Guest artist mentors others during show

McDiarmid's work an inspiration to local artists at Harrison Art Show

Richard McDiarmid with one of the pieces he showed at the recent Harrison Art Show in Memorial Hall.

Richard McDiarmid with one of the pieces he showed at the recent Harrison Art Show in Memorial Hall.

The Harrison Art Show 2012 was a fabulous success. The combined presentation and the talent of the participating artists garnered glowing comments from the public, who attended the sixth annual two-day event in Harrison recently.

The international artist/author, Richard McDiarmid, was this year’s featured artist. His enthusiasm and passion for the arts was easily transferred to others.

McDiarmid generously shared his knowledge and experiences of the art world by mentoring several artists during the show. The public was privileged to view several of his awesome paintings and his books. In his book, McDiarmid has included a painting that he had begun to demonstrate at Agassiz Monday Painters, and since completed.

The talents of the 32 artists at the show were over the top. The diverse pieces of art displayed comprised many media including acrylic, watercolour, pastel, oil, graphite, pen and ink, mixed, and photography. The sculpture assemblage displays, particularly “Shocking Eh”, created great interests and discussions surrounding the issues of the misuse of the environment and its future. This year another venue was included, jewelery. Each piece of jewelery was beautifully designed, one of a kind pieces of art that drew attention from so many.

The free draw was also a hit. The winners of the donated gifts from the following sponsors were Roger Mawdsley, Morris Valley (canwestart), Jinny Melo, Mission (Ian Olsen, Birdhouse Creations), Kathryn Shiatti, Pitt Meadows (Inkman’s Village Gifts), Barb Mass, Vancouver (Muddy Waters/Baskin Robbins),

Stewart Brotchie (Richard McDiarmid, Artist/Author), Lisette Nelson, Agassiz (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory), Hanna Bulhakova, N. Vancouver (Rose Marie Gordon, Artist) and Murray Hardy, Harrison (The Old Settler Pub).

The Harrison Art Show has gained in popularity due to the support and collaboration of all the artists and volunteers involved to make this event an impressive showcase for the arts. As a visitor from Montreal wrote in the guest book, “Found beauty in the smallest of places.”

-Submitted by Marg Doman

 

 

Agassiz Observer