Three friends bonded by art are displaying a combination of their unique paintings at the Old School House Arts Centre in the Brown gallery until March 14.
Birgit Coath, Jacqueline Dunn and Valerie Giles, all juried members of the Federation of Canadian Artists, were brought together through their shared love of art when they were all living on the mainland.
“We almost all simultaneously moved to the Island,” Coath said. “We work together, we play together and we critique our work together.”
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The three friends formed a small coalition dubbed the Artists 3 where they from time to time display their work together.
“We put together an application and Corinne James (executive director of the Old School House Arts Centre) accepted us to have a show at the Brown gallery,” Coath said.
Coath said the three artists meet on a weekly basis to paint together.
“We have a real joyful time in not only producing work but also being with each other to improve our work,” she said. “We can critique each other’s work and it just is working so well…we have this wonderful working relationship where we’re eager to hear each other’s feedback.”
Coath describes her paintings as figures and flowers and creates her fine art in acrylics and oils. She is a multiple-award winning artist and her work is a manifestation of her personal journey.
“I started out because of my travels, painting faces and I saw the uniqueness in people that
shone through from their culture and how they were,” Coath said. “Typically I love doing Tibetans and country Mexicans; I wanted to tell their story.”
Dunn, a lifelong artist and art educator, also works with oils and acrylics and typically paints landscapes, forestscapes and gardens.
“[Dunn] was invited to China and she produced 40 or 50 paintings and she sold out,” Coath said.
Giles has been inspired by colour her whole life which she aims to capture in all of her paintings.
The Old School House Arts Centre is located at 122 Fern Rd. West in Qualicum Beach.