Visuals

"Light the Flame," a video by VISUALS member Joanna Schwarz

2010-04-04T00:22:00.000-07:00

“Light the Flame” - Joanna's newest video - incorporates a song she wrote (arranged for choir by Larry Nickel) and her photography to accompany the music. Written two years ago, the theme is “reaching for our best” with a second theme inspired by the Olympics. The opening sequence is meant to evoke the Spirit of Squamish.

Little did she know when she penned the words, “Light the flame and feel the spark of inspiration, Touch the world and set on fire imagination,” that she would be chosen as an Olympic Torchbearer in honour of the arts. The link below takes you to all of her videos, one of which is Mountain, Sea and Sky with many images of our area:

Joanna's Videos - http://www.youtube.com/JoannaSchwarz
Joanna's Site - http://www.joannaschwarz.com/

VISUALS Wild at Art Show - UpStares Gallery

2010-01-25T21:59:00.000-08:00

VISUALS Show at Foyer Gallery: Squamish Spirit 201

2010-01-25T21:35:00.000-08:00

You are officially invited!

VISUALS Squamish Valley Artists Society

The Foyer Gallery Group Show

"Squamish Spirit" - Our Winter 2010 ART Exhibit

Exhibition Dates: February 2 - March 8, 2010

Walls & Cases: paintings, photography, sculpture, clay, mixed media

Opening Reception: Saturday Feb 6^th, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. wine and cheese

The Foyer Gallery is located downtown in the Squamish Public Library

37907 2nd Ave, Squamish

Hours: Mon - Thurs noon to 8:00pm

Fri - Sunday 10:00 to 4:00 pm

Seeing Red show at Silk Purse Gallery in Vancouver

2009-11-20T20:30:00.000-08:00

VISUALS presents a group show themed Seeing Red at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver.

The show runs from December 4 until December 20, daily except Mondays from noon until 5pm.

Join us for the opening reception on Saturday December 5 from 2:30pm until 4:30pm.

Enter the draw to win a $100 gift certificate towards art at any VISUALS event by voting for your favourite piece.

Silk Purse Gallery
1570 Argyle Ave
West Vancouver

Wanda Doyle wins People's Choice Award

2009-08-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

(Written by Margreet Dietz)

Wanda and her Moonlit Sail triptych

Wanda Doyle’s Moonlit Sail painting won the VISUALS People’s Choice Award, as visitors of the one-day Art at the Market group exhibition on August 1 voted for their favourite among 45 pieces created by seven local artists.

Doyle’s heavily textured blue metallic acrylic painting on three wood panels resonated with voters. “I love the three-dimensional acrylic – I can feel the waves,” one wrote on her ballot. “The feel of the movement is very apparent,” another voter said.

This People’s Choice Award, created for members of the Squamish Valley Artists Society, is Doyle’s third after winning also in 2006 and 2007.

Doyle was enthralled by painting as a child but a hectic work schedule as an adult didn’t leave enough time for her art until she retired. She decided to revisit her childhood passion when a newspaper cartoon inspired her. Thinking it would make an excellent painting for her new home she bought materials and set about creating it in 2003.

Doyle, an active VISUALS volunteer for the past three years, is also a member of the North Shore Artists Guild and the Federation of Canadian Artists. In May 2007 she won the North Shore Artists Guild Jurors' Choice.

She works in acrylic and oil paints, and loves to explore with colour schemes, styles and subject matter. “All my paintings are different. No particular style stands out. My work represents who I am - someone who loves variety, enjoys the freedom of jumping from one thing to the next and likes to experiment. My mood is always changing so nothing is ever the same,” Doyle says.

Moonlit Sail is Doyle’s first heavily textured painting, a style she loves and plans to develop further. This work stands out for the self-confessed perfectionist because it came together so easily which is rare. “It takes me months and months, sometimes years to finish a painting to the point where I really like it. I am always coming back and putting a dab here and a dab there, changing this colour and that colour.

“That’s actually how I do anything in life. I focus on something to the minute detail. It frustrates other people if I am working on a committee project. In painting nobody else needs to be bothered by my perfectionism because I can do it all by myself.”

However, Doyle has found perfect can be effortless. “One of the things I learnt was how it doesn’t have to be hard. Moonlit Sail has to be the easiest painting I have ever done in the shortest amount of time. Yet it has won the People’s Choice.

“I was feeling very loose and easy when I created that painting. It just flowed. I didn’t have to rework things. It was virtually finished within a couple of days and then I made a few tweaks here and there. I took some time deciding where to put the sail boats in the picture.”

Doyle is preparing for VISUALS’ ArtWalk, held September 19 and 20 in venues across Squamish. Doyle’s works will be in the new Pure Flower Shop and Frame House, and the UpStares Gallery, both on Cleveland.

Samples of Doyle’s work can be viewed on her website, www.nsartists.ca/wandadoyle. Also visit www.squamishart.com.

Watercolours at Galileo + Upstares Gallery

2009-07-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

My new show is finally up at Galileo - so come in off the heat of the highway, enjoy an ice cold latté and check it out!
I'll also be doing a demo of my working process in the garden outside the Upstares Gallery on Saturday August 1st - so bring friends, family and lots of water..... look forward to seeing you there!

Art at the Market show August 1

2009-07-29T12:43:00.001-07:00

Visit VISUALS’ Art at the Market gallery to view fine art pieces created in Squamish, one of Canada ’s top spots for professional artists. Entry is free. Enjoy an exciting array of paintings, photography, pottery, woven, metal and more.

Exhibiting artists include Sheila Alonzo, Ed Colberg, Margreet Dietz, Wanda Doyle, Barbara Ellingson, Jan Phelan, Joanna Schwarz, Fran Solar and Michiko Splinter.

Vote for your favourite item on display in our People's Choice Draw for a chance to win art donated by one of our artists.

VISUALS will also be selling fundraiser raffle tickets: win an original ceramic bowl created by Jan Phelan valued at $900.

Meet the artists and discover their unique works on Sat August 1, 10am-4pm at Squamish Arts Council Building, 37950 Cleveland Avenue, Squamish, B.C. www.squamishart.com 1 866-333-2010

Whistler Art Walk: Function Block pARTy Opening Night

2009-07-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

Friday July 17 & August 21 6-9pm

FREE food and drinks, art, live music, artisans onsite and entertainment!

This is a Free event for everyone. Bring your friends, your family and even your dog! Remember the good ol' days when all the neighbours got together on the front lawns? When Mr. Johnsonville cooked hot dogs, that crazy lady danced in the street, you played hop scotch and the big kids sat around looking cool? Well times that by a hundred and you have the Function Junction Block pARTy!

Live Music with Jon Burr and Ivan the Terrible. DJs spinning live.

FREE SHUTTLE sponsored by Canadian All-Terrain

From Whistler Village Taxi Loop to Function Junction starting at 6pm. The shuttle will be looping every half hour. It will make a stop in Creekside at the Greyhound Bus Location on the way down to Function. The last shuttle leaves Function at 9:15pm.

Function Junction venues have varying hours of operation. Not all venues will be able to provide showings regularly throughout the summer. So, be sure to attend the Block pARTy in order to view the artwork in these galleries!

Squamish Artist & Visuals member, Laurel Terlesky's work will be on exhibition at Podium Auto.

Toby Jaxon wins VISUALS People's Choice

2009-07-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

VISUALS member and past president Toby Jaxon won the VISUALS People's Choice Award during our first Art at the Market group show in 2009.

Visitors voted for their favourite piece of art in this group exhibition and chose Toby's Tulip Daydream painting. Congratulations Toby!

The Chief newspaper published an article on her win and the show.

To read the entire article, click here

Final call for artists: Art at the Market

2009-07-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Sat Aug 1 (11am-3pm)
Are you signed up yet to participate in Art at the Market group exhibitions at the Squamish Arts Council building this summer? New members are welcome!

To register, please email margreetdietz@yahoo.com

Call for artists: ArtWalk

2009-07-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Participate in ArtWalk 2009, VISUALS annual showcase studio and gallery tour.

Saturday, September 19 &
Sunday, September 20
11am - 5pm daily

To register, contact Linda Bachman at backtobachman@yahoo.ca

New members are welcome!
See also http://squamishart.com/

Official opening of UpStares Gallery

2009-07-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

Opening Reception: Whistler ArtWalk 2009

2009-07-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 3rd - 6:30pm-9pm at the Lift Coffee Co.

Toby Jaxon's group of 6 paintings entitled "Our Ribbon of Roadway", an archival series of the old Highway 99, formerly a picturesque winding two-laned shoulderless strip of roadway, before it's evolution into an exemplar of 21st century transportation engineering. Toby Jaxon is a Visuals member and past president.

Come out for an evening of free live music, painting, appetizers, beer & wine!

For more information see Whistler ArtWalk.

First 2009 Art at the Market, 14 artists

2009-06-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

The first Art at the Market group show of 2009 saw 14 artists display their works. The show opened on June 27 and July 1. Above are photos of the show.

Many thanks to the artists who volunteered:
Maureen Brown
Sonia Richardson
Michiko Splinter
Sheila Alonzo
Joanna Schwarz
Jan Phelan
Linda Wagner
Ed Colberg
Toby Jaxon
Margreet Dietz

Jan Phelan, VISUALS fundraiser in the news

2009-06-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

The Chief newspaper ran a story on Jan Phelan's donation for the VISUALS annual fundraiser raffle:
Raffle offers world class art

Margreet Dietz
Special to The Chief
posted: June 19, 2009

Squamish – Visitors to this year’s Squamish Valley Artists Society (VISUALS) annual fundraiser can enter to win a very unique and valuable creation – a ceramic bowl by world-renowned artist Jan Phelan.

Phelan’s clay pieces are in collections of the Governor General of Canada, former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the late Canadian jazz pianist/composer Oscar Peterson as well as the Bronfmans and Reichmans.

Her work has also just been accepted into the Cheongju International Craft Biennale in South Korea, described as the Cannes Film Festival of Craft with more than half a million visitors attending each year.

To read the entire story, click here.

The Pique newspaper also ran the story, click here

UpStares Gallery in the news

2009-06-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

Whistler's Pique newsmagazine ran a story on the UpStares gallery:
A new home for the arts
Local artists team up to create Up Stares Gallery in downtown Squamish

By Holly Fraughton

The 1,000 square foot unit just upstairs from H&R Block on 37991 Cleveland Avenue has been used as an office, a private home, and now the space is being reincarnated as a new artistic hub for the community.

"Actually, it's one of our heritage buildings. It's old - it's been in the flood, razed," said Judy McQuinn, one of the proprietors of the new business. "That's what makes it so interesting, because it's almost like a maze - it's got seven rooms! So that gives us lots of wall space." Photos of Linda Bachman (top left), Michael and Monika Kanka (top right)

To read the whole story, click here.

Opening Reception: Transforming Natural Capital

2009-06-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Call for Artists: UpStares Gallery

2009-06-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

37991 A Cleveland Street, Squamish, BC

The UpStares Gallery space will be open to the public on July 1/09.

We have established a fair sales commission in the Gallery at 25% for our local artisans only. In addition, a fee of $25/ per month for 6 sq ft tabletop or wall space which includes a reception and the marketting for your work. Artists from outside the Sea to Sky Corridor will have a 35% sales commission charge applied.

All work must be original by the artist in all mediums with 2D and 3D works. Please send in your visuals with full descriptions, sizes, the net price expected and your artist biography before our inaugural opening DEADLINE JUNE 25/09.

Let us know what you need to make this studio space work for you.

Judy McQuinn (mcquinnmanor@shaw.ca)
Michael Kanka (michael@kds-photo.com)
Linda Bachman (backtobachman@yahoo.ca)

Garden Tour Showcase

2009-06-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Garden "tourists" and Linda Bachman (right)
at the Visuals showcase.

VISUALS displayed the work of its members on Sunday, June 14, alongside the annual Squamish Garden Tour.

VISUALS members had a Garden Tour Showcase themed, naturally, around garden plants and foliage at the Quest University Cafeteria at 3200 University Boulevard in Squamish, BC. Sunday June 14, 2009: 9am - 4 pm

“The Garden Tour is one of the highlights for Squamish Gardeners, a group dedicated to lush gardens and colourful flowers. Ten gardens participated in this year’s tour, all different in design and floral elements. Visitors could stroll through the gardens at their own pace led by a map on the ticket with a short introduction to each of the gardens. The tour ended at Quest University with a BBQ and a raffle. All the proceeds are going to the Friends of the Library. The Quest cafeteria also hosted a display of art selections from local artists provided by VISUALS. For more information about the Squamish Gardener’s visit www.squamishgardeners.com.” - SNAP Sea to Sky Newspaper

Visuals member photographer, Michael Kanka, took beautiful photos of the Garden Tour. To view photos, click here.

Sell your work in Britannia

2009-06-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

Carol Simonovic of Earthly Crystals & Gifts Inc. has opened her store of unique gift items and crystals in Britannia. She also has room for paintings and photographs if you would like to contact her about showing your work in her gallery space.

There is also a room with a separate entrance which individual artists may book for one or more days. This is a great opportunity to display your art while working on new pieces, as well as interacting with the public. The store currently gets around 500 visitors PER DAY and is open 7 days a week, 8:30 - 5:30. You would be required to man the space. There is no fee, however, commission on sales is 35%.

If interested, please contact Carol at 604 896-1999.

VISUALS Linda Wagner, AFCA, launches new website

2009-06-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Check out Linda Wagner's new website www.lindawagner.ca

PRESENTATION by Zoë Evamy: Work behind the award-winning art direction of “Zeke’s Pad”

2009-06-02T22:18:00.000-07:00

Zoë talking about Zeke "an incredible (14 yr old) artist who lives smack dab in the middle of one weird and wacky family" (top left). The developmental process: from character conception and illustrations to 3d animation (bottom left). Photos taken on the June 2nd meeting at the Squamish Arts Council building.

Look for "Zeke's Pad" on YTV in 2010. To view trailer, click here.

Documentary produced by Visuals' Erica Pelletier

2009-06-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

Visuals member, Erica Pelletier, co-produced a short documentary "The Eco Logical Pad: An Answer to Stuff" at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School (GIFTS) during the 2 week Producers' Intensive Program in May 2009.

"The Eco Pad is a solution to the current linear system paradigm. It introduces the design of a self sustaining eco-friendly structure anyone can build that can help us relearn to live in comfort and in harmony with our environment."

VISUALS board member Zoë Evamy in the news

2009-06-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

Liz Scully, creator of the animated TV series Zeke’s Pad, and Zoë Evamy, senior art director of the show, celebrate their respective ELAN awards at ceremonies in Vancouver April 13.

Written by Margreet Dietz Special to The Chief, posted 05.29.2009

Vancouver April 13 – Zoë Evamy, a local art director earned international recognition April 13 during Vancouver’s ELAN awards – formally known as Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts.

To read the full story, click here.

VISUALS stand at BC Conference

2009-05-23T11:10:00.000-07:00

The VISUALS stand with, from left to right, a Margreet Dietz painting, a postcard of a Linda Bachman painting and a lantern by Judy McQuinn

Margreet Dietz with one of her paintings

Joanna Schwarz with one of her photographs on canvas

VISUALS was invited to the annual Recreation Facilities Association of B.C. Conference, held in May, in Squamish.

VISUALS members and artists Linda Bachman, Joanna Schwarz, Sheila Alonzo and Margreet Dietz set up a stand to help promote our annual events such as Art at the Market and ArtWalk as well as our special exhibitions like this weekend's Garden Tour Showcase and the Silk Purse Gallery show planned for December.

VISUALS member Kay Austen in the news

2009-05-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

Potter Kay Austen in her studio (above)

and some of her finished work (left).

To highlight a VISUALS fundraiser organized by potter Kay Austen, newspapers The Chief, Pique and SNAP Sea to Sky News published an article submitted to them.

Original article
(Written by Margreet Dietz)

Kay Austen's explorations in clay during the past 40 years have allowed her to discover a lot more than a way to create her beautiful and functional pottery. As Kay shares her vast knowledge and unbridled enthusiasm for her art, the retired elementary school teacher's approach to the creation of her pieces shows wisdom and self-awareness that applies to much more than decomposed feldspathic rock.

Here is a link to the article as published by SNAP Sea to Sky.

ArtWalk 2009

2009-03-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

Jan Phelan's donation for the VISUALS ArtWalk annual fundraiser raffle.

This stunning bowl is titled Solara, 18.5" x 18.5" x 5" high and valued at $900.

ArtWalk is VISUALS' showcase weekend event, held every September.

Artists throughout Squamish open up their studios and other exhibition spaces to provide you with the unique opportunity to meet them in the places where they create their pieces of fine art. Discover their drive, inspiration and talent through the rich and diverse displays throughout our galleries, shops and artist studios.

All exhibitions are absolutely free. Pick up the free ArtWalk Guide at the many locations around town and participate in our self-guided tour - you'll be glad you did.

Win beautiful art prizes by simply getting your Key to Art stamped at our venues. This weekend is also the last chance to purchase a raffle ticket for an original Jan Phelan large ceramic bowl.

The winner in the annual fundraiser raffle will be drawn at 4:30 pm on Sunday.

Saturday September 19, 2009: 11am to 5:00pm
Sunday September 20, 2009: 11am to 5:00pm

Call for ArtWalk Artists PDF Here ::>

Art at the Market 2009

2009-03-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Art at the Market gallery is a group exhibition by VISUALS (held on three separate days in summer. Enjoy an exciting array of paintings, photography, pottery, stained glass, jewelry and more.

Entry is absolutely free. Come to simply view an eclectic collection of fine art. You may also discover pieces that will transform your home or office (suitable for all tastes and budgets).

And remember to vote for your favourite item on display in our People's Choice Draw for a chance to win art donated by one of our artists.

VISUALS will also be selling fundraiser tickets to help support our programs. Win an original ceramic bowl created by Jan Phelan (valued at $900).

The gallery is at the Squamish Arts Council Building in the park at 37950 Cleveland Avenue and is (wo)manned by the artists showing that day. Don’t miss the unique chance to meet the artists in one of Canada ’s top creative spots.

The Farmer's Market is held simultaneously next door.

Sat June 27, 2009: 11am - 3pm
Wed July 1, 2009: 11am - 7pm

Sat August 1, 2009: 11am - 3pm