A Qualicum Beach couple are putting aspects of their life and creative work on display in their first art exhibition on Saturday, April 8.
The new gallery at the McMillan Arts Centre will feature more than 30 acrylic paintings from Jo and John Sedgwick-Hall.
The exhibition is entitled Aspects of Life, as the pieces each offer a literal view into some aspect of their lives.
“It’s either from our hobbies or the things in the garden, the views from the upstairs or from the coast,” said Jo. “Things that we’ve seen around since we came here. Holidays we’ve taken. So everything is that,” she said.
“We grow fruit in our garden, so we paint fruit; we grow flowers, we paint flowers.”
Putting their lives on display is admittedly not the couple’s first instinct.
“We are two private, self-taught individuals,” said John.
But they’ve decided to go ahead with their first exhibition at the urging of friends.
“If we could do it anonymously, we would have done that,” said Jo with a small laugh of agreement from John.
Nonetheless, they said the upcoming show is exciting, and that they only hope their work can bring pleasure to those who see it.
Much of the work is bright, colourful and playful. Some is more restrained while other pieces get more experimental and abstract.
Both Jo and John enjoy experimenting with different styles and techniques, saying, because they are largely self-taught, they don’t feel beholden to any one style or technique, allowing for more exploration.
Another layer of interest comes in finding out how one of the artists influences or supports the work of the other. One piece featuring seagulls was achieved with Jo holding out breadcrumbs and a few of the birds getting a tad too close for comfort. Another piece is a double portrait of the same person — on one side John’s take, and on the other, Jo’s.
They both hope their work has a positive impact on those who see it.
The opening reception for the exhibit is Saturday, April 8 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the MAC and it will show for the month.