Snowboards, Aussie accents and lots of fresh powder are not the only things to find up at Silver Star Mountain when the resort opens for the winter season this week.
Patrons can also head up to the Knoll and duck inside for splash of colour when Gallery Odin opens its winter exhibition.
The gallery, located a short walk from the Silver Star village, will feature 98 to 110 pieces by both local and B.C. artists, including two artists new to the gallery, Salmon Arm’s Sharda Murray-Kieken, and Okanagan-based stone sculptor Iean Allin Dobson.
A glass artist, Murray-Kieken has studied with Canadian glass artist Brock Craig, and U.S. artists Patty Gray and Richard LaLonde. She recently traveled to Tacoma, Wash. to witness the Italian glass maestro Lino Tagliapietra at work.
“The fused glass pieces created by Sharda are intended to express both the beauty of the natural world and the current state of life in our culture,” said Maria Molnar, who runs Gallery Odin with husband Kalman
Murray-Kieken has shown her work in numerous juried shows in B.C. and celebrated her first solo exhibition in April at the Shuswap Art Gallery in Salmon Arm.
This winter, Murray-Kieken will visit Tucson, Ariz. to study at the Sonoran Glass Institute, where she will have the opportunity to expand her technical knowledge, allowing her to pursue new directions in her work.
Originally from Alberta, Dobson has carved and drawn on his own for years and more recently studied and learned from established artists such as Vernon jade carver Deborah Wilson and Donn Salt in New Zealand.
“My interests, experiences and travels play a significant role in the subjects I choose to carve. Aside from the endless beauty of Canada, the karst landscape of The Burren of Southwest Ireland has given me some strong images, as well as the Laguna Sibenacocha area of upper Peru,” said Dobson. “I usually photograph whatever pattern catches my eye; often it is just a partial image that I need. Then I’ll draw it, model an aspect of it in clay, and then finally carve it, usually in jade and bone.”
Besides its new artists, the Molnars are highlighting the B.C. landscape in its large gallery room with 16 paintings, from representational to semi-abstract to abstract to imaginary landscape, by artists Glenn Clark, Karel Doruyter, Edward Epp, Destanne Norris and Dana Roman.
“Smaller breathtaking B.C. scenes – trees, flowers, birds, leaves, pets – from Jerry Markham, Elizabeth Moore, Wendy Hart Penner, Charlene Woodbury and Bonnie Anderson will also be shown,” said Molnar,
A variety of large to small abstracts from Barry Rafuse, Julia Trops and Lynne Grillmair will be on display along with alabaster, Brazilian soapstone and marble sculptures by Deborah Wilson, Julia Trops and Todd White.
“We will also have ceramics from Al Scott and Lisa Prowse, scrimshaw by Ginny Hall and fabric art by Dawn Piche,” said Maria Molnar.
Opening receptions for the exhibition take place Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. Winter gallery hours are Wednesdays from 1 to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 6 p.m. For more information, call 250-503-0822 or visit www.galleryodin.com.
