Although I will always be painting to capture the lights, moods and depths of this beautiful coastal area we live in, in both acrylic, watercolour, and mixed media, this year I've also been having fun experimenting with different ways to portray the houses of the Townsite in a funky way.

My work is for sale at Artique, on Alberni near Marine, the
Tug-Guhm Gallery in Lund, and on display at the Powell River Peak. It will also adorn the walls of Magpie's restaurant in mid-May and will be hanging at VIU with Lorna Downie's work in September.

Printmaker, poet, papermaker, and book artist, Gina Page has spent most of her life on the BC Coast, a significant influence on her work. Gina studied printmaking at UBC and Emily Carr University Institute of Art + Design, and is an active studio member of Malaspina Printmakers Society on Granville Island. Her books of poetry are held in numerous public and university libraries in Canada and the United States. Her artist's books reflect a love of the natural world, as seen in images of and references to cherished plants and animals.

I make one-of-a-kind, hand formed works in clay, which are raku or wood-fired. The raku pieces are burnished to create an inviting, smooth surface without glaze. Some of these are black and white shakers (rattles), jars and bowls with crackle patterns. Our wood-fired pottery is fired for up to 52 hours at a high temperature becoming coated with melted ash that creates lively and colourful surfaces.

We welcome you to visit our studio/gallery.

Open July and Aug Thu-Sat. 11-5 or "by chance" if you call ahead.

See Ron Robb for more creations by Rare Earth Pottery.

Since 2009 we have been firing a large wood-fired kiln we built in Earl's Cove in collaboration with two other potters. Working in shifts, we fire continuously for 52 hours allowing ash from the fire to land and melt on the pots, forming glaze and adding interest to the surface. By our choice of kiln design, clay, glaze, shape, firing schedule, wood, and other variables, we attempt to provide the conditions for the fire to do something wonderful with the pots.

We welcome you to visit our studio/gallery.

Open July and Aug Thu-Sat. 11-5 or "by chance" if you call ahead.

See Jan Lovewell for more creations by Rare Earth Pottery.

Fibre Space @ VIU PR is a community engagement project, offered in partnership with VIU Powell River and School District 47, for the purpose of supporting the growing interest in local fibre and fashion, promoting natural sustainable fibre through art, advocacy and activism. Fibre Space will be host to a number of emerging, local fibre artists who will be displaying, demonstrating and showcasing their work through out the tour weekend.

Susan has been designing & creating sterling silver jewellery for 30 years. With hammer, anvil & torch she creates unusual and often one-of-a-kind pieces of jewellery. She is well known for hand forged chain & heavy, sensuous pieces that mold to the body.

It has been said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but as a metal detectorist and mixed media artist, beauty is defined not by the aesthetics of a found object, but by it's history and the potential to breath new life into it.

I hope that when people wear my art they are drawn into the stories the piece might tell.

Rochelle Nehring is a painter and photographer. Her work depicts the colourful lively landscapes and scenery that make up this unique coastline and our perfect small town.

Her work can be seen at the Dancing Tree Gallery and in her home studio.

My work in visual arts reflects the constant changes and experience in my personal life. I am guided by my feelings, thoughts, dreams and visions. While the sources of my inspiration are many, they include appreciation of and looking for traces of the people who came before along with clues about what they did there and why.

Journeys are an integral part of the inspirations. I am always intrigued by the human cultural elements and visual stimulation encountered. Every place and culture reveals its’ beauty to me in everyday life.

I like to use symbols in my art work and creating my personal iconography. The symbols are the clues to many aspects of my life, but my paintings usually start with a colour idea and than evolve into composition in which colour is the primary subject.

Capturing nature's abundance through a few thousand strokes of a paint brush has led me into a deep passion for exploring an artist's journey. Three years in, the journey continues… sailing up the coast with a palette full of acrylics.

Shelley Thomson, graphic designer and textile artist, has lived on the West Coast since 1990. In addition to graphic design work such as logos, signs, posters and murals, much of her art is portrayed on textiles. Pieces range from acrylic painting on hand-dyed canvas, batik and tie-dye, screen printing and devore. She also creates patterns and surface design for prints on yardage. Shelley takes artistic license creating winsome and colourful renditions of flowers, animals and scenery. Her home display at the 2018 Studio Tour will include wall hangings,
tea towels, tablecloths, aprons and more.

In my work I like to share the beauty of nature.

Jo’s creations combine the natural elements of stone, glass, metal and pearls as representations of the calming, grounding and nurturing qualities of nature, enhanced with the ancient craftsmanship of glass. Over the years I have created natural stone and glass jewellery simply for the joy of creating.  I have experienced how working with these elements brings joy and harmony, healing and balance into my life.  My wish is to extend this joy to others.

Jo's JEMS can be purchased at Tug-Guhm Gallery in Lund; and at Paperworks in Powell RIver.

Ursula Medley is a seasoned and prolific oil painter and art educator whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Her subject matter is informed by the natural world and the environment around her.

Employing techniques she's developed for spontaneous on-location painting, her impressionist land and garden scapes come out of direct doing and seeing, with a consciousness of nature's rhythms.

Also available at her beach side garden studio at Lang Bay estuary are her one-of-a-kind wearable art fashion DaVinci Caps inspired by Renaissance flat caps worn by ladies and lord of the middle classes.

Lee enjoys welcoming guests to her home studio in the Lang Bay community located south of Powell River. Lee's love of experimentation has resulted in the creation of a wide variety of styles and images. Working in acrylics, watercolour, and mixed media, Lee has a large selection of originals, limited edition prints and cards.

We share this beautiful country with an abundance of wildlife that connects us with the earth, sky and waters. Through the use of natural stone, my subject matter grows out of the earth and brings wildlife into our everyday surroundings. For observers, it can be a reminder of an outdoor experience and a chance to use their vivid recollection of that encounter to complete the scene. If someone can experience the sight and sound of the outdoors while viewing one of my carvings then perhaps that feeling might nourish a commitment to conserve and protect our planet for generations to come. Richard's carvings can be seen at the Artique Artist Co-op year-round.

Richard Benson

Wild-In-Stone Studio

Showing at the Artique Artist Co-op
6820 Alberni St
604.485.1247     rnbenson@telus.net 

Bente Hansen is an Award winning member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. She studied art at UBC for 4 years and has taken many workshops both locally and internationally.

Her inspiration comes from the environment. The mood, atmosphere, colour, and spirit of the place comes through her "Intuitive Landscape" paintings.

Bente and her husband moved to Powell River in 2014. The new environment is a constant inspiration.

Private studio tours are welcome.

Steven Grover creates his art with both a camera and his paint brushes. He has been a professional photographer for more than 20 years and recently turned his hand to acrylic painting.  His artistic themes are natural places, animals including marine mammals and the human figure in compositions known as Environmental Nudes.  The original acrylic paintings are often based on one or more of his extraordinary photographs.  

Steven's work is on exhibit at Artique co-op gallery in Powell River. Large framed prints and art cards are available.  

Lorna Downie is a painter working primarily in acrylic and mixed media.  She loves encaustic works and produces pieces that are coveted for their texture.

Lately Lorna has been fascinated with reflections and her current work explores the abundance of colours and the interplay of light in water and sky.  Inspired by the seasons, the west coast, and her travels her interpretations are both representational and abstract. She looks forward to you visiting her studio in Townsite.  Some work is also available at Artique on Alberni Street.

I have always loved finding little pieces of hidden beauty, a spot of colour in unexpected places. When I create art, my goal is to show my vision to you.

I also make jewellery where I get to play with different colours, textures, and shapes. Using both glass and semi-precious stones, I enjoy the contrast between the rich feeling of the stones, and the purity of colour found in glass.

I am an amateur photographer now making my home on the Sunshine Coast in lovely Powell River. Photography has always been a favourite hobby of mine. Besides selling my own framed photos I also welcome assignments.

Powell River artists turn wooden chairs into things of beauty. Make a bid to get your very own art chair at this Silent Auction fundraiser starting August 18 at the
PR Public Library.

Bids close Aug 26 @ 3 pm. The auction will be a part of the Powell River Studio Tour weekend with the successful bidders being determined the afternoon of Sunday, August 26.

The Art Chair Auction is a fundraiser for the Powell River Friends of the Library and the Sunshine Gogos, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis Foundation)

My work is usually inspired by places or people close to me.  The mediums and techniques vary widely: painting or collaging in acrylics, oils and mixed media (sometimes incorporating photographic prints), also constructing 3D pieces in ceramics or installations in found boxes.  

I've shown in the Lower Mainland and Powell River.  I graduated from Emily Carr University in Fine Arts and have also worked in law and social policy.

Elaine paints the land, the creatures, and the wonders of nature working with mixed mediums on canvas, old growth fir, yellow cedar, and fabric for garden banners.

Embracing 'beautiful thinking' in every piece of our slow fashion design options by offering harmony, originality and sustainability in your choice of clothing  and accessories. At Eunoia we are committed to using local, natural, regenerative and found textiles and materials, and we encourage a new relationship with your 'chosen second skin'. Drop in soon and discover the story, behind the clothes and accessories you choose for yourself and your home.

My creative process works as a guide through suffering and wonder. It works as an exploration of what a life is made of. It is about keeping a hand in the stars, though the blindness and constant discord so easily encountered in this world. Through my chosen materials, I try to convey the intricacies of human emotion, to hint at otherworldly realms that exist in the half-light. I strive to create art that pulls the viewer in; that is both tactile and interactive and speaks to our short time here on this beautiful planet.

Debra Bevaart's studio gallery is a showcase for more than 40 artists with Debra's stone sculptures brought to life. The theme of the gallery is strong coastal imagery.

Come and look around the beautifully renovated Tidal Art Centre in the former Forestry building in Lund. Ten amazing artists from "north of town" will be showing their creative works . Some of the artists will also be demonstrating their processes. You will see some very diverse creative and innovative pieces in a variety of media. These talented artists are working in photography, mixed media, assemblage, textile work, sculpture and painting. They will be showing fresh work with a current edge in both the Art Centre and the Kiln Shed.

We are sure you will enjoy your visit

Deborah was born in Northern British Columbia and has lived three quarters of her life in rural communities across Canada, mostly on the shores of an ocean. She draws on the physical and emotional landscape of her rural life to make work that asks the viewer to examine the importance of nature in our health and well being. Her contemporary landscape based wool carpets and meditation mats are created using traditional wet felting. Some of her functional floor carpets integrate digital technology, conductive materials and components of wearable electronics to construct immersive, interactive experiences with image, texture and sound.