Okanagan Art Works - March 2011 by LizArt Studio

MARCH 2011

VOLUME 1 OF 2

On the cover:

Dave Watland

George Traicheff Meghan Wise Crystal Przybille Cameron Welch Call for Art:

May 2011 Cover Art Contest

Introducing: The first OAW Crossword Puzzle

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the first Okanagan Art Works issue of 2011. Filled with images and conversations, you can meet our cover artist Dave Watland and discover his love of rock; read about the ever talented George Traicheff and the art of egg tempera; find your way around the intricate art of Meghan Wise; follow Crystal Przybille as she creates the life-size sculpture of Father Charles Pandosy; and read the full version of Cameron Welch’s poem Creativity, Culture and Inspiration in Kelowna as performed so brilliantly at the Artsco Arts Award event held in Kelowna during February. There is also a new Cover Art contest running to find a wonderful piece of art for the cover of the May 2011 Anniversary issue. Find the entry form on page 12 to participate as an artist. Anyone and everyone is welcome to cast a vote to help find the winner. Visit www.okanaganartworks.com to cast yours. New this month is the Okanagan Art Works (OAW) Crossword Puzzle—see page 40. This is the first of a series of crosswords about Okanagan artists. Give it a try. It is fun and you can win a 1/4 page ad in the May 2011 issue. Okanagan Art Works is in the process of being restructured with many exciting ideas on content, style and activities lined up for future issues. Part of the new format will also be the introduction of paid subscription from June 2011 onwards. Let me know how this makes you feel. Last, but by no means least, I am so proud to let you know that as editor and publisher of Okanagan Art Works art publications, I was awarded the Okanagan Arts Awards ‘Supporter of the Arts’ trophy in February. Thank you again to everyone who nominated me and to the judges at Artsco for acknowledging what I am working towards: wide spread recognition of local artists. This wonderful sculpture is the creative design of Tina Siddiqui, see page 38. And so we start this new year of art publications. Enjoy reading this issue. I welcome your feedback.

Liz

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Art Lover

OKANAGAN ART WORKS March 2011

Publisher:

Sea to Sky Artworks Ltd

Editor:

Liz Burnett

Content & Design: Liz Burnett Contributing:

Jeanne Bates

Contact info:

Okanagan Art Works P O Box 20084 Kelowna, BC, V1Y 9H2 Canada

Website:

www.okanaganartworks.com

Email:

info@s2sartworks.com

_________________________________________

OKANAGAN ART WORKS is published on-line with a bi -annual printed edition. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited. OKANAGAN ART WORKS makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes, but cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. _________________________________________

Artists published in this issue of OKANAGAN ART WORKS are granting us permission to publish their work and images on the cover and throughout this issue via the internet and hard copy as needed, to help bring attention to this publication and their work. Copyright of all the artworks in this issue belong to the respective artists. _________________________________________

This month’s cover: ‘On the Rocks’ by Dave Watland © See page 14 _________________________________________

ÂŠ www.okanaganartworks.com

OKANAGAN ART WORKS MARCH 2011 INDEX Page 14

COVER ARTIST: DAVE WATLAND a rock star in his own way

GEORGE TRAICHEFF and his close connection with nature

MEGHAN WISE growing into her name

CRYSTAL PRZYBILLE realizing a dream

CAMERON WELCH “Creativity, Culture, and Inspiration in Kelowna”

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN . . KELOWNA * The story behind the sculpture Cheers Okanagan * Viv’Arts, the travelling exhibit of the Francophone Cultural Council of BC.

CALL FOR ART the May 2011 Anniversary Cover Art Contest

OAW CROSSWORD PUZZLE No. 1

George Traicheff

and his close connection with nature When you grow up with a deep love of wildlife and nature, it stands to reason that this love will play an important role in your adult life. So it is with George Traicheff who, as a child, spent many days tracking animals and studying nature with his grandfather. Today he is a highly regarded wildlife artist and photographer and what other great artists have taught him, he in turn has passed on to others. “My ideal in life was to be a biologist and a wildlife pho-

At the time art was only a pastime in George’s life and it

tographer. I have always been an outdoor person but

was not until he attended the Animals in Art exhibition in

reality woke me up when I went to university to study

Toronto that he felt inspired to become an artist. This

biology and discovered the odds of getting a job in that

lead to studies with oriental master Tom Loo, the Art Stu-

field had a very poor return. So I switched to commerce.”

dents League (NY), and Ecole des Beaux Arts in Montreal.

Previous page: Autumn Knight, acrylic, © George Traicheff

Below: Prairie Dust, casein, © George Traicheff

One of the oriental art practices he took with him from

It is interesting to note that should there be two chops on

his studies with Tom Loo was to stamp his art with a

a painting, one will indicate the artist’s name, and the

Chinese chop. Once an oriental master feels you are

other will say that the artist is especially pleased with the

ready to be an artist, he will give you your Chinese

outcome of this painting and that he feels it is one of his

painting name and the chop to sign your artwork with. In

better ones. A second chop could also be a dedication

George’s case his Chinese name is “Eye of the Wolf” and

chop indicating that the artist has dedicated that painting

this chop mark will sometimes be seen on his artwork to-

to his master. These are signs to look for when buying

gether with his signature *see image below+.

better quality oriental art.

George is well known for his use of different art media.

had to redraw and redo the whole painting, but it is a

One in particular is his successful application of egg tem-

great painting. There are probably a 100 hours or so in

pera, a challenging and time consuming art medium. The

that painting.

beauty of egg tempera is the soft translucency obtained by the many layers of tiny strokes or dots of paint.

“I got the inspiration from the rabbits who used to come by a little studio I had. There was one area where the wind

“Over the Morning Dune [see image below] was a very

used to blow the sand up into a heap and for some reason

difficult painting to do,” he said. “The background gradi-

when the rabbits came along the trail, they would not

ates so much and to keep the separation without blurring

walk across the sand, but leap over it instead. I sat there

it, and to keep the shadow and light, working with all of

one morning with my coffee watching them and thought

that, it was really difficult. The background is about

‘what a neat little painting’. That is why it is called Over

twenty nine different layers. It was really a lot of work.

the Morning Dune. It is one of my favorites, my Watership

Also, when I did the rabbit, the feet were too high and I

Down painting.”

Previous page: Morning Delight, egg tempera, © George Traicheff

Below: Over the Morning Dune, egg tempera, © George Traicheff

Egg tempera is probably one of the oldest forms of painting in the history of art. For many years it was used in religious icons and even Michaelangelo used egg tempera when painting the Sistine Chapel. George explains the complexity of using this medium:

acrylic. It will peel off. “You also have to make your own paint by drying the egg yolk in a paper towel, piercing the membrane to release the yolk into a bowel, mix this with equal parts pigment and water, and add a dash of vinegar. The paint will last

“It is made from egg yolk and pigment and cannot be ap-

about 24 hours in a refrigerator so you have to mix

plied to modern day supports such as canvas or paper. It

enough to last for the entire painting as to remix exactly

is best used on a permanent substrate such as a wood

the same colour afterwards is not possible.

panel.

“The paint is put on layer after layer in a cross-hatched or

“The substrate has to be prepared by painting it with

pointed technique. This allows the under layers to show

layers of rabbit hide glue warmed to the consistency of

through and is what gives the painting its luminescence.

honey. It takes an hour for a layer to dry and at least two layers are required.

“I do my backgrounds with a sand technique. It gives the painting a really good gradiation. I mask out my image-

“You have to make your own gesso as modern day gesso

with masking fluid. Then I take cardboard and build a

is made from acrylic and the egg tempera will not stick to

tray around my painting. I mix the paint very thin and

Below: Night Flight, egg tempera, © George Traicheff Opposite page bottom: Mule Deer, acrylic, © George Traicheff

Opposite page top: The artist George Traicheff

pour it into the tray with pumice sand. Using a hairdryer I dry the paint and cover the entire background this way. When it is dry I brush off the pumice sand, mix the next colour and do it again. This works really well to get the soft blending effect. It is hard work but a lot of fun. “I don’t do so many egg tempera paintings anymore as the amount of work is incredible. The people do not want to pay the price you have to charge for putting 150 hours into a painting. In general I charge by the square inch, not the time as people do not look at time when they want to buy a painting. They look at size. So I average out a charge per square inch and add my plus or minus factor to this. The price per square inch varies per medium. Buyers do compare and this way it evens it out.” To learn how to paint with egg tempera, contact George Traicheff. See below for details.

OAW

George Traicheff is a well known oil, watercolour, egg tempera, and pastel painter, and lithographer. He is a popular teacher in these fields. He can be contacted by email at traicheffart@shaw.ca All images in this article supplied by George Traicheff.

ÂŠ www.okanaganartworks.com

CALL FOR ART - OKANAGAN ART WORKS MAY 2011 ANNIVERSARY COVER ART CONTEST www.okanaganartworks.com

We are looking for a special cover for the 1st Anniversary Edition. Here is your chance to get your artwork onto the May 2011 cover! There are a few simple rules to follow: 1. Any visual artist 18 years and older and residing in the Okanagan region, who has not been on the cover of OKANAGAN ART WORKS yet, is welcome to enter. 1. All visual arts genre can be entered: paintings, fiber art, ceramics, sculptures, jewellery, etc. 2. Your work will be judged by digital images. 3. Images will be displayed on-line at www.okanaganartworks.com, on Twitter, and on Facebook, and voted on by the public through on-line voting. 4. Judging will be done on a points basis. Therefore, the sooner you enter, the more viewers will see your work, and the more points you can earn. 5. This competition starts now and continues till the deadline on April 25, 2011 6. A feature article on the winning artist will appear in the same May 2011 issue. 7. A CDN$25 non-refundable fee is due for every two items submitted by an artist. You can submit as many entries as you wish. Cheques are to be made payable to Okanagan Art Works. Print out, complete and submit this page with your artwork images to enter: MAY 2011 ANNIVERSARY COVER ART CONTEST NAME: __________________________________________________ TELEPHONE: ___________________________________ MAILING ADDRESS: _______________________________________________________________________________________ CITY/TOWN: _____________________________________________ POSTAL CODE: _________________________________ E-MAIL: _________________________________________________ WEBSITE: _____________ ________________________ TYPE OF ART: ____________________________________________ NUMBER OF ARTWORK SUBMITTED: _______________ TITLE OF ARTWORK: _____________________________________ _ TITLE OF ARTWORK: _____________________________ I HEREBY GIVE PERMISSION FOR AN IMAGE OF MY COMPETITION ARTWORK TO BE LISTED ON-LINE AS PART OF THE OKANAGAN ART WORKS – MAY 2011 ANNIVERSARY COVER ART COMPETITION. IMAGES RELEASE SIGNATURE: DATE: _________________________________________ PAYING BY CHEQUE?  PAYING BY CREDIT CARD? CREDIT CARD NO.: ________________________________SCS NO.:_______ EXP. DATE: _______ SEND YOUR COMPLETED ENTRIES, IMAGES AND SUBMISSION FEES TO: OKANAGAN ART WORKS – MAY 2011 ANNIVERSARY COVER ART COMPETITION P O BOX 20084, KELOWNA, BC, V1Y 9H2 ANY QUESTIONS? CONTACT LIZ BY EMAIL INFO@S2SARTWORKS.COM, OR TEL.: 250.215 0929

Dave Watland a rock star in his own way Rocks do not have a lot of significance to many people, but what would that stream sound like without the rocks? It would just be mud in a bog, claims Dave Watland, the rock artist from Lake Country. “I started painting rocks twelve years ago when a nephew chal-

lenged me. He was nineteen at the time, a budding artist and said if I painted a picture for him, he would do one for me. I had a picture of rocks, painted that painting three times and gave it to him. That was one of my first rock paintings. He still has not delivered his end of the challenge, but that was when I realized rocks are kind of cool. “Why do I paint rocks? There really is not a right or a wrong rock. When you paint a rock, it does not have to look like what you see, as there is probably a rock that looks like it somewhere out there. They are an odd shape, and painting a large picture of rocks is like doing a 1,000 piece puzzle, you do it one rock at a time. “It is all about capturing the feel of a bed of rocks, to get the lighting right. It is hard to put this into words. It is as if nature breathes into your soul. There are a lot of people who never get past the outskirts of their concrete city. I don’t know what inspires them, but to me nature is there to explore, that is where I feel at one with my Creator. “I am known as the rock artist and that is a label, I know, and I do paint about 50% rocks, but I think I have found a niche with this as the more I do rocks, the more I see other artists do rocks. That is what art is all about, to inspire others.” Left: Wapiti At Pyramid Mt, oil on canvas, 36 x 12, © Dave Watland Opposite page: Riverside Reflection, oil on canvas, 36 x 48, © Dave Watland

Dave has not always been a fine artist, yet everything he

In running that business for twelve years I went through

has ever done has always involved art in one way or an-

heartache and pain with that job, but I had to develop a

other. From painting murals, to painting planes for air-

thick skin. That helps me a lot in my painting today. It

lines, to running his own graphic arts business, to working

really does not matter what people think of my work.”

for the Leadership Center, there was always something to do with designs all his life. There was the good and the

It was not till 2001 when Dave started painting. In a sense he feels he was a closet painter.

bad and he feels it was the running of his own graphics business that thickened his skin.

“I had paintings stashed away in a room at the back, or on a sketch board and all the artwork we had on our walls

“Today if someone says to me they don’t like a painting I did, it does not matter. You don’t always paint a winner. You have to paint many paintings to get to that winner. In the graphics business you do the logos for companies. Some logos last perhaps ten to fifteen years. Others not long at all. I have always done what I loved, even in graphics design, but never enjoyed the business side of it.

were purchased from other artists. Also, coming back from a day of page lay-out, all the creativity was sucked out of me and I just did not feel like painting. My wife really encouraged me to paint and as I wanted to paint full time by the time I turned fifty, we spoke about it and then took the risk. It has been fun just painting and doing what I love since then.”

The first time Dave exhibited his work publically was at

“When I first started painting I painted in watercolors. In

the ArtWalk show of 2004. He sold three paintings. A Pro-

2008 I started in oils. I did a series of fifty-two paintings, a

fessor of Stream Management from UBC bought one of

painting a week, as a form of exercise. It was a good way

Dave’s River paintings. What a compliment and a boost of

of keeping me accountable to the task of painting.

confidence this was.

“Now I have about three or four paintings on the go at the

“I love to encourage other artists,” he says. “My story is

same time. Sometimes they never get past that stage. I

not alone. The reason people our age are hindered from

love to paint but as soon as you add pressure, I don’t en-

their creativity is because there was someone in their

joy painting anymore. If I was in five or six galleries and

childhood who squelched that desire to create. I had a

my work was selling well, the galleries would be hounding

friend who said his dad told him to stop drawing stupid

me for more work, good work, and I have to deliver. Then

drawings. Another example is my cousin who has just

it becomes a duty.

turned sixty. She does beautiful pastel art today and she had an art teacher who told her she was no good. How many stories are buried like this?

“I am at a comfortable pace right now. Sometimes I paint for long hours, sometimes I go two or three days without painting. I show in coffee houses, at ArtWalk and at my

“I am at real peace with my soul where I am right now.

Christmas show at my own house. That is where I do

Modern culture and the rat race we invite into our lives

most of my sales. I have more paintings going out the

often make us do things we have to do, not want to do. I

door than staying in my studio and that is good.

believe if you do your passion, the money will come, but many people give up too soon. I regret not doing this sooner but I am where I am now.

“This year I want to do three large paintings a month. I would like to do about thirty six paintings this year. It is just a goal, not that I have to, but I want to.

Below: Beginning of Fall, watercolor, 11 x 28, © Dave Watland Opposite page: On the Rocks, watercolor, 18 x12, © Dave Watland This painting sold a couple of years ago at ArtWalk. The lady came by two or three times and said ‘I didn’t come to buy art, but I’ going to have to take this one home. She had a tear in her eye and told me as a young girl she used to play with and this painting reminded her of that. That is the beauty of a piece of art. It can recreate a memory for the viewer or it can tell part of the story and the viewer finishes it the way they want to see it.

Dave is primarily a realist painter. He does a little bit of impressionism but his first joy is realism. “I love to recap something the way I see it”, he says, “yet, rarely is my reference material duplicated in a painting. For instance my elk painting is fairly close to the reference material, but the elk was standing somewhere else. I just moved him there to fit that painting. “We have a cabin in the Kootenays and I spend about forty days there a year painting or taking reference material. It is pristine wilderness and many of my paintings are influenced by the Kootenays. “When I spend a few days in nature I am always looking for the aha! moment. Maybe it is the

To contact Dave Watland, and view more images of his work,

composition, maybe it is creation, my biggest inspiration. My wife is behind me 100% and that is an inspiration in itself.

visit his blog at www.davewatland.com All images in this article supplied by Dave Watland.

“I get really encouraged when someone buys my art because it has recaptured a memory, or triggered something that has touched them. That is what I want to do. I want to move people when they see my art. Some people do. Some people don’t. It is different for everyone. “Our eyes are the window to the soul and as artists we are baring our souls with our art.”

OAW

Previous page: Drive Thru Daisies, oil on Canvas, 12” x 16” © Dave Watland These daisies caught my eye at a drive-thru Tim Hortons in the Kootenays. Sometimes a inspiration for a painting will come by just being aware. Right: Rivers-Studio Study, acrylic, 36 x 36, © Dave Watland Rivers is what I call a studio study. I was asked to do a live paint for a benefit concert to raise money for Haiti, and this was my practice painting before the actual event. Rivers to me depicts Haiti’s lack of water, clean water for drinking and the need-forliving water. This painting represents healing for Haiti. Above Right: The artist Dave Watland.

Meghan Wise growing into her name If you like something, you explore it, you figure out what you like about it, and you teach yourself how to make it your own. This is the important creative foundation for Meghan Wise, eclectic artist from Kelowna. Art chose Meghan from a very young age as it was some-

accumulated into a style. I don’t know what you would

thing that always felt comfortable and easily accessible.

call it. I have a reluctance to label it as a label puts it

Neither of her parents were artists, yet creativity was

somewhere specific, weighs it down somewhat. Now it

something that was nurtured in their children.

can float between different areas. It has an adaptability

“We were always allowed to do what we wanted to,” Meghan remembers, “and art is something I will do re-

and a kind of evolution to it and its own unique creative entity.

gardless of anything else in my life.”

“There is a story behind each painting. In my head it is

Does her eclectic style have a name?

quite extensive, yet in the painting it may come across as lines, dots, images, or layers. Even just a cloudy glaze

“I let other people name it,” she says. “I just create what I feel and think at the time. I have an interest in and passion for nature, archeology, geology, and ancient civilizations. I play with these concepts and over time they have

over the top has its own purpose, its own meaning. It is so important to me that we honour people in life, our evolution, our return to nature and this is a beautiful way of showing it.”

Below: Little House In The Woods. Solitary Escape, mixed media on canvas, 18 x 36, © Meghan Wise Opposite page: Fossilization Of The Robins Egg, mixed media on canvas, 36 x 36, © Meghan Wise

summer and I was in the woods by my home with a friend looking for turtles in the many ponds in the area. Late in the afternoon we were on one side of a large pond when a black bear had come up a path on the opposite side of the pond. We froze. Fight or flight? We ran. We ran a long way through unknown terrain before coming to a logging road. As we followed the road we began to hear sounds in the brush behind us but whenever we looked down the dirt path there was nothing there. After a half hour we came to a rocky ridge from where we could see our houses in the distance. While we had stopped the bear had come up behind us. It stood up and made a sound that only a wild creature could produce. This time I did not hesitate, I did not freeze, I ran. It was one of those moments that you don't doubt for a second the mortal danger you are in and something very primal takes over. It was self preservation.”

The story of: Nature Is Not Outside Of Us It Is Part Of Us, The story of: Peering Into The Soul Of The Bear To

mixed media on wood, 24 x 24, © Meghan Wise. (See image

See Our Own Reflection, mixed media on paper, 15 x

below left)

22, © Meghan Wise. (see image above) “When I was 12 I was stalked by a black bear. It was

“When I was small, maybe five, my grandma had come on one of our my wooded outings. It was a sunny spring day and my sister and I were walking with her on a trail. As we walked along we were hearing really strange sounds. My Grandma didn't seemed too phased by. As the sound grew louder and more intense Grandma picked up our hands and started heading back down to the truck with a sense of urgency. As we made our way there a large bull came charging down the trail. I remember the tug of her hand on mine as my feet fumbled to keep up. The bull charged down the path as we made it to the truck and carried on to an area on the other side of us where some cows were grazing. It was spring after all and we had parked ourselves between the bull and his desires. Perhaps that is why I subconsciously depict bulls in my work.”

The story of: Retaliation. Biting The Hand That Exploits, mixed media on wood, 24 x 24, ÂŠ Meghan Wise (see below):

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Civilization is a human concept. We have built it and now we depend upon it. We are pushing nature to a braking point while at the same time we distance ourselves from the very thing that we are which is nature. That interests me because I feel that humans have tried to put themselves outside of the laws of nature. That we are exempt from the cycles and laws that govern all life forms. Which I think is just ridiculous. More species have gone extinct in the last century and will go extinct in the next 100 years than in any other time in history. We are in the current stages of a human caused extinction. What we as humans are capable of is shocking. In these new pieces most of the creatures are stitched together. It represents the interference of humans and how nature will restore itself in spite of us. The stitching on the human skulls shows a void where once there was a brain and an understanding of balance.â&#x20AC;?

The inspiration behind: Night Traveller, mixed media on

and a hornet square off in my garden. It was an intricate

wood, 16 x 20. ÂŠ Meghan Wise (see image below)

five minute battle with well choreographed moves by the spider. The hornet couldn't match the piercing fangs of

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Seeking out small creatures was a constant as a child and

venom and the sticky threads that held him fast.â&#x20AC;?

nature never ceased to provide some fascinating organism to ponder or poke at. My sisters and I used to go out

Meghan uses acrylics, pastels, ink, just about anything she

at night to find those secretive ones that only operate in

can use to create a different way to pull out an image.

the cover of darkness. The snail in this painting is one such

Her painting style is as eclectic as her paintings, as her

creature. In my imagination he is a nomad traveller of the

own personality. One of her favourite techniques is the

night. Even now I get giddy and excited over finding little

blending of the photograph and the drawing. The two

creatures in the back yard. Once I found a slug that

media are so opposite yet work so well together in her

spanned from the tips of my fingers down past my wrist.

paintings, and her creative process is equally untethered

He was splendid. Another time I watched a wolf spider

in its capturing of free flowing ideas and images.

“I don’t start a canvas with the idea of having a specific outcome,” she explains. “When I am done, that is what it will look like. To me it is always the constant evolution and evaluation of what I am feeling, what I am thinking, what story am I telling, where is this leading me, where am I leading it. There are a lot of layering processes that take place, and as those layers start to emerge, they give a new layer to my story and I incorporate that. I love the translucence of this style. As I build up the layers, you can still see the layers underneath. A story gets contained visually into those layers to leave something there to look at and interpret. It is a fun process. “There are things I always try to incorporate though, like flowers, circles and dots. I do a lot of detailed dot work and even though it takes time, it means a lot to me. Everything is made of a cellular

Meghan Wise can be contacted by email at art@meghanwise.com All images in this article supplied by Meghan Wise.

structure and within every layer of earth there is so much going on. Dots going up could be the releasing of spores, nature releas-

Above: The artist Meghan Wise

ing its ability to reproduce. It is like looking at a cross section of

Below: Infinite Possibilities, mixed media on canvas,

geology where you see all those events that took place through

18 x 20, © Meghan Wise

time. After all this time nature is still functioning even if something created a change, like a flood, or an earthquake. No matter what has happened over these millions of years, life continues, it fights, it does not give up. There are no vacuums in nature. “I love to hear how people see my paintings. They don’t have to like my work, it is more about how they interpret it. Since I was little it does not matter what people think of me and I have never altered how I would do something because someone disliked it. I also would not gravitate to something because someone loved it. I don’t do it for someone else. I do it for myself. It is how I tell a story, how I express myself. It is my own conversation in my head, even in a simple painting where not much is going on. “I do put myself in a position in each of these paintings though. I might be a hidden image behind perhaps, or a line at the bottom, or flowers. It would change for each painting and how it would be projected, but as I paint, I tell my personal story.”

Crystal Przybille realizing a dream The Father Pandosy Mission in Kelowna was the first Euro Canadian settlement in the Okanagan Valley. 2010 marked its official 150th Anniversary. In commemoration of this significant celebration, local artist Crystal Przybille and the Okanagan Historical Society are working together to create a public life-sized bronze sculpture of Father Charles Pandosy. Once completed, this sculpture will stand in the arboretum in Mission Recreation Park, in Kelowna BC. Here is a rare insight into this project from the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point of view. OAW: How did you get involved with the Father Pandosy

When I described my vision for the project, the represent-

project?

atives shared in that vision, and felt it a unique and worthy endeavour to, in this way, permanently commem-

CP: I had the general concept for the work 12 years ago,

orate this significant, local anniversary. The proposal was

when I lived in an old cabin in a field between the Pan-

approved by the OHS Executive Council, and the process

dosy Mission and the Mission gravesite. I was in a rela-

of realizing the dream began in earnest.

tionship with a man who's great grandfather had owned the Mission property at the turn of the last century, so my

OAW: What research did you do on Father Pandosy.

existence was entwined with that land and its history. I began my research of the Pandosy Mission. It was my

CP: I hit the libraries, the internet, the museum archives,

thinking that Kelowna would benefit from a sculpture

and read everything I could get my hands on. I found

commemorating this influential figure of Father Pandosy,

every photo I could of Pandosy (though there aren't

and this fundamental, local history of which he was a part,

many). I found much of the most directly accessible infor-

and I dreamed of making that sculpture.

mation regarding Pandosy was uncomfortably Eurocentric. My discomfort grew the more I read. I began to

It was a dream I once described to Chris Fabbi, who is the

feel awkward about the project. I didn't want to create

caretaker of the Mission site. I can't remember when I

something Euro-centric, or oppressive. I didn't want to

first mentioned the idea to him, I have known him for

create a piece of art that, like many of these books, tells

years. He had always thought the idea a good one, never

only one side of a complicated story, or that perpetuates

forgot it, and in the winter of 2009 he approached me and

an idea that our current state of privilege is based on a

said "Crystal, if you want to make that sculpture, next

kind of entitlement. And yet, here was my chance to real-

year is the 150th Anniversary of the Mission, and wouldn't

ize a dream I'd held for over a decade. I had a moral strug-

now be the time?" and he kindly offered to facilitate a

gle, and I knew I needed to expand my vision for the work

meeting between me and Okanagan Historical Society

to address this.

Father Pandosy Committee representatives so that I might

Previous page: The life size clay sculpture of Father Pandosy. Work in progress. Artist Crystal Przybille. Image ÂŠ Crystal Przybille

propose the idea.

OAW: What personal details did you discover that you

of spiritual significance in Syilx culture.

felt you specifically wanted to include in your sculpture? OAW: Has learning about Father Pandosy had any perCP: This sculpture is, of course, a portrait in large part, and

sonal change on your life?

there are the obvious physical characteristics: The towering height, the powerful hands that Pandosy worked,

CP: Yes, this research and project has been very influential

blessed, and occasionally got in fist-fights with. His eccen-

on me. It has been a testament to following dreams, and

tric leather belt, his wild, wooly beard and altogether dis-

in striving to make them a reality, and to the wisdom of

tinct looks - he referred to himself as ugly, but his photos

listening to conscience, especially when it's intimidating to

reveal intriguing, elegant features, really. Apart from the

do so. I was born and raised in the Okanagan, so better

physical details, I have a sense of who Pandosy was inter-

understanding the history of this Valley enriches my sense

nally. It is a sense based on the writings of others, and on

of place and belonging. I can't explain all of what I have

what I can read between those lines, but also based on a

learned, and how it has changed my life so far. It has been

sense that I am internally similar to him, in ways. That

very positive.

shouldn't be taken too far, but what I mean is that I feel I can feel a compassion and understanding towards him. I

OAW: Did you work closely with the First Nations tribes?

want to capture his subtleties, his internal paradoxes and struggles. He preached peace, yet had a fiery temper. He

Being discouraged regarding the Euro-Centricity of many

made a vow of obedience, and yet he struggled with au-

expressions regarding Pandosy, and realizing this was an

thority. When war broke out in the States, he fled from

ongoing problem that I didn't want the sculpture to

the military with the Yakima Indians. When his Father

become part of, the vision for the project needed to ex-

died, he wanted to abandon the Oblate order and return

pand. I thought about it, did more research, talked with

to France. He was poetic, and found joy and solace in

people about it. Finally the realization came that, done

song. He loved, helped, taught, and served the indigenous

well, this sculpture could respect both Euro-Canadian cul-

cultures here, and in Washington, but also, unwittingly,

ture - the significance of Pandosy and his role in settle-

oppressed them. I want to capture Pandosy's humanity.

ment and agriculture in the Valley, while at the same time presenting and respecting Syilx culture. The sculpture

OAW: Why do you show him walking into the wind?

would then become a contemplation on collective history, settlement, and pre-emption. This word â&#x20AC;&#x153;contemplationâ&#x20AC;?

CP: The windblown composition is very important in this

was offered to me by a wise friend, and it is the right

work. It was something based on intuition at first, but now

word.

I understand the wind symbolizes several things: The challenges Pandosy faced internally, and also physically. The

When I contacted a representative from Westbank First

turbulence caused by the methods of European settle-

Nation regarding the sculpture, and was invited to meet, I

ment, and the long-term turmoil that created for the Syilx.

was very pleased, but also nervous. I was worried that

And the wind as one of the four interconnected elements

anger and resentment regarding an oppressive past might

be too great to allow for the acceptance of a statue of

to the Syilx, sent by God, and therefore provides a cultural

Pandosy, regardless of my vision and intent for the work.

balance to Pandosy. The four interconnected elements of

However, when I met with Elder Delphine Derickson and

fire, earth, water and air, which are at the core of Syilx

Research Curator Gayle Liman, I found them very warm,

spiritual belief, are also featured within the work. The

very friendly. I felt quickly at ease because it was evident

windblown frieze, and the gestures of the symbols (for

we could speak naturally, openly, and frankly with one

example, Coyote howling, Bear snarling) represent Syilx

another, and discuss what needed to be addressed with

cultural strength, and also turmoil.

mutual respect. They, in fact, expressed deep gratitude for being considered and approached. They expressed

OAW: How did the First Nations tribes influence your

their concerns, and their feelings, they listened carefully

ideas and final concept of the sculpture?

to my thoughts and ideas, and agreed to work with me to include Syilx perspective in the work. I have consulted

CP: There is a lot of natural wisdom, power, and beauty in

with them on quite a few occasions, and at important

the Syilx culture, and much that can be learned from their

junctures in the work. I am very grateful for their open-

traditional beliefs and ways. These resonate with me. In

ness, their willingness to share, and to move forward

the past, many settlers came with an attitude of domina-

together. All that has unfolded has laid the foundations

tion and determination. There wasn't a lot of listening

for a work of art that will, I hope, encourage people to

energy extended to the Syilx culture. So, I hope the sculp-

contemplate the inclusive past, and how that past effects

ture will help encourage this kind of listening and contem-

the present, and how the present effects the future.

plative energy. Below: Father Charles Marie Pandosyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;courtesy historylink.org

OAW: What about the imagery of First Nations symbols?

CP: I then did a lot more reading on Syilx culture. I realized it was as vital to the work to research this, as it was to research Pandosy. I realized too, that certain ideas I'd had for the frieze were not as important to represent as First Nation imagery, so I decided to devote the frieze to Syilx imagery. I pin-pointed the main Euro-Canadian content within the sculpture: settlement, spirituality, agriculture, and then determined which Syilx imagery provided balance to this. I determined to represent the Four Food Chiefs (which had been introduced to me by Delphine and Gayle), as they represent not only aspects of Syilx spirituality, but traditional hunting and gathering food sources: Black Bear, Salmon, Bitter Root and Saskatoon. Coyote would join them in the frieze, as he (Sen'Klip) is a teacher

OAW: What was your research in making a black wool

only being considerate. Ha. No. I read that Pandosy often

replica of his robe?

carried a blanket where he went, so it is a detail that is specific to him. It also works great compositionally, and

CP: In retrospect I should have made it in a medium grey,

in the sculpture the blanket transitions into water, with

because I would have been able to more clearly docu-

salmon swimming in it, both Syilx imagery. Blankets were

ment the light and shadows of the folds. But Pandosy

also a big-deal then, of course, for both Euro-Canadian

wore a black robe, like all the priests did, and so I went

and First Nation culture. Most were the Hudson Bay Point

about making a black one. Interestingly, Pandosy wore a

blankets, and they are loaded with symbolism pertinent

Jesuit robe for a long time, though he was of the Oblate

to the era.

order. During the excavation of the Pandosy Mission gravesite in 1983, a scrap of black wool was found in the

OAW: What about the modeling process?

priest's coffin, so I wanted to replicate the weight and texture of that fabric in a garment for the model to wear.

CP: I felt like a storm-chaser, checking wind-reports, fol-

I looked at photos of Pandosy in his robe, and the cassock

lowing weather patterns, rushing to exposed places car-

in the museum, measured my model and got to it. Actu-

rying all kinds of equipment. It took some weeks of run-

ally, my mom did most of the work on the cassock.

ning around until the weather and location was right. The

Thanks mom!

model was a bit ruffled by my requirements, but accommodating.

OAW: Why did you cover his shoulders with a blanket? The main model for Pandosy is my husband, who hapCP: The statue will be outside in all weather, so it was

pens to be very much the same height and build as Pandosy was. There have been many such coincidences throughout this project. My son shares the same birth date as Pandosy, but was born 180 years later. I am the same age as Pandosy was when he established the Mission.

OAW: What has been the most exciting part of this project for you and how did your art training prepare you for this project?

CP: This is the most major work of art I have done so far. I feel like everything I've done in my life has prepared me for this project. Not exclusively, of course, but in the same way that nothing happens that the events leading up to it didn't somehow prepare the way for. It is a very

satisfying project because I must energize and utilize so much of what I have striven to develop, so much of what makes me distinctly me, to create it. I sometimes see myself as a kind of organic filter that, with all my senses, intakes information, and then outputs it in a work of art. That I am from the Okanagan, born here, have spent most of my life here, makes me a good filter for creating a work of art about this Valley. That is, I have a sensibility for what is going on here, how to visually communicate to the people who live here, that an artist from outside the Valley could not have.

OAW

Previous page: The model posing on a windy day in the right position to allow the robe to blow backwards. Right bottom: The artist Crystal Przybille working on the life size sculpture of Father Pandosy in Studio 111 of the Alternator Gallery in the Rotary Centre for the Arts, Kelowna. She will be there until August 2011. The public is invited to view the work in process. All images provided by and copyright of Crystal Przybille.

Please visit the project website: http://sites.google.com/site/ pandosysculpture/

The 16" high maquette (sculpture study) will be signed by the artist and cast in bronze in a limited edition of 20 sculptures. These are being pre-sold for $5000 (tax included) and will help to raise funds for the life-sized sculpture. Sales are on a first-come, first served basis. Please contact Crystal Przybille: Ph. 250 864 8445 email: crystalprzybille@yahoo.com

If you would like to help realize the Father Pandosy Mission 150th Anniversary Commemorative Sculpture, please make a cheque payable to: Okanagan Historical Society Executive Council (memo. Father Pandosy Sculpture). Mail to: OHS Executive Council c/o Alice Lundy 1388 Lombardy Square, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 3S4

Donations over $20 are tax deductible.

Cameron Welch talks about local culture Everyone who attended the Okanagan Arts Institute Arts Award event on February 23rd, will remember how Cameron Welch had us laughing, smiling, wondering, and most of all, applauding enthusiastically with the performance of his poem Creativity, Culture and Imagination in Kelowna. Originally commissioned by the City of Kelowna for a performance during the 2010 Cultural Plan public consultations, here is the full text.

Creativity, Culture, and Inspiration in Kelowna © Cameron Welch

Breaking news from the TV chopper helicopter And today Cameron Is breaking the news into pieces To examine ‘em

,Afterschool special voice-

But I don’t mean to get clever,

Hwhat should the direction of arts and culture in Kelowna

I’m more like Rick Webber

be? Well, first off, hwhat is the state of Arts and Culture

Yeah, that fits better

here? In order to know hwhere we need to go, we have

Because I’m the Okanagan’s very own

to look at hwhere we are, and hwhere we’ve been.

Barely grown,

And hwhile we’re there, hwhat even is culture?

But with the rarest talents,

What- what is culture What- what is- what is culture

Feel free to declare a challenge (You’re certain to lose) But today I’m serving the news

What is culture, that’s the big question Well allow me to educate you, class is in session Plant some ideas in your mind like I’ve mastered inception Now, rest assured that all these facts’ve been tested And don’t be overwhelmed by the subject matter addressed in The path of this lesson We’ll attack it in sections So here’s the news, allow me to sit where the anchorman’s desk is Like Ron Burgundy with the massive ..impressive Mustache, delivering with rapid perfection The words he’s reading off the teleprompter

Fair and balanced In the city known for conservative views I’m more radical but still spill words of the truth When on stage I rap or joke I still kill like murderers do No damage though, or ill will, no further ado What Cameron wrote is real swell, and perfect for you So let me launch into it like a catapult Hope you hear me in every row like I’m the caller in a dragon boat So it’s best to listen As I embark on a quest or mission To find the definition Of culture,

We’ll zoom in on it like a cameraman Hold the shot on me and then pan to the stands

It’s how a community’s way of life is expressed

As I proceed to address the matter at hand

It’s what makes it itself and not another

In a way that most everybody can understand

It’s every aspect of who we are, It’s not just the opera lovers And Julliard

,return briefly to afterschool-special voice-

And Broadway, and movie stars

“Culture” - how groups of human beings express them-

Who travel in aaairplanes (“like shooting stars”)

selves, both consciously and unconsciously. It is hwhat

But truly art

we make, the language and symbols we use,

Is just the most deliberate, direct and impractical example of culture

What we see on our television and movie screen The foods we eat

When people see a cultural activity,

Be it roti or cheesecake

Like a live play or a festival or a granite sculpture

Or poutine or cheap steak

They think that only that is culture

It is the things that we make

But really it’s just the wave that rises from the sea of

What we cre-ate

culture

The street names and the sound of music

When you watch that play or see the sculpture,

It is not what we do, but how we do it

That’s the sneeze caused by the disease

It is not that we make songs, but rather the songs we

The symptoms of the virus inside us

choose It is the words we write and the fonts we use

But this is not to say that culture is uniform

Be it block letters or the curvy type

Rather it’s a jumble like a student dorm

Like Christina Hendricks,

Yes, the truth is more

Because the way it’s seen affects the

That it’s a mish-mash

Way you read the sentence

Nah, forget that,

It is not that we build buildings, but which buildings we

That’s not quite what I was shootin’ for

building

That’s a bit of an over-assumption

Not the banks, but the blanks that are still to be filled in,

Really, what I should told you up front is

The legacy we leave like a will to these children

That culture has layers live ogres and onions

It’s who we consider our heroes and who we feel to be

Onions and ogres

villains

You have to look at the whole sum of the process

But it’s not just values and what crowds do,

And from afar the whole picture starts to come into focus

It’s all that surrounds you

It forms a synthesis

The atmosphere, best visible from a cloud’s view

Out of different

Things and it

Amounts of fertilizer

Becomes a landscape, an inter-

So it can grow in the earth inside ya

con-nec-ted system

Let it develop to the perfect size and

What’s best is if ya

The perfect weight

Imagine it inside your head

Just learn to wait

As something like a spider web

Until it germinates And then it grows and in turn creates

And all the elements taken as a whole, though

Something you can present to others in a certain way

Represent the total

In the hopes that they’ll eat it up off the serving tray

And form a unique mixture Like the DNA that swims in you,

Garden it

A protein that’s miniscule

Until the bark is thick

That we teach to kids in school

And the tree is bearing fruit that

And now we’re looking at Kelowna’s own

You can

Chromosomes

Go to market with

And trying to give its genome a whole

Share the blooming tree

Sequence, yes,

With the community

But wait, how is a gene expressed?

Keep it tight to yourself like some Nudie jeans

Well I’ll give you my cleanest guess

Until the branches bend under the weight of the fruit

If you’re down down down like the TSX

And you can no longer bear it

For a bit of a detour quest

Then take it to the heart

I will quick-ly address

Bare it like the bear in Stuart Park

How artists create

Reveal it and cherish

The culture in which we participate

The truest arts And if we all just bear with

What is it that opens the door like a gentleman

You, you’ll never crate around a fruitless cart

For creativity to pour like adrenaline

Because others will take the produce

You need a source of inspiration,

And put it to odd use

And well, for your information, It can be a seed buried in the mind

They’ll plant the apple seeds like Johnny

And you have to carry it inside

And it’ll expand so rapidly beyond the

Nurture the seed

Original artist

Whether it grow slow

And what the physical part is

Or at a fervorous speed

Because if others

And regularly water it with moderate

Eat the fruits of your labour

If the sweetest juices to savour

When they’re exposed to art

Meet the tooth of your neighbour

I don’t need a poster, chart,

Then you can be certain it

Or diagram

Starts to become permanent

To show how the mind expands

Like you put it in cement

You know that arts

And even it you let it just sit ‘n’ ferment

Can inspire you or leave you with a broken heart

There won’t be cause to whine

But now the whole point of this exercise, the focal part

Be-cause like wine

Is to relate it to our local art

It’ll improve with age

But now where am I supposed to start?

And people will come to sip it and its smoothest taste So what I plan to do today

Kelowna’s not all things

Is get you in high spirits

Like the Dolphins

With my lyrics

And golfin’

Get eyes tearin’

Fall, spring,

With surprise, fear and amazement

Summer and winter

The nearest sensation

Let me straight set the record like a runner or sprinter

To pure inspiration

In the summer Olympics Or the Ironman

So raise the glasses,

Our culture is the entire span

Like you always see the guy

Of our environ-ment

from CSI

As well as The Habitat

raise his glasses

As a matter ‘fact,

Because the culture is the tree of life

It even includes the rabbit tracks

And most parts of our daily lives

We used to see on Enterprise

Are contained in the trunk, within the scaly hide

Before the bunnies got energized

But art is the fruit, leaves and blossoms

As in they started going and going and going

That you be-come lost in

Our culture is spread all around in

And when the seeds are droppin’

Our houses and mountain surroundings

They can hit the brain of an Isaac Newton,

Our sunsets and double rainbows all the way

That’s no highfalutin

We need to quit the politics and just listen to the music

Statement or

Like we’re Walter Grey

I-dea cause the

So sip the Juice from songs

Fact remains

By Yukon Blondes

That in the minds and dreams of others

And sing aloud

There comes a rapid change

If Sun is blinkin’ out

From behind the Kingdom Clouds

Could ever burn down the trees in Kelowna If you breathe in your culture

The voice of culture should be more of a chorus

Then what you breathe out is like some fine CO2

Our cultural tree should be more of a forest

That keeps the trees healthy no matter what the pine bee-

Our cultural orchard

tles do

Should not just cater to tourists,

So you can eat the fruit

We should make sure it

And then speak ya view

Can be afforded

We want to hear a lot of voices like on them Glee club

By the Poor Lit

tunes

-tle Rich Girls

And even if some things may not be quite your teacup, you

Like Webster said, or was it Hall and Oates

Shouldn’t forget to tell these artists that hey, we love you

Either way I’m dropping polished flows

Something like we’re Ash and y’all Pikachu

At all the shows

Even if you sometimes shock us with your thunderbolt

From the springtime when the pollen blows

You’re en-lightning our orchard like the sun that glows

To when you dress up for the fall in clothes

So everyone can grow

Like all of those

In this place so comf’table

Sweaters you knitted

Because even though people may come and go

So go outside if the weather permit it

Art reminds us that some things don’t

Cause this September your mission Is to take with you all the letters you’ve written

So we can all have happy little trees

But never submitted

Like what Bob Ross paints

And throw them up t’ward the sky

Growing food for thought all day

So that when the leaves all start to die

The kind of produce to drop off crates

Words can bring the Parks Alive!

Of at the Loblaws chain

Carpet the parks with

Or Save On so they

The loose leaves and looseleaf

Can stock all shapes

Send out your paper sheets

Of groce’rays

And pinecones full of spores

That those plagued

Raise your leaves

With no taste won’t waste

And send out vines like Bulbasaur

Is it clear or still o-paque

So people think about our culture more, until their skulls

That life is no race to go chase

are sore

At a slow pace

If they unchain their minds like some all-season car tires

You have to locate your own space,

Then no Okanagan Mountain Park fire

And culture goes both ways

You have do your part, o-kay? You see, our scene, our culture is a mosaic Like the bookstore So look for an event or showcase And now Showcase is eVent So find something to do this weekend We got a large pool of talent, and these men And women all swim in The deep end

But now we come to the end Of what I came to pre-sent So hopefully you thought it was an intelligent lecture And if you’ve developed some questions then tell the professor But put an apple on the shelf or the desk first Got to let you go now, wish I could’ve held ya forever Like we were Bella and Edward But you’d do well to remember What I’ve spoken of How culture is a tree with leaves And opened buds So take it in and soak it up

Someone once told to me that poetry Can sow the seed to grow a tree Into a green giant like the frozen peas And that’s why I’ve spoken free and openly In the cultural district, from here to the Rotary In the hope that each And every person in the room Will start bursting into bloom

OAW

This poem written by and copyright of Cameron Welch. Cameron Welch can be contact by email at features@thephoenixnews.com

What’s been happening in . . Okanagan Arts Awards—February 23, 2011 The Story behind the Sculpture Cheers Okanagan Contributed by Jeanne Bates

The 10 bronzes were cast and finished in Kelowna at the Pyramid Bronze foundry locally operated by Bill LaLonde and family. Tina was there to direct the application of the

Tina Siddiqui was this year’s winner in the Central Okana-

final patina (colouring of the bronze) and the final polish-

gan Arts Council’s search for a sculpture to serve as the

ing of the bright sun feature of her sculptures. She says,

trophy presented at the Fourth Annual Okanagan Arts

“It was a surprisingly emotional experience for me. It

Awards Gala. Tina is well known in Kelowna for her

seemed like I was watching my child graduate, growing

pastels, acrylics and oil paintings, as well as her many art

from the initial sketch to the work in clay to the final

classes. The hundreds of students she has helped realize

bronze figure.”

their artistic potential shared in her joy at being chosen to create the 2011 Arts Awards trophy.

This is the fourth year that the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan has selected a unique sculpture to be used in

Tina’s elegant bronze sculpture features a symbolic design

the awards. The awards recognize outstanding achievers,

of a wine glass. The rim of the glass is shaped and angled

significant contributors and noteworthy supporters of the

down to resemble an artist’s palette, ready to be

arts in the Okanagan.

used. Emerging from the opening in the palette is the bright Okanagan sun, seen here as that which gives life to

The following are the 2011 Arts Awards winners:

our bountiful region and to the collective creativity of the artistic community. Mountains and rivers undulate around the fluted base, representing the captivating

Lifetime Achievement:

Roslyn Frantz

Supporter of the Arts:

Liz Burnett

Music:

Imant Raminsh

Visual Arts :

Frances Harris

Design:

Donald Gillard

Arts Educator:

Sara Lige & Dawn Emerson

Theatre:

Jeff Samin

Media Arts:

Ascent Films

Dance:

Ballet Kelowna

Community Association:

Livessence

energy of the performing arts.

Tina feels strongly that her sculpture is symbolic of the Okanagan as she sees it: a happy place, flowing with artistic energy and the bounties of nature. As Tina put it, “I feel very honoured as it is part of me being shared with other creative souls in their respective fields.”

Kelowna ViV’Arts Spirit of BC - Francophone Cultural Council of BC (CCAFCB) www.ccafcb.com Kelowna: February 28—March 3, 2011 and other parts of British Columbia

green color, even though it is not my usual color. Because of the presence of snow, ski, salmon, cedar trees, etc. in the two other paintings, I decided to include a killer whale and the aurore boreale in my painting with a

The Francophone Cultural Council of BC selected three

few other favorite elements like the water, moon and

artists to participate in creating a three-panel impression

Native items. I also added mountain goats to represent

of the Spirit of BC. Two artists are from the Okanagan.

the south of BC, such as Summerland and parts of Highway 3 where these animals are often seen. All three

They are:

Patricia Gulyas from Peachland

paintings are acrylic on gallery canvas and 24 x 36.”

Christian Lepani from Westbank Marc Lacaille from Prince George

This triptych will be shown at various places across British Columbia over the next six months. Its first viewing was

To coordinate their joint creation, the three artists

at the Francophone Centre, Richter Street, Kelowna. The

worked together with CCAFCB through on-line and tele-

next viewing will be on March 15 at the Public Library in

phonic communications.

Vancouver at a francophone event with federal ministers. Further exhibits will be in Prince George and possibly with

Patricia Gulyas explains her own approach to this project: “To match the Lepani painting, I chose to start with the

an art gallery in Alberta. Exhibition offers are welcome.

7 8

11 12 13 14 15 16

20 21 22

29 30

36 37

Would you like to win a free 1/4 page ad in the May 2011 Anniversary issue? Here is the first of a series of crossword puzzles to test your knowledge of local artists. All the answers can be found in the May to October 2010 issues. Send your completed crossword to Okanagan Art Works, P O Box 20084, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 9H2. Don’t forget your name: _______________________ Email address: ________________________ ACROSS

DOWN

1. Who loves painting huge bright red poppies? (two words) 6. What is the first name of the editor of Okanagan Art Works? 7. What is the first name of the author who wrote about the Kenyan drought in ‘Gabbra’s Song’? 8. Deborah Wilson is a great inspiration for women who want to carve _ _ _ _. 11. Who is known as the busy artist from Kelowna who always makes things happen? (two words) 12. In which international city did Tina Siddiqui also teach art classes? 13. What did James Hayes paint in his painting called ‘A Soft Welcome’? (two words) 14. Who wrote the challenging WWII love story ‘Destiny, Love & War’? (two words) 15. What is the last name of the artist who successfully accomplished painting more with less? 16. Who is the paraplegic stone carver who loves carving bears? (two words) 17. Which artist enjoys doing his figurative sketches in a kaleidoscope of colours? (two words) 19. What is the medium sculptor Doug Alcock prefers to us? 21. Which artist recently immigrated from South Africa and now teaches watercolor art in Kelowna? (two words) 24. Who retired from nursing to become a well established artist in Vernon? (two words) 26. Name one of the wood types used by Bob Whitehead in his woodcarvings. 27. Which artist spent this past summer on the Kettle River to paint her summer series of paintings? (two words) 31. The goal of Okanagan Art Works is to get appreciation of local art to _ _ _ _. 32. Dianne Schnieders knows how to get her watercolors to _ _ _ _. 34. Which glass artist creates stunningly unique glass beads? (two words) 35. Mary Walker makes the difficult art of quilling look so _ _ _ _. 37. The August issue has a full page image of a full _ _ _ _ rising. 39. Okanagan Art really _ _ _ _ _. 40. Marilyn Harris evolved quite successfully from being a scientist to an _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ artist. 42. What is the last name of the artist known for her Canadiana style art? 43. Okanagan Art Works is a great marketing _ _ _ _ for local artists. 44. It is debatable what the value of the _ _ _ _ _ of an art piece could be.

1. Who initiated the 24kt yellow gold plated peach as a gift to Lt Gov. of BC Steven L Point? (two words) 2. What is the first name of the emerging artist who painted scenes from Kenya? 3. Many of the artists featured in Okanagan Art Works are members of the _ _ _. 4. Which jeweller tried many of the arts but kept on coming back to goldsmithing? (two words) 5. Which clay artist adds whimsical humour to her ceramic designs? (two words) 6. Which First Nations artist teaches at the En'owkin Center in Penticton? (two words) 8. Where in the Okanagan will you find the propagation of natural indigo? (two words) 9. Which Metti artist paints amazingly realistic paintings of First Nations history? (two words) 10. What is the first name of the artist who did the sculpture of Premier John Oliver in the town of Oliver? 18. What brooch design did goldsmith Steve Brow make out of yellow gold, platinum and walrus tusk? 20. Who is the graphic artist who successfully changed over to a fine artist painting in oils? (two words) 22. On which street in Kelowna will you see Graham T Chambers’ mural ‘Okanagan Blessing’? 23. Who is the fine woodworker who built the perfect 15’ yellow cedar canoe? 25. At which event did Jeanine Holmes win both the Best Artist and People’s Choice awards in 2010? 27. What is the last name of the Midway artist known for her totem art? 28. Zoey Mary Taylor’s book is called ‘Escape from your _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _”. 29. Cheryl McFadden knows how to _ _ _ _ glass. 30. One of Diane Creasy Funk’s paintings is called ‘_ _ _ _ _ and Cake’. 33. What is the first name of the artist who took seventeen years to get her arts degree? 34. An art class _ _ _ _ _ _ from Theresa Heinrichs how to mix paint and colours. 36. Artists often talk about how a painting tells a _ _ _ _ _. 40. Lucho VeraFlores is known for his _ _ _ restoration. 41. It is a known fact that anyone can do and enjoy _ _ _.