St. Albert artist Val Solash has a show opening on Tuesday at a place that most would not immediately associate with paintings on a wall: the Walterdale Theatre.
“The neat thing is that usually an opening is maybe a glass of wine, some munchies and sometimes an accordionist,” the St. Albert Painters Guild member laughed, the first of several giggles she would enjoy during her 10-minute interview.
“This one is a really cheap date. You get to come in and have the munchies and the glass of wine and then [watch] the play. I thought that was a nice come-on. If you don’t want to look at the art, you could always see the play. I’m OK with that.”
Impermanence is Solash’s first big foray into abstracts, a subject far from her standard repertoire of landscape scenes. They still have the same roots, however. Solash loves to take her camera with her on her nature hikes.
This show is an opportunity for her to branch out, as it were, but also to further her explorations of macro photography of rotting logs.
“I find it quite interesting the way things deteriorate. I did a lot of photo studies and I decided that I would use that as a springboard for some abstract paintings. I didn’t think I could abstract out of nothing.”
She showed several of these works back in the fall for Guilded at the Art Gallery of St. Albert. This show at the theatre is a much more complete set, and she had a lot of material to cull through in order to get what she needed. She admits to being a dedicated artist of sorts.
“I’m going to be 65 in a couple of weeks. When I retired, I decided that I wanted to pursue my hobby more diligently. I went back to school and got my certification in fine arts at the university,” she said, before adding, again with a laugh, “I think I have a little bit of OCD. Whenever I do something, I do it a lot. I’ve actually filled one bay of the garage with paintings. My husband said, ‘you have to do something with this!’”
“I tend to paint more than I sell. I discovered that … when you want more exposure, you have to be more than a nice landscape artist, which is what I am. I decided this year that I would try something different.”
She applied to the Alberta Society of Artists who maintains the exhibiting venue in the foyer. It’s a strange arrangement, she admits, but it works for her.
“You can only see the paintings in the foyer when there’s a play on.”
The Walterdale will actually open the doors to Impermanence to the public on two Saturdays, both Feb. 9 and 16 during the Strathcona Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The public can see more of Solash’s portfolio at her Long in the Tooth Gallery, found online at www.valsolash.com.
Preview
Impermanence<br />A collection of works by Val Solash<br /><br />Opening reception from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5 with performance to follow. <br /><br />Walterdale Theatre <br />10322 83 Avenue in Edmonton<br /><br />Impermanence runs in conjunction with all performances of the play Summer and Smoke, running from Feb. 6 to 15<br /><br />Contact Marj at [email protected] to reserve a seat for the opening.
