An Odd Agreement
Nathalie St-Amant and Michael Henri Wright
Opening reception: Friday August 18, 5-7pm
Show is on August 18 - Sept 6

''An Odd Agreement’’ is a celebration of a surprising agreeable meeting in the painterly Canadian Expressionism style.

Nathalie St-Amant:
''As the night's blanket rolls in, I am cocooning in Michael's cabin on Wolf Beach, Clayoquot, surrounded by his belongings, his notes to himself keeping me company.

In my 20’s, I lived a solitary life in Mike's cabin. Mike had been abducted by the life of fatherhood and urban lifestyle . We had briefly crossed paths before he left. The kin artist lifestyle in the wild helped us stay connected and encouraged our devotion to the artist life.

I went back every few years to retreat and paint: these month long pilgrimages helped shape my painter’s language and life, influenced by the playful and authentic work Mike would leave in the cabin."

Michael Henri Wright:
In 1974, after 10 years of service in the army and studying in Fine Arts at the University of Victoria, Michael moved into the heart of Clayoquot on Wolvesbeach, so named by the Ahousats. Here he painted earnestly over a fourty year period between school and a variety of jobs.

On this same beach, he built a 1910 era sail boat, featured in ‘’Wooden Boat’’ magazine.

Michael exhibited in Prince George, Hazleton, Victoria, and Tofino, selling to local and international collectors.

His painting genre developed from realism to expressionism, influenced by Van Gogh, Emily Carr, Richard Holgate, Turner, the Group of Seven, and many others. Michael’s painting process is spontaneous, thus allowing the accidental, a language he acquired from life on the West Coast.