Small Works

Small Works
By the Members of Salt Spring Gallery
Nov 29 - Dec 21, 2024
Opening Reception Friday Dec 6, 5- 8pm

Throughout each year, the members of Salt Spring Gallery co-create and maintain a vibrant environment where new works are regularly featured by members and guest artists. The gallery is a valued gathering place where the local community and island visitors can always look forward to finding inspiration and meaningful artwork that enhances the quality of life.

In the spirit of the season upon us, and with holidays around the corner, the gallery will host a collection of small works by the members. This will be the final show before the gallery’s annual winter hibernation. 

Small works often invite the viewer to draw nearer, making this exhibit a perfect way to step into an intimate and reflective time of year in the Northwest.

A special reception will be held in participation with the downtown Ganges Winter Wander.

Diana Dean, Then and Now

Diana Dean, Then and Now
Diana Dean
Sept 6 - Sept 25
Opening Reception: Friday Sept 6, 5-7pm

We are excited to present a show of Diana Dean’s artwork at our gallery for the second year in a row.  What an honour!

Diana Dean, RCA, has been exhibiting in Canada since 1976 in both public and commercial galleries.  Her work is held in private and corporate collections across North America and the U.K..

“Diana Dean, Then and Now” showcases a lineage of Dean’s paintings from earlier works to the many she has created in 2024.  We bear witness to the breathtaking thematic and stylistic development of the artist’s vision and craft, with each stage resonating as deeply today as it did in yesteryear.  There is a sense of the eternal, where landscape, portraiture, and allegory are intertwined in a rainbow of love and reverence.  

“We are part of the landscape,” Dean recently said.  “After 50 years of work, I see that painting is becoming an expression of love.  In my painting, I am interested in connection between geometry in nature, in physics and light and the wish to project with paint, the human quality that is present in all of us.”

Three Seconds: Recent Contemporary Fiber Work by Shannon Wardroper

Three Seconds, recent contemporary fiber work
Shannon Wardroper
August 16 - Sept 4

Shannon Wardroper:
"The earth has been in existence for 3.5 billion years. 3 Seconds represents human habitation if compared to a 24 hour day cradled within our mere 300,000 years of existence. In this short time we have left an indelible mark on a verdant, layered and fascinating natural world, our home. I recall as a child swimming endlessly underwater and watching the current carry a swaying smorgasbord of imagery past my field of vision. This complexity is what inspires my textile work and keeps the eye travelling through layers of screenprinting, wax resist dying, hand and digital embroidery, appliqué and piecework. 

Currently, the Attention Economy has ensured that our attention shifts away from the gift nature offers towards all things artificial, online, and virtual. 

We are endlessly elsewhere. 

3 Seconds thus also represents the average attention span when scrolling, clicking and tapping on social media, online news and video. 

Recent Work by Cheryl Long

Recent Work by Cheryl Long
July 26  - August 14
Opening Reception: Friday July 26, 5-7pm

Cheryl Long:
"Through the alchemy of mystical BC landscape, subconscious dreamscape, and written word, this body of work aims to take us on a journey from the darkness of the inner world to the rising of spirit.

Much of this recent work uses the imagery of whales and icebergs. These two forms have become dear to my heart for different reasons. The whale, because I had visited an aquarium years ago and stopped in front of a large round window to look into the pool of sea life swimming by. A large whale stopped directly in front of me, and we gazed into each others eyes ... I felt like I was looking into the depths of eternity and felt inspired by a love and wisdom that has remained in my heart. 

The Iceberg I consider to be a metaphor for grace. I think of them tumbling off an ancient glacier and their huge weight being cradled and carried by the sea to distant lands. Their journey inspires me to try and surrender to the currents of life without so much struggle and resistance. I also find icebergs to be amazing sculptural forms, and strive to express the power and simplicity of their shapes."

But I Love You

But I Love You
Patrick McCallum
July 5  - July 24
Opening Reception: Thursday July 4, 5-7pm

“But I Love You” is a hybrid exhibition focussing on themes of love, longing and lament. It features new large scale “captured moment” charcoal drawings of Patrick's “Back Letter Day” series alongside his current series of brightly coloured hand-printed serigraphs. All works feature the indeterminate narratives and elements of Surrealism often associated with McCallum’s work, in addition to morsels of dark humour.

Born in Penticton BC, but living most of his life on the West Coast, Patrick McCallum has spent the majority of his career in the creative sector. Essentially self-taught, McCallum has worked in a wide range of roles including: commercial illustrator, art director, graphic designer, copywriter, comic book creator, storyboard artist, and art instructor until committing to Fine Art full time in 2015.

Since entering juried shows in 2015 he has won The Award of Excellence at the Sooke Fine Art Show 2015; The Juror’s Prize at the Sidney Fine Art Show in 2016; The Juror’s Prize at the Sooke Fine Art Show in 2018, and "Best in Show" at the 2020 Au Natural International Exhibition of Figurative Art in Astoria, OR.  His first solo show was mounted in July of 2018 at ArtSpring on Salt Spring Island BC. Since 2015 he has been featured in 18 group exhibitions, including the notorious (Re) Location Group Show of 2024 where his installed road signs created an island-wide controversy.

Both Sides Now

Both Sides Now
Julia Lucich
June 14 - July 3
Opening Reception: June 14, 5-7

 

Julia Lucich, artist:
"My approach to art, as with life, is varied.  I was drawn to painting in response to a love of portraiture. With time, my focus expanded to other subjects including wildlife, all of which remained very representational. While working on a painting of giraffes, though, I played with an unconventional colour palette, resulting in a painting I titled Party Animals. The response to this painting was unexpected:  it was selected by USArt magazine as “Editor's Choice” for wildlife, which prompted the start of a series.

As with many artists, it's easy to become pigeon-holed in relation to a particular style or body of work. For me, that's been true with Party Animals. While my art is most often associated with that series, I paint anything and everything that catches my eye or evokes an emotional response. In a sense, there are two “sides” to my art work:  those that fall under the rubric of Party Animals ... and all the rest."