Parksville artists Lloyd Major and Judy Maxwell are the featured artists at Qualicum Art & Craft Supply.
Through their oil paintings, both Maxwell and Major portray realistic scenes of wildlife, landscapes and west coast inspired settings. Major is self taught and continues to teach art classes on Tuesdays at Nanoose Place. He even taught Maxwell when she first moved to Parksville.
“When me and my late husband moved to the Island we were retired and then we met Lloyd… he wanted me to take classes so I signed up for classes and that was it,” Maxwell said.
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Beginning as a sign painter, Major eventually found his love for oil paint and began painting seriously in 1993.
“I always wanted to be a fine artist,” he said.
The couple paint almost everyday from their home studio and both find inspiration in nature.
“I’ve always been enchanted by the beauty around us and I just wanted to put it on canvas,” Major said.
Maxwell agreed, saying it’s hard not to be inspired when you live in “paradise.”
“What’s not to paint,” Maxwell said.
“Everywhere you look there’s something to inspire you.”
Although both artists generally stick to realism in their paintings, they have dabbled in abstract as well.
“We like some abstract but it’s very difficult for us to try,” Major said. “We’ve tried a few and we’ve sold them but we always have a tendency to go back to realism.”
Both Maxwell’s and Major’s artwork hang in various galleries including the Village Gallery in Sidney and Sooke Harbour House in Sooke.
Maxwell and Major’s art will hang at Qualicum Art & Craft Supply (206 W. First Ave., Qualicum Beach) for about another month.