Events for September / October 2010

September

Brenda Chalifoux-Luscombe and Althea White are once again joining together to explore their expressions in art. In 1993 they both shared a studio on 5th Street, so that being able to collaborate in this new venture, is very exciting. Through the Pearl Ellis Gallery, they are merging a new show called “Themes and Dreams”.  The show will run from September 1st to 13th at the gallery.  There will be a reception on Wednesday, 1st September, from 7-9pm to celebrate the opening.  The Gallery is open daily from 1p.m. To 4p.m.  Both artists will be available to answer questions about the works.

Brenda finds inspiration from children's stories, legends, four elements, and animals both real and mystical. Throughout her work, Brenda finds common themes that can be found in other cultures such as the four seasons. An example of this is a gourd  which illustrates the female species, fertility, birth and death. The gourd is one exploration of a media that can be used for pyrographic art; paper, mat board, wood and fabric are other sources with which Brenda has experimented. Brenda is an exceptionally fine graphic artist who captures very detailed drawings to demonstrate her story telling ability, portraits of children or animals. Many of her recent 3D gourds, such as The Jester, represent both nursery story characters  and Brenda's sense of humour. Presently Brenda is challenging herself in some works to combine gourds and the use of fabric in 3D. The use of fabric is one area in which both artists share a common theme to illustrate a story.

Althea's travels to Australia have given her a new source of inspiration especially with the bright light, ancient plants and Aboriginal cultures to express herself through fabric pictures. The fabric is used in   3D in combination with other sewing techniques, media, manipulation and machine embroidery to show the design aspects of nature, a story or event. She has especially enjoyed learning about the protocea's, bankia's (named after Joseph Banks) the hundreds of eucalyptus trees, and unusual animal and insect world.  With the Australian light, it can be a challenge to find the tone or texture of a fabric as fabric paints or dyes are not  used in the pictures. Althea's knowledge of fabric, sense of colour and texture has been developed over many years and comes through as she develops a picture. An extension of these subjects has been the development of the use of watercolour, frequently as botanical pictures. The combination of the emotional senses with the colourful visual impact of a subject, has given Althea a whole new world to explore and depict in both media's.

The use of a digital camera, fabric, cultural themes and stories are common in both Brenda and Althea's work. They both process their ideas with drawings and detailed sketches that then take on individual interpretations to the creation of unique works of art. They both hope that this is the beginning of future collaboration and exploration for further events so that a web page is under construction and will be   available shortly for any updates at: www.variedexpressionsstudio.ca  A signing book will be available for those who would like to have more information on the development of future works of art, show calendar, demonstrations,  or workshops. Please come and enjoy this exceptional show.

October

In partnership with the Comox Rec Centre, the Comox BIA will once again organize the annual Halloween Parade of local children dressed in costume.

Our BIA Members are always incredibly generous and are ready to hand out hundreds of 'treats' to these trick-or-treaters as they make their way down Comox Avenue.

Choose another date