint at The Prairie Art Gallery, Sept - May, 7 - 10 pm, Tuesdays. Annual membership fee. Opportunities for instruction and exhibition.

PEACE COUNTRY SPINNERS & WEAVERS780-53�-147� [email protected] guilds from the Brit-ish Columbia and Alberta Peace River region.

PEACE WATERCOLOUR SOCIETYc/o Box 8�5Spirit River, AB T0H 3G0780-864-3608 Judy; 780-568-41�4 SuzannePeace Country artists focusing on transparent watercolours. Semi-annual shows throughout the Peace Country. New members welcome through a juried process.

PRAIRIE FIGURE DRAWING GROUPc/o 10�09 - 99 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V �H3780-53�-8446 Karen780-53�-�573 JimNon-instructional, informal group meets weekly at The Prairie Art Gallery, Sept. - May, Thursdays 7 - 10pm. Drop-in or monthly fee.

Vicki HotteCarol SletsmaMarilyn SnellVivian FarnsworthDarlene DautelLee SalterLouise McNeilToni Schuler

Ruth LewkowitzSean ReillyCatherine NychkaMarion BrownMarjorie HennPeggy MartinDeanna BurchettLil LarsonJoanne Loberg

While doing further studies at Red Deer College, Victoria College of Art and Alberta Col-lege of Art and Design, Greg tried out many materials and genres, but has always returned to what he calls his “minimal-ist landscapes” in watercolours. “I’m not sure where that came from, but people really respond to them because they are stark, like a relief.”

An event that resulted from the Summerschool had a huge impact on Greg’s future. “Fair-view College bought a piece of mine and tucked it away in the president’s office. One month later I saw it, in the same room as their A.Y Jackson. That in-spired me so much.”

Greg now resides near Cal-gary but visits Fairview every month. He says he is planning more workshops for his old friends from the Peace.

Doris Reynolds

“I paint what I see,” says Doris. “I’ve never done ab-

stracts. My favourite subjects are landscapes, and the Peace Valley and Mountain Parks provide never-ending inspira-tion for my work.”

Doris was directly in-volved as a planner of the Peace Summerschool of Landscape Art throughout the four years in which it ran. “The courses ran ten days, started with a show and sale by the instructors and ended with a show and sale by the students, both at Fairview Fine Arts Cen-tre,” she remembers. “The school’s main emphasis was to work directly from nature when possible.”

Although the instruction by such accomplished artists as Robert Guest, Euphemia

McNaught, Laine Dahlen and Inez Demuynck inspired and motivated her, Doris was al-ready an established local artist and instructor in her own right. She remembers: “My mother was artistic and we always had paper and pencils.” To this day, Doris says, “I like to make detailed sketches. My sketch pad and pencils are always part of my gear, wherever I travel.”

Doris began painting by teach-ing herself to use oils. That inspired her to go to classes, where she met Robert Guest and Jim Adrain. “They encour-aged me to try watercolours, and I tried but struggled. I couldn’t switch until I took two weeks just playing. Then I sort of got the hang of it.” Doris had soon left oils behind and begun using watercolours or pen and ink for her realistic, detailed work.

This past summer Doris paint-ed enthusiastically and framed half a dozen new works, fol-lowing a field trip to Buffalo Lakes with other Peace Water-colour Society members.

Doris Reynolds, Russian Orthodox Church at Hines Creek, pen and ink

Artists NorthGrande Prairie Art Society

Featuring artists from Grande Prairie, Grovdale, Peace River, Sexsmith & Silver Valley

For group inquiries please contact Gordon Mackey at 780-568-3334

ADRIAN CLARK, CAROLASHTON, ED

DETTLING, KIMFREED, PAULINEGABOURY, BARB

GABOURY, DIANNEGREENTREE, BARB

HOLLINGWORTH, WANDAJOHNSTON, WILHELMINA

LAURIN, RAYMACKEY, GORDONMACKEY, MEGANPATRICK, ANNEPEARCY, IRENE

RITZ, HUGOROY, JANET

SCHUDLO, EMILYSTEINKE, VI

THETRAULT, LINDA

25YEARS

art of the peace 19

ARTISTSADRIAN-CLARK, Carol9338 - 69 A Ave. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 6T3 780-53�[email protected] renderings of florals, landscapes and still life, in co-loured pencil and oil painting.

BEGGS, Lorraine9�1 Cornwall CrescentDawson Creek, BC V1G 1P1�[email protected] photography, co-lourful; encaustics, chalk pastel, watercolour. Mixed media. Mostly abstract.

BIBI POTTERY (Bibi Clement)P.O. Box 144Hythe, AB TOH �CO780-356-�4�[email protected] Potter/Sculptor specializing in wood fire and raku techniques. Director of BICWA Society, Inter-national Residency Program

BOZARTH, C. PaigeSexsmith, AB780-430-7937info@cpaigedesign.comwww.cpaigedesign.comContemporary absracts, land-scapes and wildlife art. Acrylic or conte originals. Residential or cor-porate commissions available.

BROWN, JudyBox 8�5Spirit River, AB T0H [email protected] paintings reflect the peace-fulness and serenity of our land-scape.

CLOAKE, Sue99�7 - 86 Park Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0C9780-539-7405Mixed media collage - a combina-tion of mediums creates an intri-cate abstract textural surface.

COCHRANE, Leona1�105 - 95A StreetGrande Prairie, AB T8V 5C4780-538-1�[email protected], botanical and hu-man forms inspire mixed media and oil paintings.

COWAN, CorinneRR3, Site �, Box 6Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5N3780-53�[email protected] watercolour lends itself to a wide range of values and free-dom of movement on paper, it is my choice of medium.

CRAIPLEY, SheilaBox 569Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0780-568-3754Landscape, acrylic and oils in lo-cal landscapes and historic sites.

CRICHTON, HollyGeneral DeliveryGrovedale, AB T0H 1X0780-538-9�[email protected] painting, equine sub-ject matter.

CURRIE, Gordon151� - 113 Ave.Dawson Creek, BC V1G �Z5�50-78�[email protected] and mixed media art-ist - scenic nature works of art.

DEMUYNCK, Inez111�1 - 16 StDawson Creek, BC V1G 4A1�50-78�[email protected]/Artist specializing in cre-ative watercolour and handbuilt clayworks.

DICKSON, Yvonne10015 - 89 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V �Y9780-53�-16�9Watercolours with a Peace Coun-try theme.

DITCH, ValerieBox 88�Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3Y1780-538-9�[email protected] working in watercolour with attention to light and detail. Originals, giclée prints and cards.

DRONYK, Dymphny11306 - 10�B St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V �Y�780-53�-83�[email protected], writing, grants, pro-posals, screenwriting and video production.

DUPERRON, Frances9909 - 9� AveGrande Prairie, AB T8V 0H7780-53�-�753Acrylic/oil paintings, landscapes, still lifes.

ENFIELD, JanetBox 815Wembley, AB T0H 3S0780-766-�[email protected] work of any subject in oil or acrylic.

FARRELL, Jody8508 - 100 A St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V [email protected], oil, acrylic - mostly landscapes, flowers.

GILJE, LenaBox �5�Wembley, AB T0H [email protected], wedding and portrait photography, original artwork, one of a kind handbags.

GOURLAY, MarilynGrande Prairie, AB780-539-399�[email protected] media, life drawings. “I enjoy the creative process. Fa-cilitating art retreats and teaching yoga.”

GREENTREE, BarbBox 41Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3A1780-53�[email protected] emphasizing the Wild Kakwa and Peace Country in acrylics and watercolour.

GUEST, RobertBox 1784Grande Cache, AB T0E 0Y0780-53�-8111 for informationPainter in the Symbolist Landscape tradition preferring wilderness and nocturnal subject matter. HAAKSTAD, Carmen801� 99 St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3V1780-539-4483carmen@evergreenpark.cawww.carmensimages.comOriginal art and prints.

HART, Louanne4611 94 St.Grande Prairie, AB T8W �G7780-53�[email protected] originals, prints and cards of local and international subjects.

HEIMDAL, Tim9804 - 10� St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V �V�780-53�[email protected], paintings, corporate lo-gos, set design.

HENN, K. MarjorieBox �6�Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0780-354-�[email protected] and wilderness themes are my inspiration, watercolour is my main medium.

HOLLER, ColleenBox 363Wembley, AB T0H 3S0780-766-�[email protected] variety of watercolour subjects with a view to contrast, light, co-lour and form.

www.artofthepeace.caart of the peace �0

HOTTE, VickiBox �77Beaverlodge, AB T0H [email protected] paintings and drawings - rural subject matter.

KAUT, Donna, BSc, FCABox 675Grande Prairie, AB T8V 3A8780-53�[email protected]“I focus on oil paintings of wild-flowers and berries of Alberta.”

KLUKAS, Carrie10818 - 95 St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1Z5780-53�-010�[email protected] paintings on board, ab-stract expressionism.

LAURIN, Ray9637 - 113 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1W4780-53�-5�3�[email protected]“With acrylics, I can capture what nature has to offer us which is a panorama of colour.”

LE CORRE, Lynn11110 - 95 St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V [email protected] in miniature simplifies the landscape to colour and painterly forms.

LOLAND, Susan780-513-8�[email protected] designer. Available for teaching at quilt shops and guilds.

LUND, Rhonda780-957-3733780-933-3914www.rhondalundart.comLaser etchings on granite. Acryl-ics, colored chalk, mixed medium; Canadiana.

MAY, Nick990� - 96 AvenueGrande Prairie, AB T8V 0M�780-539-6�[email protected] winning nature artist.

MCGUINTY, Kristine1�813 - 9� St.Peace River, AB T8S 1W9780-6�4-�[email protected],nightorartists.comHarvest Moon Studio: Contemp- orary photographic images, po-laroid emulsion transfers, acrylic paintings and drawings.

MCNEIL, MicheleRR� Site 13 Box 41Grande Prairie, AB T8V �[email protected] glass with a contemporary twist. “Yours is to dream it. Mine is to create it.”

MULLIGAN, Helena1�705 99 A St.Grande Prairie, AB T8X 8C8780-538-�009Insights, expressions of every-day life in sculptures, drawings and paintings. Commissions wel-comed.

PALMER, Valerie‘Spores n’ More’Box 651�Peace River, AB T8S 1S3780-6�[email protected] spore prints: images created from natural spores of fungi.

PETERS, Rika10514 103 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V [email protected] paintings; impressionistic landscapes.

SANDBOE, Suzanne ASA, PWSBox �8, Site 9, RR1Sexsmith, AB T0H 3C0780-568-41�[email protected] landscapes, portraits and scenes from everyday life. Original work and commissions in a variety of mediums.

SHILKA JACOBA, MarianGrande Prairie, AB780-53�-756�[email protected]“Intuitive painting.” Primarily watercolour, capturing the essence of brief, unforgettable moments in time.

SMITH, Len9110 - 100 StGrande Prairie, AB T8V �[email protected] wood carving, 3D carving, intarsia, woodburning. Custom artwork and instruction.

ST. ANDRE, VivianPeace River, AB T85 1E7780-6�[email protected] and watercolour, abstract and traditional, sculpture and digi-tal imagery.

STAFFORD, Cathy104�9 101 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB780-40�[email protected]/expressionistic oilpainting.

STEFANSSON, Wendy10509 - 81 St.Peace River, AB T8S 1M7780-6�4-85��[email protected] conceptually, employing photography, acrylic paints and sculptural techniques.

STELMASCHUK, ErinBox 1�96Bow Island, AB T0K 0G0403-545-6794estelmaschuk@hotmail.comwww.erinstelmaschuk.comSkilled in many mediums. Erin works predominantly with copper. Commssions welcome.

STOKES, Jim10417 - 110 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 1S8780-53�-�573Quality, original paintings, draw-ings and prints. Contemporary representational work.

STROM, Brenda10�05 - 76 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8W 1Y6780-53�[email protected], oil, monoprints of florals, intimate landscapes and hockey players.

SUTER, EvelynPO Box 1416Grande Cache, AB T0E 0X0780-8�[email protected] print-making, there is a real challenge and joy in being part of the ongoing, if not surprising, evo-lution the method excites.

SWANSTON, NanRR3, Site 4, Box 6Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5N3780-53�[email protected] of landscapes, flo-rals, people and close-ups of na-ture and still life.

SYROTA, Dale7601 - 10� St.Grande Prairie, AB T8W [email protected] transparent water-colour painting rendered in a true and unique style.

WILLIAMS, [email protected] pottery, over 15 years experience with 8 years of teaching experience. Available to instruct workshops at beginner or interme-diate levels.

PHOTOGRAPHYMCLAUGHLIN, CatherineGrande Prairie, AB780-40�-6�[email protected] - informal portraits of people and their pets, land-scape. Freelance writing, poetry readings.

PETTIT, Don1�04 - 103 AveDawson Creek, BC V1G �G9�50-78�-60681-866-373-8488info@peacephotographics.comwww.peacephotographics.comPeace Region nature photography, graphic design, publishing, mar-keting, product development.

art of the peace �1

BEAVERLODGE, ALBERTA

• Beaverlodge Cultural Centre51� - 5 Ave.Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0780-354-3600 (phone & fax)Hours: Tues. - Fri. 1 pm - 5 pm Sat. & Sun. 1 pm - 4 pmGallery, gift shop and tea room.

Exhibits & Events Toni Schuler & Sara MacIntrye Show & SaleOctober �9 - November �4, �006 Variety of ArtistsChristmas Show & SaleNovember �6 - December �3, �006

Sarah SmithShow & SaleJanuary 7 - January �6, �007

Grande Prairie Regional College Art StudentsExhibitionJanuary �8 - February �3, �007

Beaverlodge Art ClubShow & SaleFebruary �5 - March 30, �007

14th Annual Quilt ShowApril 1 - April �7, �007

Leona CochraneShow & SaleApril �9 - May �5, �007

DAWSON CREEK, B.C.

• Dawson Creek Art Gallery101 - 816 Alaska AvenueDawson Creek, BC V1G 4T6�50-78�-�601www.dcartgallery.caThe Gallery and Northern Trea-sures Giftshop are open 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday to Friday; 1� - 4 pm Saturdays, from May to Sept. Year round, artist run centre; gift shop; 13 exhibits per year; art rental; education programs.

Exhibits & Events

Emily, Dean & Karl MattsonThe ExpeditionSeptember �6 - November 11, �006 South Peace Art SocietyChristmas Show and Gift FairNovember 18, �006 - January 7, �007

Artists NorthKaleidoscopicJanuary 8 - February 3, �007

M-KFebruary 6 - March 3, �007

Memory LaneMarch 5 - 31, �007

Time out for Seniors ClassExploring ArtApril 3 - �1, �007Please check our website or phone

the gallery for a complete schedule of �006/�007 exhibits and events.

• Picture It9�0-10� Ave.Dawson Creek, BC V1G �B7(�50) 78�-4101Gallery, framing and art supplies.

FAIRVIEW, ALBERTA

• Fairview Fine Arts Centre10801-103 Ave.Fairview, AB T0H 1L0780-835-�697; fax 780-835-5561www.fairviewfinearts.comfinearts@telusplanet.netHours: Tues. - Sat. 1� pm - 5 pm Gallery, fine arts gift shop and edu-cation programs.

Exhibits & Events

Peace Watercolour Society Show & SaleOctober 15 - November 4, �006

Paula Fiorini & Erin Stel-maschukShow & SaleNovember 10 - �5, �006

Members of Fairview Fine Arts Centre Christmas Show & SaleDecember � - �3, �006

FT. ST. JOHN, B.C.

• Sonlight Gallery931� 100 St.Ft. St. John, B.C. V1J 3X4�[email protected], framing and home decor. ‘Get the Big Picture.’

Valleyview

Falher

St. Isidore

43

43

49Chetwyn

Hudson HopeManning

Fort Nelson

Tumbler Ridge

Grande Cache

40

where it’s all at . . . galleries of the Peace Peace Region Gallery Events and Exhibitions

art of the peace ��

GRANDE CACHE, ALBERTA

• Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive CentreHome of the Palette Pals Art ClubHighway 40 SouthBox 300Grande Cache, AB T0E 0Y0780-8�7-33001-888-8�[email protected] hours October - May9 am - 5 pm, Monday - Friday1 pm - 4 pm, WeekendsWildlife and historical displays, art gallery and gift shop.

Exhibits & Events

Centennial Drawings of Albertainlcuding two Grande Cache art-ists, Bob Guest & James HarveyOctober 10 - �8, �006

Palette Pals Art ClubShow & SaleFall/Winter �006

Call the Grande Cache Tourism Centre for details.

GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA

• Centre for Creative Arts9904 - 101 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0X8 780-814-6080www.gparts.orgCheck our website for current in-formation about our education programs, drop-in studios, artist run studios and cafe.

• Forbes and Friends9918A - 100 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB T8V 0T9 780-513-1933; fax 780-513-1949Gallery of Alberta crafts. Pottery, glass, jewellery, accessories, hand painted silk, home decor.

Exhibits & Events

Open HouseNovember 30, �00610 am - 7 pm

• Picture Perfect Frame & Gallery9934 - 100 Ave.Grande Prairie, AB780-539-4091;

fax 780-539-4554picperf@telusplanet.netwww.pictureperfectfineart.comArtists supplies and custom fram-ing. Local artwork, prints and re-productions. Home decore.

Exhibits and EventsJack Ellis, Nick May, Joan Doll & Paul MartelWhy We Love the North Show & SaleOctober 13 - November 4, �006Opening: October 13 at 7pm

Capture the Beauty of the PeaceSpring �007Contest ends with the announce-ment of the winners at a special reception. Open to the public.

• Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, The Courtyard GalleryLower Level, QEII Hospital10409 - 98 St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V �E8780-538-7585Original works by local artists.In affiliation with the QEII Foundation.

Exhibits & Events

GALLERY

Lynn LeCorreOctober, �006

Jody FarrellNovember - December �006

Diane HornelandJanuary - February, �007 Artists in Healthcare: Staff of the QEII HospitalMarch - April, �007

SHOWCASES

Don Nelson: Decoys & Carvings Minature Car CollectionOctober - November, �006

Festive CollectionsDecember, �006

Angie Patternson: Photo Cards Collection of Antique CamerasJanuary - February, �007

Artists in Healthcare: Staff of the QEII HospitalMarch - April, �007

• The Prairie Art Gallery10�09 - 99 St.Grande Prairie, AB T8V �H3780-53�-8111; fax 780-539-95��[email protected] A gallery, education pro-grams, art rental and gift shop.

Exhibits & Events

John HallDuane LinklaterArtists NorthTeachers As ArtistsSeptember 8 - October 15, �006

Dan GordonGerald St. MaurSarah Alford, Joyce Goodman & Tina Martel: We Like Shiny ThingsOctober �0 - November �6, �006

Tempt Your Pallet in RomeOctober �7, �006, 7 pm

PAG Members ExhibitionFinding Home

Prairie North AFA Travelling ExhibitionRound TableDecember 1, �006 - January 14, �007

Nicole BaubergerSusan MenziesJanuary 19 - March 4, �007

Terry ReynoldsonMichael DowadJulian ForrestMarch 9 - April �9, �007

PEACE RIVER, ALBERTA

• Frameworks Custom Framing & Gallery9903 - 100 Ave.Peace River, AB T8S 1S4780-6�4-1984; fax 780-6�4-1984Custom framing and ready-made framing supplies. Original art-work, prints, posters, photographs, pottery, and other local handi-crafts.

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ARTARTicipaction

THE CENTRE FORCREATIVE ARTS

it’s all at www.gparts.org

780.814.6080

Decorative Arts, Po

ttery,

Stain Glass, F

ine Arts ...

and so much

more!


BEAVERLODGE, ALBERTA

Beaverlodge Cultural Centre

Ongoing programs in pottery, stained glass, batik, weaving, acrylic, oil and watercolour paint-ing classes for a variety of ages. Please call Debbie, 780-354-3600 for dates and details.

Gallery exhibition and gift shop sales opportunities are available. Please call Debbie at 780-354-3600 for further information.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C.

Dawson Creek Art Gallery

Dawson Creek Art Gallery is offer-ing an exciting line-up of classes through the fall and winter in the following: • Photography • Sculpture • Water-colour • Beginner Painting • Figure Drawing • Time Out for Seniors: Acrylic Painting • Pottery • Chil-dren’s Classes • Artistic Welding

For details on these and other courses and registration informa-tion phone �50-78�-�601 or e-mail [email protected].

Opportunities for exhibition in the gallery are available. Guidelines for exhibitions can be viewed at www.dcartgallery.ca.

Northern Lights College

The College offers a one-year pro-gram, leading to a graduation Cer-tificate in the Visual and Graphic Arts, to prepare the student for a wide variety of career opportuni-ties. In addition, a two-year pro-gram is also offered leading toward an Associate of Arts Diploma. The primary focus is to build a portfolio for job preparedness or to continue education in another institution. Phone �50-78�-5�51 for more in-formation.

FAIRVIEW, ALBERTA

Fairview Fine Arts Centre

This fall and winter, the Fairview Finearts Centre is featuring Fri-day night parties. Themes include: Belly Dancing, Altered Book, Quilting, Card Making, Henna Tat-

too, Circle Dance, Bead Jewellery, Story Telling and more. Call for details and to register.

The Centre also offers fine art courses in the following: Pottery, Wheel Throwing, Digital Photog-raphy, Oil painting, Mixed Media and Childrens Classes.

Call the Centre at 780-835-�697 or email [email protected] for program details and registration information.

GRANDE CACHE, ALBERTA

Grande Cache Tourism Centre

Drawing by James HarveyFall �006For course details and registration call the Grande Cache Tourism Centre at 780-8�7-3300.

GRANDE PRAIRIE, ALBERTA

Centre for Creative Arts

For registration and up to date class information, check out our website at www.gparts.org or contact us at [email protected]. You can also call us at 780-814-6080.

Courtyard Gallery, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital

For information about exhibitions contact Karen at the QEII Founda-tion office 780-538-7583. Display cubes (showcases) are also avail-able for collections or 3-dimen-sional art.

Grande Prairie Regional College

The Fine Arts Department Offers students a wide range of ca-reer and learning opportunities in the Fine Arts. These include Diplo-ma, University Transfer programs, and courses in Music, Art, and Drama. Students in all programs

may also fulfill their Fine Arts op-tion requirements with FAD credit courses. Non-credit Visual Arts courses include drawing, painting, digital arts, and photography.

Prairie North Creative Residen-cyMark your calendar! From May 18 to June 1, �007, Prairie North is back on. The visiting artists will be Laura Vickerson and Harold Klun-der. Find more details at www.prai-rienorth.org

Visitor in the Arts SeriesWednesdays from 11:45 am - 1:00 pm and is free and open to the gen-eral public. Contact the Fine Arts office for more details at 780-539-�909.

Women in the Arts SymposiumMarch 14 - 15, �007. Call the Fine Arts office for more details 780-539-�909

Picture Perfect

Capture The Beauty of the PeaceCall for entries for the spring 2007 contest. Call (780) 539-4091 for details.

The Prairie Art Gallery

PD DaysThese great hands-on workshops will allow the teacher or art lover to learn a new technique to teach or enhance their own work.Saturdays 1 - 4 pm

Studio & Art MentorsFor children 6 + years.

Seniors Drawing / WatercoloursTuesday mornings at The Gallery beginning September �006.

Art After DarkNinety minute sessions cover ev-erything from art history to art demonstrations. Sessions begin September �006, Monday evenings from 7 - 8:30 pm.

TREXFor information about the Travel-ling Exhibition Program contact Sue Cloake-Miller at The Prairie Art Gallery 10�09-99 street Grande Prairie, AB TV �H3

Please contact The Prairie Art Gallery for furthur information about these and other programs the gallery offers.

Robert Guest Gallery, Picture Perfect Frame & Gallery

Robert Guest Gallery is available for exhibitions - call Allan at 780-539-4091 for information.

PEACE RIVER, ALBERTA

Northern Lights Evening with the Arts

On November 4, 2006, Peace River will host its 2nd annual Northern Lights Evening with the Arts. Lo-cal artists will show and sell their work, while live musicians enter-tain. Organizers are looking for artists and musicians to round out the roster. Contact Mark Boychuk at [email protected] or 780-624-1719.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES

Snap Gallery

For more information about the So-ciety of Northern Alberta Print Art-ists (SNAP) visit www.snapartists.com or call 780-4�3-149�.

The Visual Arts Association of Alberta

An inclusive arts service organi-zation mandated to provide sup-port, services and advocacy for all visual artists in Alberta. For more information call toll free: 1-866-4�1-1731 or visit www.visualart-salberta.com

Alberta Craft Council

Join one of Canada’s leading craft arts organizations and start reaping benefits today! For more informa-tion toll free in Alberta: 1-800-36�-7�38 or visit www.albertacraft.ab.ca

education &opportunities


Using wax as a painting medium is very therapeutic for me. The warmth and smell of beeswax takes a person back to simpler times as does the painting process itself.

When I approach this medium, I heat the pigmented wax to a liquified state and apply the medium to the substrate of choice (wood, paper, Plexiglas, etc.). After each layer of colour is applied it is heated through for the 'burned in' process which is what makes the wax painting an 'encaustic'. Even though this process might take some forethought and each stroke is deliberate, the burning in gives it an element of surprise.

Encaustic painting provides me with a challenge that sparks the creative juices. This isn’t a process for the faint of heart.

Tabitha Logan

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I had the incredible opportunity this summer to meet with a number of different Peace Country artists and to read at some length about Alberta art. I started off sceptical that there was such a thing as a distinctive art of this place. Other regions in this country have long-established art traditions. Central Cana-da has the Group of Seven. The Atlantic Provinces have “Mar-itime Realism” – Christopher Pratt, Mary Pratt, Alex Colville, and the like. Coastal British Columbia has Emily Carr, and a strong tradition of West Coast Aboriginal Art. The Arctic has its Inuit carvers and printmakers. But the Peace Country?

What I became convinced of was only this: that the art of this place is diverse. Perhaps because we don’t have the depth of tradition that other parts of the country have, we have the freedom of a blank palette, so to speak. Up here, in “the real hinterland” (as Mary-Beth Laviolette calls it in An Alberta Art Chronicle), an artist can hear him or herself think.

Some of the art I’ve seen is intimately rooted to this place – think of Peter von Tiesenhausen’s work. Other artists have made art that responds to this place – think of Sarah Alford – or its traditions. Think of Vicki Hotte and Holly Crichton, mak-ing art about the ranching way of life; or Carmen Hakstaad and Brenda Strom making art about hockey. Many others depict this place in their art – think of the landscapes of Jim Stokes, Robert Guest, and many others. And then there are those of us whose art doesn’t seem to have much to do with the Peace Country at all. And that’s okay too.

Is there a distinctive Peace Country art style? I don’t think so. But maybe that’s the point. I think when you live here with the wide open lands and skies, you develop a limitless sense of what’s possible. In the words of Sarah Alford: “I think that the world is so big that there’s room for everything. I think there’s room for the incredible, challenging, difficult work that people make, and I think there’s room for the extremely beau-tiful. There’s space for it all.”

Here at Art of the Peace, I am the new Editor! I am hoping to start a “Letters to the Editor” column, but first, I need to hear from you! Let me know what you like (or don’t like) about the magazine, and what you’d like to see more of. Respond to any of the articles, or send me news of what’s happening in your community, in the area of visual arts. You can contact me at [email protected].

Wendy Stefansson, Editor, Art of the Peace

The Last Word: Space For It All

Lower Level, QEII Hospital 10409 98 St. Grande Prairie, AB T8V 2E8Exhibition Opportunities available by contacting Karen at (780) 538-7585

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Courtyard GalleryCourtyard Gallery

(780) 532-0355 [email protected]

9506 77 Ave Grande Prairie, AB T8V 4T3

MarjTaylor

Marj Taylor

9934 100 Avenue Grande Prairie Phone: 780 539 4091 www.pictureperfectfineart.com

Where Art Comfort Meet&

Fine Art Supplies & Creative Framing at it’s Finest


10209 - 99 Street Grande Prairie, AB (780) 532 - 8111

See art.Good art.

The Prairie Art Galleryw w w . p r a i r i e g a l l e r y . c o m

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Sept 8 - Oct 15, 2006John HallArtists NorthTeachers as Artists

Oct 20 - Nov 26, 2006OPENING: October 20 at 7:30 pmDan Gordon, Gerald St. Maur, Sarah Alford, Joyce Goodman, Tina Martel:We Like Shiny Things

Dec 1, 2006 - Jan 14, 2007OPENING: December 2 at 7;30 pmPAG Members Exhibit ionFinding Home: Text i le Postcards f rom Canadian & Austral ian Art ists

Jan 19 - March 4, 2007Nicole Bauberger Susan Menzies

March 9 - April 29, 2007Terry Reynoldson Michael Dowad Julian Forrest

October 27, 2006Tempt Your Palette

~ In Rome ~

Presented by Dr. Rob B. Strasdin

Professional Corporat ion & The Prair ie Art Gal lery

Exciting new changes for this year’s event. Make sure you’re there! Tickets available at The Gallery

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C O N C E R T S E R I E S

JAN 16Trio Solisti

Grande Prairie Regional College proudly presentsthe 40th Anniversary Concert Series.

September 15, 2006 – I MusiciJanuary 16, 2007 – Trio Solisti with clarinetist Alan KayMarch 3, 2007 – Madrigal SingersMarch 11, 2007 – Les Ballets Jazz de MontrealApril 14, 2007 – Isabel Bayrakdarian

The inaugural concert of the series, I Musici, thrilled the audi-ence September 15, and launched a season of classical musicsuitable to the great concert halls of the world. The DouglasJ. Cardinal Performing Arts Centre at Grande Prairie RegionalCollege resonated with the outstanding music and exceptionalartists of I Musici.

This astounding series will continue January 16, 2007 withTrio Solisti, and clarinetist Alan Kay. This trio has thrilledaudiences across North America, and has been described bythe New York Times as “compelling and consistently bril-liant.” Trio Solisti brings together three of the most sought-after artists of their generation: violinist Maria Bachmann,cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach, and pianist Jon Klibonoff.

On March 3, the U of A Madrigal Singers will bring thehighly acclaimed concert choir of some 45 voices per-forming music of all periods and styles. The choir is ledby Leonard Ratzlaff, now the chair of the Department ofMusic at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal will perform March 11,2007. The group is internationally known for its ener-getic combination of ballet, jazz and modern dance.Dance enthusiasts should prepare to be amazed andthrilled with this performance!

Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, in concert April 14,2007. Isabel Bayrakdarian has performed in virtuallyall the world’s major opera houses. She is admired asmuch for her stunning stage presence as for heruncommon musicality.

Four highly acclaimed performances, and a trulyrare opportunity for audiences of western Canada:the 40th Anniversary Concert Series at GrandePrairie Regional College.

For tickets to Trio Solisti, Madrigal Singers, LesBallets Jazz de Montreal or Isabel Bayrakjdarianat the DJ Cardinal Performing Arts Centre atGrande Prairie Regional College, call the GPLTBox Office at 538-1616, or visit our websitegprc.ab.ca.

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art of the Peace | Issue #7