Another Kind of Art Festival

Those who come to Art Saturna shows know how special they are. The art is enhanced by its setting, our unique Saturna Island in the Georgia Straight.  Some of our Art Saturna artist participants, like me, live both at Saturna Island and the mainland -- Vancouver, in my case. Straddling the straight like this makes for quite a commute... but it's been my life for quite some time.

As Art Saturna is quietly heralding the winter season with a lovely show at our gallery by the ferry landing, another much louder art show starts in Vancouver. The Eastside Culture Crawl is a popular yearly event involving hundreds of artists and thousands (yes) of visitors. It's on from tonight, Nov. 20 through Sunday, Nov. 23.

That's my personal invitation. There's so much to see during the Crawl: original works by painters, sculptors, fabric artists, jewelers, furniture makers and other artisans.  It's  an exciting festival. I'm looking forward to it. And afterward I'll be looking forward to returning to peaceful, inspiring Saturna Island and the special quality of life and of art it supports.

NEW Winter Show, November to February

We are entering the fall to winter transition on Saturna. Members of ArtSaturna have assembled a fresh offering. Come and have a look at the pieces on display at the Point Store Gallery, next to the ferry dock.

Sunday is going to be a grey day (honest!)... Come have lunch at the Wild Thyme Coffee House (AKA the Bus), or at the Lighthouse Pub, and afterward, pop in the gallery to meet the artists.

Fall into Winter Show, Opening Sunday, November 9
2 to 4 p.m.
Light refreshments served

Below are two of the many pieces on display.

Haida Gwaii in the afternoon, © Jack Campbell

Bouquet with birds, © Karen Muntean

October Show at the Point Store Gallery!

October Show Going Up! `

September 26 - October 24

At the Point Store Gallery

Featured artist: Denise Deanovic

Opening Reception, artists present:

Sunday, September 28, 2 to 4 pm
at the Point Store Gallery
by the Ferry Dock

Light refreshments will be served

End of Summer Show Opening - Thank You!

This is Andrée writing.

Sunday afternoon was very thrilling for me: thank you to all the islanders and visitors who came to the opening reception, to chat and have a look at the work on display. All the artists present were happy to discuss their work with visitors.

The gallery is nicely located right next to the ferry terminal, and a lot of people came in before boarding their ferry back to the big city.

Quilting is my main medium, and the above photo highlights one of my "wilder" quilts, on display in the gallery. 

This time, however, it was my photos printed on aluminum that generated the most interest. Many people commented about this, and were fascinated to see how the image changes as you walk around in front of the photo; in less pigmented areas of the picture, the metal shines through the image.

If you are on Saturna, I hope you will drop in and have a look.

...and while it seems all too logical to choose aluminum to print a photo of a venerable plane, the Cessna "Bird Dog" that pulls the gliders up into the air at the Hope Airport in British Columbia, it doesn't seem quite as obvious to try metal as a base for a photo of kelp...

Still, kelp does catch the eye, when glistening wet at low tide after a wind storm. It looks metallic and sleek enough to merit a try. 

It turned out pretty nicely...





The End of Summer Show is on until September 25.

End of Summer Show Opening

End of Summer Show: August 24 - September 25, 2014

At the Point Store Gallery

Featured artist: Andrée Fredette

Opening Reception, artists present:

2 - 4 pm, August 24
at the Point Store Gallery
by the Ferry Dock

Inter-island connections

This summer I'm also showing my work on Galiano Island at the Insight Art Gallery 
www.insightartgallery.ca

Our latest show is opening this coming Saturday and as a result my studio will be open as part of the: 

Saturna Artists Studio Tour 
Monday, August 4 only
11:00am-4:00pm.

Artists Studio Tour and Sale

Please join us for our annual Artist's Studio Tour and Sale this coming August long weekend on August 2nd, 3rd and 4th. See the studios where art is created, talk to the artists, celebrate and support the visual arts on Saturna.

Hours: 11:00am-4:00pm.

 I will be showing linoprints from July 27-August 9 at Alexander's Coffee in Sidney, 2385 Beacon Avenue.  If you have a chance,  stop in for a (good) coffee and have a look.  Karen Muntean

July 27, 2014 New Art Show

Our next new exhibit will be this Sunday on July 27th.  This exhibit will be featuring Jack Campbell's work.

At this show we will have this and our a selection of our past posters for sale. Hope to see you then.

Karen Muntean is showing all her recent linoprints plus some larger monotypes at Moka House Shoal Point in Victoria during the month of June.  Stop by if you're in Victoria and check it out; Fisherman's Wharf....110 19 Dallas Road.  

New Exhibit Opening In May 2014

“A painting isn't good because it looks like something, it’s good because it feels like something.” Anon.

Thank you to everyone who attended our reception in March.   The works on display will now be changed every four to six weeks over the summer months and the current exhibit will be available to view until May 16th.

ArtSaturna is happy to announce our upcoming Artist Exhibit.  Please join us for the accompanying reception which will be on Sunday, May 18th, from 2pm to 4pm, at the Saturna Point Store Gallery. Light refreshment will be served.

The featured artist for this new six week exhibit will be Anne Popperwell.  Anne's work expresses her love of nature, in both watercolour and acrylic on canvas.

Undersea Garden       Donna-Fay Digance

I wanted to capture a playful feeling of ocean perch exploring a garden made of other sea creatures and plants. This is a very long 68" silk banner hand-painted with silk dyes. It could be suspended from the ceiling, away from a wall so that the silk would appear to float with any air currents. It's one of three long silk

paintings now showing at the March - April, 2014 Art Saturna Gallery in Saturna Point Store. I'll be there from 2:30 pm till 3:30 most week-ends to share the work with you.

Colourful Opening

Cool and grey outside + warm and colourful inside! That sums it up very nicely yesterday's goings on in the Saturna Point Store gallery... 

The ArtSaturna Spring Show opening was well-attended and gallery goers came to have a good look at the work of featured artist Donna-Fay Digance, and several other artists.

 

 
The exhibit will be on display until the end of April, so those of you who missed it, or would like to have another look at a piece (or two) have a window of opportunity.

Spring 2014 Art Show: Sunday, March 16

The winter has been a long season of studio time for all ArtSaturna members. We stayed warm and got creative! We invite you all to come and see what the artists have been cooking up. Looking forward to meeting everyone next Sunday.

Spring 2014 Art Show

Opening Sunday, March 16
2 - 4 pm
at the Saturna Point Store Gallery

Featured artist:  Donna-Fay Digance

Spring Booms and Snow Flakes

Just as Saturna anticipates our upcoming artists' show on March 16 and visions of spring skip up everywhere, I'm looking at some photos I took just recently. Photos of being snowed-in! A reminder of how very surprising life, even a fairly simple life, can be.

path from our place, Saturna Island (Janet Strayer photos)

Spring comes relatively early in this part of Canada. Earlier in February we'd already seen the crocuses and daffodils  up from the earth, the sun smiling upon them for several days with the promise of spring. Then POW!

Large powdery flakes of snow took over the terrain during the last weekend of February. The sky turned white. The sea a pewter grey. No sight of the distant mountains. Few clear edges at all. The temperature dropped dramatically. Still, it was beautiful on our land at Saturna. But it was cold. Very cold.

Janet Strayer studio (before the tree hit it)

We hadn't been at our home for a week, leaving it without heat. On arrival, it takes about an hour to heat up the house by raising the thermostats. This time, we had about half an hour of electricity before the power went totally out!

Many islands were affected, including Saturna. We could hear trees falling nearby as we walked the path you see.

No power at our place for nearly three days. Cold and getting colder. No heat, no electric light. Our one central fireplace was huffing and puffing so much we'd used up most of the stored dry wood and were cutting some wet logs. Smoky. Even with the fireplace going, we wore hats and gloves in the house.

No painting for me -- fingers much too stiff and mind unable to thaw. What a disappointment as I so look forward to my studio time, painting. Life was reduced to basics: shelter, food, and appreciation for what we had.

The power came back after about three days and we decided to try to drive out and take the ferry to Vancouver. We had work to do there, too. One route was blocked by fallen trees, and our wheels couldn't get enough traction through the snow. The other route was steeper but shorter and downhill. We made it.

Stopping at the store beside the ferry terminal to revisit the current Art Saturna show, I had a huge surprise. My painting wasn't there! What?

Terrible? Not at all. It had just been sold. One of my worst weekends and it was topped off by this very welcome news. My thanks and good wishes to the couple who purchased my painting. May it join you in your home with all the warmth and abiding meaning art can convey.

Art Lover, painting by Janet Strayer, www.janetstrayerart.com

Back at Saturna now, two weeks later, there's a fallen tree atop my studio. It seems to have done little damage and can be chopped for firewood. All in all, it's quite an eventful life we lead...or wander our way through.

If you would like to read more about my eclectic take on this eventful life (travels, art, creative tips and adventures), please see my blog at janetstrayer.blogspot.ca.