A dozen artists from Craig Bay are excited to show their work next month at the McMillan Arts Centre.
The Joy of Colour Art Show will be the second exhibition for the Beachcomber Artists.
The art group meets twice a week in the Beachcomber Room of the Craig Bay Beach Club.
A collection of artists with various amounts of experience and a wide range of interests, the group began in 2013 and has grown to 14 people, said Elsie Griffiths and Carol Chilton, both members and organizers of the group.
“We just like to paint, and we have a room available,” said Chilton. “Painting can be very isolating, so it’s nice to share ideas and see what different techniques people are doing.”
The group held its first show in February at the MAC with eight artists, though this upcoming show will take up two rooms of the MAC with 12 artists participating, Chilton said.
The focus this time was on colour, said Griffiths, though the theme was loose enough to allow for a wide range of subject matter and media.
Some artists focused on flowers, with others doing landscapes, wildlife, while one artist painted a portrait of the dog, Cedar, that she’s currently training for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
The group puts an emphasis on learning, both from each other and from art teachers that they bring in periodically.
“People provide a lot of support for each other,” said Chilton.
“It’s really quite nice because if you are having problems with your picture, you can ask somebody, and you get an honest opinion,” said Griffiths.
The group is open to anyone who lives in the Craig Bay community, though Griffiths and Chilton noted that the group has turned out to be all women, while many male painters have elected to paint outside in their own group.
Nonetheless, Griffiths re-iterated that anyone from the community can join.
The group meets Wednesday afternoons and all day on Thursdays.
The Joy of Colour Art Show takes place at the MAC from August 1-26, with the artist’s reception Saturday, August 5 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information, go to mcmillanartscentre.com/august-at-the-mac/.