After receiving numerous nominations, the Vernon Community Arts Centre has announced its artist of the month for October.
Tina Siddiqui has been teaching at the arts centre for a number of years, and says she has seen her students grow in leaps and bounds in their skill level as painters.
“The biggest reward is to witness a student reach beyond their expectations,” said Siddiqui. “Art is truly food for the soul and I see the magic of it delightfully touching souls in my class.”
A prolific artist, Siddiqui has exhibited in group and solo shows for the past 35 years. While her work is distinctive –– figurative work in collage –– it is her dramatic use of colour that causes the paint to leap off the canvas.
Her high use of pastels, which she describes as immediate, vibrant, fun and spontaneous, is a reflection of her work and personality.
Siddiqui takes a free and exploratory approach to painting.
“Painting for me is a dialogue my inner self is having in shape of the imagery I create. The entire process, be it the initial inception of an idea, struggles and road blocks, happy accidents and discoveries and the final completion is a journey I would not trade. The quest is so absorbing, consuming, electrifying and rewarding that I feel fortunate to be zoned out of my mundane consciousness, in short, it is a happy place for me and I feel I am floating somewhere out there.”
Siddiqui is teaching collage and an open class this fall at the Vernon Community Arts Centre, located at the eastern entrance to Polson Park. More information is available at 250-542-6243 or at www.vernonarts.ca.
