Lori Lees-Stout July 23 - August 6

Lori’s interest in art first piqued as a child watching her godfather, Jack Naismith, sketch and paint in Medicine Hat, Alberta.  Later—during her education degree at the University of Alberta—she enrolled in several drawing and painting classes which persisted well into her teaching career.

When Lori and her family relocated to Calgary she began studying under artist Karen Swearengen and found her focus shifting in favour of her art. During this time she painted landscapes and still-life in oils eventually switching to watercolour and pen and ink. After branching out to explore fabric painting in clothing design and themed room murals, Lori returned to watercolour, the medium she enjoys most to this day.

Now, spending most of the year on the West Coast and summers in the Columbia Valley, Lori is able to explore her love of nature in two of the most beautiful areas of the province.

Lori’s work has been sold in art shows, galleries, and coffee shops in Calgary, White Rock, Invermere and Fairmont.

Artist Statement My art is inspired by the idea that the perception of what we see is strongly linked to personal experiences and emotions. Most of my memories come back to me in bits and pieces of vibrant colours, shapes and forms. Like my memories, my paintings, whether they are an entire event, place or thing, or the parts of it that are most visually interesting to me, are always made up of vibrant colours and strong contrasts. I begin a painting by planning it out structurally and visualizing it in detail, but before I put pencil to paper it has already taken on a life of its own. With each pencil line and brush stroke, my imagination comes to life. Whenever I paint wildlife, flowers, or buildings, I take what I see initially and transform it to a colour intensity and form that represents my perception of the object. It is for this reason that I am drawn to watercolour. My initial drawings provide structure and the paintings, often done wet on wet, provide freedom and flow.  I hope my paintings will summon pleasant memories or elicit a quiet sense of contentment in the viewer, or perhaps even cause the viewer to question what might be hidden between the lines of what we see and what we perceive.

Marilyn Hurst July 30 - August 6

    



  IN EARLY 1990 MY ART "CAREER"  BEGAN TO GERMINATE AFTER DISCOVERING A HIDDEN RESERVOIR OF CREATIVE ENERGY PRECIPITATED BY A SERIOUS IDENTITY CRISIS.  ALTHOUGH I HAD NEVER CONSIDERED PAINTING BEFORE THIS TIME,  FROM WITHIN I FELT I WAS BEING PUSHED TO BEGIN.   MY TENATIVE STEPS WERE WITH PORTRAITURE, BUT SINCE THAT TIME MY WORK HAS EXPANDED BEYOND ANYTHING I COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

             LIFE THRIVES ON CHANGE AND THE TRANSITION TO BECOMING AN ARTIST HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS LEARNING CURVE, DEVELOPING A NEW FOUND RESPECT FOR THE RESOLVE NECESSARY TO MAKE THE ART PROFESSION  WORK FOR ONESELF. 

THROWING CAUTION TO THE WIND IN 1997, I MOVED TO CABO SAN LUCAS AND WITH MY NEW HUSBAND, ARTIST CHRIS MacCLURE, WE OPENED A 2ND STOREY STUDIO. AS TESTIMONY TO THE CREATIVE SPIRIT, OVER THE NEXT 13 YEARS OUR HUMBLE STUDIO HAD MORPHED TO BECOME THE MOST RESPECTED ART GALLERY IN LOS CABOS.   THE GOLDEN CACTUS GALLERY'S AMAZING COLLECTION OF ARTISTS AND ART BECAME THE  BENCHMARK OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE ART COMMUNITY IN THE SOUTHERN BAJA.

            DURING THIS TIME I PAINTED AND LEARNED THE CRAFT FIRST HAND.   RUNNING A GALLERY IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY  WAS CHALLENGING, BUT THROUGH  WORKING AND PAINTING FULL TIME  I HONED  AND REFINED MY PAINTING SKILLS.   ALWAYS  IT WAS  THE EXCITEMENT OF THE MEXICAN CULTURE THAT PROVIDED ONGOING  INSPIRATION, BUT IT IS THE JOY THAT COMES FROM REACHING WITHIN AND LETTING THE EXPRESSION FLOW FROM THE SILENCE THAT GIVES LIFE TO MY WORK.

           MY PAINTINGS ARE A MENAGE OF LIFE, EXPERIENCE AND CREATIVE ENERGY. THE LANDSCAPES, FLORALS, PORTRAITURE AND EXPRESSIONIST ABSTRACTS ALL REFLECT THE VIBRANT COLORS OF MY LIFE AS A CONTEMPLATIVE ARTIST INSPIRED BY THE COLORS OF MEXICO AND THE BEAUTY OF MY HOME IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.  AT THE PRESENT TIME I AM AN ARTIST IN WHITE ROCK  AT MY GOLDEN CACTUS STUDIO IN BC CANADA

Chris MacClure July 30 - August 6

     Chris MacClure is always looking for that authentic gesture or moment in everything. His paintings are an expression of his “Romantic Realist” view of life. Chris’s engaging style is evident in his perfected usage of the illusive color changes and natural compositions. Using landscapes as a language, Chris incorporates imagery and symbolism to his art to reflect his own unique expression.

       Born into an artistic family in Saint John, New Brunswick, Chris MacClure was surrounded by the arts from a young age. His father was a jazz musician, his mother a playwright, and his grandfather an illustrator, so it never occurred to him that he couldn’t be an artist. This sense of inner confidence has taken MacClure to places and studios around the world for more than 40 years, offering him a wide range of opportunities to hone his skills.

       Numerous paintings of his may be found in many corporate collections worldwide. Some notable collectors of his artwork include: John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, James Whitmore, mezzo soprano Frederica Von Stade, drag racing legend Don Prud’Homme, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Pepsi Co. and the Ford Motor Co. of Detroit.

Louise Swan July 6 - July 23

Louise has always loved to draw, decorate, and create with an eye to designing whatever she was making with a unique and personal touch. Louise was born in Ontario, Canada. In her early twenties, while working in Washington, DC and Virginia she began taking classes at the University of Virginia in acrylics and got hooked on painting. The canvas has become a way to extend her creativity and passion from the snow-bound winters and glorious autumn colours of her eastern roots to the greens, blues and mists of the mountains and shorelines of British Columbia. For her a few steps along a pathway have now become an odyssey as an artist. Many of her works are inspired by her early roots, spending much of her youth on, or, in the water. Her love of nature, water, animals and scenery has inspired her to capture this beauty with brush in hand. Whether sitting by a mountain stream hearing the water flow by or under the gaze of her beloved dog at the easel in the studio, Louise’s painting style is treasured for its captivating reality and acute attention to detail. Expressing the wonders of sunlight and shadow, hues and contrasts is what illuminates every day and every painting.

Louise’s work has been influenced over the years through study with internationally known artists including Roger Arndt, Brian Atyeo, Tony Couch, Tim Deibler, Robert Genn, David Goatley, Brent Laycock, Mark Hobson, Terry Isaacs, Murray Phillips, Diane Maxey, Gordon MacKenzie, Claudia-Jean McCabe, Stephen Quiller, Michael O’Toole, Janice Robertson, Brigitte Schreyer, Mike Svob, Liz Wiltzen, Alan Wylie and many others. Many thanks to all who have given of themselves to nurture and mentor me in my journey as an artist. Louise lives in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada where her acrylic, oil and watercolour paintings are sold, treasured in local private collections and internationally. As an Active status and juried artist member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, she continues to explore new ways of expressing her love of painting and bringing her joy of nature to the fine art enthusiast everywhere.