OPENING RECEPTION Saturday, March 8,  1-3pm

Bio: 

I grew up in with an interest in oil painting and through the years with pressures of work and family my art progress was primarily off and on with interest in watercolour and sketching.  Since retirement I have renewed my interest in painting and sketching.  I have taken numerous workshops mainly in pen and ink and watercolour was.  I have exhibited in Port Alberni at the Rollins Art Centre (The Grove) as well as The Old School House in Qualicum and the MacMillan Arts Centre.

Artist Statement:

With the change in our Covid 19 response systems we have all started travelling again and people are out moving around and getting back to travelling.   We have also started travelling again with a trip to Ireland in 2022 and to Hawaii in 2023.  

In the past years we have travelled extensively in Europe as well as trips to the Maritimes and Yukon.  Many of our trips were walking tours in the UK, Spain and Portugal.  With the start of travelling we look back at our memories and past experiences.   The Exhibit looks at those trips in an effort to capture the essence of those places in pictures.  I have also included some pictures of more local scenes as well as some sketches.  My sketches form a part of creating a larger piece and the ones included here are examples of those sketches.

The proposed exhibit looks back in time at our travels through Ireland, Scotland, England, Spain and Portugal.  The pieces are a mix of pen and ink with watercolour wash as well as mix medium of ink, watercolour and coloured pencil.  I have started experimenting in combinations of watercolour, ink and coloured pencil to create the feel and the effect that is different from pure watercolour or pure coloured pencil.  The combination of watercolour and coloured pencil produces a combination of detail and transparency that enhances the finished painting. 

Our walking holidays amerce us into the culture and the feel of the country we are walking through.  We aren’t flying by the countryside in a car but are up close and in the moment at each location.  We stay in B&Bs along the way and get a more intimate look at their lives and we are up close to the spaces we travel through.

I hope that all that view the exhibit take away something of value or spurs memories of their own as they view the pieces in the exhibit.

Jim Sears