David Hunwick stands with Silent Memories a sculpture of a Madonna-like figure. Hunwick’s recent Italian tour of the magnificent churches of Florence inspired this steel and resin work. The sculptor creates visual tension through fragmentation: revealing the steel and chain internal structure of the heavenly female. Is the Madonna supported or imprisoned by her subterranean bindings? “I like to leave my narratives open-ended so people can find their own story,” he says.

“The Imagists enjoy each others company,” says Hunwick, “our work is complimentary and shares an expressionist quality.” Artists create images from their ideas, thoughts and emotions, explains the sculptor.

Our techniques might be different but the creative process is similar. Often their is an unconscious element at work, which reveals itself in the completed work.

Carole Thompson, a dynamic teacher and experienced painter, uses the medium of acrylic paint to explore metaphysical concepts. Carole collects rocks, crystals, and information about ancient cultures and sacred sites around the world. Her own travels to Egypt and Australia inform her geometric abstractions in bright colours.

carolethompsonart.blogspot.com

For this exhibition Carole presents several foot-square acrylic panels. The imagery is a mixture of two and three dimensional forms (some transparent) and geometric shapes suspended in a matrix of space. The viewer is drawn into a multi-dimensional world offering visual clues and symbolic language. 

Tony Bounsall is an award-winning professional photographer who teaches a variety of courses and workshops. www.tonybounsall.com. His digital photo-based fine art work uses colour, texture and composition to convey the unique essence of his subjects.

Tony holds The Watchers an archival digital print comprised of three collaged photographs. The artwork combines modulated tree shapes, perched crows, and graffiti found in China town to create a sense of wonder and inter-dependency. The artist uses encaustic medium (a mixture of beeswax and damar resins) to create a tactile, textured surface. “The warm waxy finish gives a lovely look and feel,” he says, “and can be buffed up, scratched back (sgraffito) or reworked.”

Laurie Ladmore with Flower Dance #6, oil on canvas, 16x20 inches, 2011.

Laurie Ladmore attended the Victoria College of Art from 1994-1996. Her images of organic forms and sequestered places pulsate with a vital, burgeoning life force. “Living near Dallas road,” says the artist, “I take frequent walks along the ocean. Taking photos allows me to focus on our abundant natural beauty.”

Laurie uses her photos as a starting point to investigate themes of personal experience, memory and dreams. She has recently moved from acrylic to oil paint and enjoys the luminous, fluid quality of oils.

Working on a white ground, the artist manipulates the Liquin-thinned oils with palette knives, fan brushes, kleenex and gloved fingers. “I find the transparent colours of oils really lovely,” says the artist, “they allow the light to come through.”

David Ladmore stands with Lunar #33. (Detail left.) On wall is Warm Earth XXVIII.

“It’s absolutely fantastic to be showing with The Imagists,” says Ladmore. Painting is solitary so group support is very helpful.

David Ladmore is a self-taught painter with over fifteen years experience. He studied the techniques of 19th painters like Whistler and Turner, awed by the sophistication and beauty of their vision. In atmospheric landscapes, he expresses mood and emotion through contrasting lights and darks. In this show, Ladmore presents a series of smaller paintings.

Ladmore praises oils as liberating and powerful, allowing an artist to build up layers of paint intuitively. His paintings often begin with a simple inquiry into relationships between shapes and colours, then build into a cohesive whole. “As a colourist, I’m zealous about getting the exact tone in the correct place,” he says.

Art enthusiasts braved the blustery weather on November 24 to participate in Victoria’s Gallery Walk. Interviews with some of the guests at the Imagists’ opening follow:

Sculptor Dale Roberts operates Studio J on Broad Street. www.daleroberts.blogspot.com

He stands with three encaustic artworks by guest artist Carol Rae. Dale praises Carol’s joy for life and art and her colourful personality. Above his right shoulder (detail shown) is one of Carol’s “Quilted Dreams” pieces. Building up patterns and colours with encaustic’s liquid wax is much like quilt-making, he explains. “But encaustic has is a magical quality springing from the translucency of the medium.”

Opening guest Stephanie Deakin is a professional organizer operating RE:ORGANIZED!

www.reorganized.ca 

Stephanie calls herself as an “art appreciator”.  “More people need to support local artists,” she says. Stephanie has an original painting by Laurie Ladmore which gives her great joy. She stands with a watercolour by guest artist Nancy Murphy. “I love the fluid nature and sense of movement in Nancy’s expressive watercolours”, says Stephanie.

Alain Costaz operates Ground Zero Printmakers in Chinatown with Victoria Edgarr. www.groundzeroprint.com.

He stands with two Carol Rae encaustic works.

In a venue similar to the Sculpture Studio, Alain finds that being downtown with an active studio engages the public. “People are curious and come in,” he says “then see work being produced and the dialogue begins.” Alain appreciates the variety of disciplines and mix of work presented by The Imagists. “It’s a generous cross section of local artists,” he says.

Lesley Turner teaches Fine Arts Textiles at the Victoria College of Art.

Lesley stands with Ted Speirs cedar sculpture Earth Goddess at the opening. At right is David Hunwick’s Transformation.

Lesley Turner has a great interest in trees. For her BA Honours graduation at Middlesex University in London, she wrapped the trunks of four trees with cloth. As the seasons change, Lesley responds to the various colours on the cloth with her own needlework stitching. Watch for an exhibition of her “conversation in cloth” in the near future.

“Victoria is a small city,” says Efren, “but our art world is huge.” His goal is to let people know about the cultural richness in our midst through interviews and opening footage.

Efren grew up in Oaxaca, Mexico in a creative family that participated in the performing and visual arts. When he gets time to paint, the video man favours abstract landscapes in bright colours.

Efren Quiroz, from Exhibit-V stands in front of Carole Thompson’s Messenger of the Stones. Efren has worked tirelessly over the past two years promoting the work of local visual artists through www.exhibit-v.ca.

Guest artist Nancy Murphy celebrated her 50th birthday (3 years ago) by entering the Victoria College of Art.

She is now a full-time artist who does figurative drawings in watercolour, a fluid expressive medium that captures her moving subjects perfectly.

Nancy stands in front of her “Dancer Series” which caught the eye of three principle dancers from the Canadian Pacific Ballet. www.canadianpacificballet.org.

The dancers attended the Imagists’ opening with their instructor. Now in rehearsal for Nutcracker Suite in late December, the dancers asked Nancy to come and sketch them while practicing. “This is a dream come true,” says Nancy. “They feel honoured to be drawn, while I rejoice in the work.”

Guest artist Ted Speirs works with found and weathered west coast wood to create vibrant, unusual sculptures. The artist breathes new life into the pieces through skillful carving and finishes.

Sadly, Ted Speirs passed away on January 11, 2012. He will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues.

Web Design, Content and Photos:

Kate Cino previewed arts events for 18 years at Boulevard magazine. She has a History in Art degree and a Public Relations certificate from the University of Victoria.

kate-cino@shaw.ca  250 598-4009

At Right: Kate with Efren Quiroz.