New exhibit explores nature theme

There's a certain meditative stillness to the works Judy Leila Schafers has offered in her new exhibit. Rocks, sticks and leaves don't generally get their due with other artists' landscape works but here they take centre stage.

"It has a theme about nature which I know is quite explored with artists but my focus is more on some of the really tiny parts that people can pass by and not even notice," Schafers explains.

It also makes it easy for her to set up a variety of amazing still life scenes. Diamonds in the Ditch is a gorgeous look at some ice crystals melting slowly away from a branch of snow above it. With Sun's Love seems to come from later in the springtime as winter's snow recedes, revealing the rocks underneath and even a few sprigs of fresh new green growth. Jewel Morning displays some of the last orange-ish leaves to hang on in the fall, bedecked with a crown of hoar frost.

Schafers admits that she's chosen some challenging subjects.

"I'm working on a really, really close up one of snow right now," she remarked on Thursday. "It's proving to be a lot more of a challenge than I ever thought it would."

This will also be her first solo show at a commercial gallery, something that she admits is thrilling. To make the most of it, she'll also be doing some descriptive writing to augment the artistic nature of her works. Schafers is going the extra mile as well by being on hand for every Saturday that the show is open. She said she wants to connect with the art-going public and intends to make every effort to do that in person.

"I figure that's what I need to do plus I really like connecting with people. It gives me a chance to get to know people that are interested in my work. I'd really like to get to know them."

Blanchet's murals help heal in Redwater

Sunday's unveiling of four large murals by local artist Karen Blanchet will help prove once again the many healing properties of art. They aren't in a gallery or a quaint street in a small town. It's at the Redwater Health Centre.

While she can't take credit for the original photographs that she used – "It's from different parts of Canada and I haven't been to those parts," she laughed – she admits that she did adapt the overall esthetic in a way to unify the otherwise divergent scenes of Jasper, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia, all along one long wall.

"They wanted to create a getaway within the hospital. They've got this open area that's all covered so you can get outside without really being outside. They wanted to create an atmosphere of holiday or just somewhere pleasant to get their minds off where they are."

The result then is a series of four Cresson panels, each 1.2 metres by 1.8 metres, depicting images of Tangle Falls in the Rockies, a Prairie farmer harvesting a crop of wheat, a rocky islet in Lake Superior and a lighthouse standing steadfast against the Atlantic Ocean. Blanchet simply added a railing across the front of them all to provide more of a bistro feel to the sitting area.

Cresson, she continues, is a very durable material used for highway signs.

The facility is located at 4812 58 St. in Redwater, 45 minutes northwest of St. Albert.