You may have to perform linguistic gymnastics to pronounce the word ‘pyrophyllite,’ so it’s a blessing to learn you can get away with calling it wonderstone. It’s no wonder that it gained that nickname.
Take one look at Roy Hinz’s magnificent statue of a horse in muscular stance and you will be impressed at the beauty of both the natural stone from Korea and the craftsmanship. Yellow pyrophyllite looks like butterscotch marble, and I don’t mean ice cream.
Hinz contributes just one half of the new exhibit at Art Beat this month. Cutter’s Choice, the aforementioned horse, will grab your attention immediately as you walk up the steps into the gallery and, once there, you may find it difficult to walk away.
Bison Bust right next to it is much the same with its gentle eyes and flowing hair. The Spruce Grove-based artist must spend as much time delicately sawing and filing off chips and flecks as I want to spend looking at his handiwork and the meditative lines that comprise the rock itself.
When you finally do pry yourself away, take a gander at Randy Hayashi’s paintings. The Edmonton-based artist has been with the gallery for a few years now and his work is a pleasure to view. He’s been trying to broaden his horizons along a few different avenues. Well, one actual avenue to be specific.
Normally content with being a pure landscape painter, the graphic designer works in the heart of the capital city so it only seemed natural for him to create river valley scenes and then tackle an urban landscape along Jasper Avenue.
“It was an experiment,” he explained, apparently pleased with the results.
Since he can’t always be in the actual picturesque town of Jasper, he picked the next closest thing. It was more about finding the beauty within the everyday rather than forcing himself to stretch as an artist by painting a distasteful scene. He said that there are lots of opportunities for good images if you just look around.
“It’s hard for me to pick just one thing, though.”
The challenge has so far proven successful. He’s even including more figures in his works with mostly positive results. Gallery co-owner Eric Outram is happy to continue to see Hayashi’s growth.
“Randy is just getting better and better. He’s getting more adventurous, developing new things … it’s a good reason to bring him back.”
