One of the region’s most respected art groups is hosting a three-day Spring Art Show & Sale.
More than 55 visual artists from St. Albert Painters Guild will exhibit 200 plus paintings in acrylic, watercolour, oil, pastels, pencil crayons, ink and mixed media at St. Albert Place from April 25 to 27.
Many art pieces are idealized images backed by mountains and waterfalls. Others are floral landscapes representing local gardens. Still other works are a shared memory from an artist’s personal travels.
The event not only shares breath-taking scenes and mesmerizing colours with the community. It also allows viewers to see what can be accomplished in an artist’s studio using basic tools.
While some pieces are painted indoors, other artists prefer the challenges of painting outdoors where natural light is captured as it moves in shadow.
St. Albert Gazette spoke with three relatively new artists to the guild who are excited to exhibit their paintings. They are Joanne Appelt (soft pastels), Judy Fairweather (alcohol inks), and Karen MacDougall (acrylics/coloured pencil).
Joanne Appelt
Born and raised in Edson, Appelt was naturally drawn to artsy, creative mediums since she could hold a pencil. As a curious five-year-old, she was intrigued by a visiting vacuum salesman who showed the youngster how to draw Pluto, Disney’s cartoon dog.
“It kind of hooked me,” said Appelt who later attended a one-year arts program at Red Deer College before obtaining a fine arts degree from Sheridan College. While raising two sons, she continued dabbling and taking classes to maintain motivation.
“Initially I was interested in portraiture and realism. Then I started pencil and charcoal. As time passed, I was attracted to impressionism and abstract work.”
Currently, Appelt, who prefers to work with soft pastel, will display 12 abstract pieces under the theme ‘shadows, reflections and light.’
Living near Edmonton’s Mill Creek Mill, she expresses her deep fondness for the area crafting a boldly coloured autumn abstract titled Mill Creek Blues.
“I live in the ravine, and I go for long walks. I love the reflection of the sky and the autumn leaves, and I try to capture more than just the feeling.”
Hello Handsome instead is painted from a photo she took while in Puerta Vallarta.
“A grackle was walking by the swimming pool, and I caught him out of the corner of my eye admiring his reflection in the water. It was a whimsical moment and lent itself to impressionistic art.”
Judy Fairweather
Like Appelt, Fairweather favours vibrant tints splashed across a board. Unlike Appelt, Fairweather prefers alcohol inks. They are rich dyes suspended in alcohol creating bold colours. Due to the high alcohol content, the bright dyes dry quickly leaving highly concentrated hues.
“They’re exciting and challenging and difficult to control. You have to go into this with openness. You must be patient, but you end up with these magical, spontaneous, bold and dynamic paintings,” said Fairweather.
A resident of Beaver County, Fairweather joined the guild in 2024. A retired elementary school teacher, she didn’t consider painting until later in life. However, 20 years ago, she began experimenting with watercolours.
“They were very soft and not that interesting. I moved to acrylics to get the intensity of colour, but I didn’t like the globbyness. Five or six years ago I discovered alcohol inks. They had the colour, the intensity, the flow I wanted,” she said.
Her stylized abstract art is inspired from many years of hiking, backpacking and nature treks.
Fairweather plans to display 15 paintings. Two of her most stunning, pop-off-the-wall paintings are Daydreams in the Mountains and Twilight in the Wilderness. The flamboyantly coloured skies are so lush they almost appear to be sights from another planet.
Karen MacDougall
Originally from Nova Scotia, MacDougall is naturally inspired by nautical and water scenes. Currently, she is an RCMP forensic technologist who balances a stressful career by painting nature-inspired scenes.
“I favour the abstraction of landscapes. I’ve learned to put abstract elements into my paintings. My work is not purely representational, but I draw into the feeling of the scenery,” said MacDougall, who favours quick-drying acrylics that allow for immediate retouches.
As a landscape artist with abstract elements, she focuses on how light filters through trees or reflects off ocean waters and mountain rock.
“I’ve tried painting people, and it doesn’t work. It’s not something that resonates with me. It’s hard to put someone in a landscape and to not make it look goofy,” she said.
For the exhibition, MacDougall is submitting five paintings all inspired by landscapes. They include Spring Arrival, an abstract capturing the vibrant yellows and greens of trees reflected in water.
“I strive to not be realistic. I amp up the colour and add components. It’s a representational art form, but I use colour and brush strokes to give it an abstract leaning vibe.”
Crash 2, on the other hand, is a seascape depicting a wave crashing onto a rock. The Nova Scotia inspired painting is rendered with cool tones. MacDougall adds abstract visuals by cutting shapes into the black rock giving it a surreal glassy effect.
The St. Albert Painters Guild Spring Show & Art Sale is a professionally curated event that exudes a casual informal vibe. It runs Friday, April 25 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A public reception is hosted Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
