With its January “White Sale” of art drawing to a close, the McMillan Arts Centre prepares to open its February exhibit with three feature artists and a collective from Craig Bay.
The February exhibits include James Dodd’s Watercolours of France; the birch bark pottery of Penny Harber; the abstract photography of Leroy Christenson and a collection of works from the Beachcomber Artists of Craig Bay.
The exhibit runs through the month of February during the MAC’s regular hours, 10 a.m.-
4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. An opening reception and sale will be held Saturday, Feb. 6 from
1-3 p.m.
Dodd, who moved to Victoria from mainland B.C. to attend university in 1968, has been drawing and painting most of his life. His work is in many private collections locally and internationally.
Dodd works in a variety of mediums. A majority of his work is in watercolour though he also works in acrylic and ink. He also has a home-based business: James Dodd Architectural Graphics and Illustration. James retired in June 2013 from the City of Colwood as a planning assistant and now spends his time painting and drawing in his studio in France and in his studio in Victoria.
The Beachcomber artists have been painting together at Craig Bay for the past several years. Coming from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and using different mediums, the group has bonded and grown artistically through sharing information and techniques and through group critiques. Members include Nancy Young, Carol Wilke, Carol Ortner, Elaine Meighen, Merrilyn Laursen, Nancy Klinger, Elsie Griffiths, Jan Fearn, Doreen Darby and Carol Chilton.
Harber is originally from Guelph, Ontario and moved to Vancouver Island 18 months ago. She has always had a passion for working in clay. As a young girl, Barber would pack a lunch, hop onto her bicycle and ride to the Don River where she would dig up some clay. Once she got the clay back home, she just loved forming little pots and of course – back then – ashtrays! She dried her pieces in the sun atop the flat roofed garage and, once they were nice and dry, she painted them with leftover house paint.
As a youth she took art classes at the Ontario College of Art and as an adult she was an active member of the Oakville Art Society as well as the Guelph Potter’s Guild. She has recently been working on many birch bark pieces, inspired by the trees and vegetation that surround her home.
Christenson is a Vancouver Island photographer specializing in abstract photography. He uses intentional camera movement to create impressionistic and abstract images, using in-camera techniques and experimentation to capture the visual essence of the moment.
McMillan Arts Centre is located at 133 McMillan Street in Parksville. For more, call 250-248-8185 or visit www.mcmillanartscentre.com.
— Submitted by The MAC