There’ll be some new faces, new studios and new art to see at the Nanoose Bay Thanksgiving Studio Tour, set to take place from Oct. 7-9.
Photographer Kirsten Tambling is one of those new faces, and said she’s excited to join the studio tour community.
An artist that aims to capture the spirit of what she sees when she sees it, Tambling’s photographic experience began as a young child, she said.
“My mum was modelling in a catwalk show of ski-wear way back… (she) gave me a camera to take pictures of her on the catwalk and I got tons of pictures, but I didn’t get any heads. All I got was like bodies and feet, which were fabulous,” said Tambling with a smile.
“I’ve kind of improved a little bit since then.”
But her current perspective on the art didn’t coalesce until she had an epiphany, said Tambling.
“I worked in publishing for years, on motorcycle magazines,” she said. “So I used to tour all over Europe with bikes, and I’d take pictures in the pits.”
While on the pit wall taking some practice shots of her rider, realization about her work came, she said. “It was like, ‘What is it all about?’ It’s like rich people with tons of money having a really good time. And it’s in my blood, I love it, I’ve been in this industry for years, but enough is enough.
“So I kind of stepped away to focus on my work and be a little bit more creative,” said Tambling.
Her work now encompasses nature photography, landscape photography, underwater work, photos of people, and photos of small, unnoticed, everyday activities and objects.
Her process to get those shots is a lack of process, she said.
“I’m a very meditative person… When I was growing up, people said, ‘What do you want to be when you grow older?’ and I’m like, ‘I just want to be. Just let me be.’ And even now it’s just let me be, so that I can see what comes in that moment. That creative moment.
“There’s no plan in it. I just want to be left alone to kind of wander the hills and the oceans and see what I come up with… I never have a plan.”
Tambling’s aim is to move people with the photos she captures, she said. And not by way of photo editing — she wants her photos to look just the way they did when she took them, she said.
Tambling’s work will be available for viewing at Nanoose Place, 2925 NW Bay Rd., during the studio tour, along with several other artists on the tour.
Other new artists this year include bonsai artist Frank Corrigan; Deanna Corrigan with watercolours and quilting; painter Lou Gaskin; mosaic and fused glass artist Cindy Simon; and oil painter Sheila Warren.
The tour runs Saturday, Oct. 7 to Monday, Oct. 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Studio tour guides can be picked up at Nanoose Place during tour hours. For more info, go to www.nanoosebaystudiotour.com/index.php.