You may have already seen the works of artist Rick Cepella and not even realized it. That’s because the Powell River-based artist is an award-winning cartoonist/illustrator published in many major Canadian newspapers and magazines.
His cartoon and illustration work has garnered several national and international awards and is in the permanent collection of the National Archives of Canada.
Cepella is coming to Vernon to be a part of the Fresh! AiR residency, sponsored by the Caetani Cultural Centre and the Allan Brooks Nature Centre. While in town, he will be giving two workshops in acrylic painting.
Cepella’s paintings are expressive reactions to the wild landscape as well as the human form.
Decades of outdoor activities, 12 years of work as a biological surveyor, and countless hours of field drawing and painting in the rugged backcountry of western Canada continue to shape his work.
His art has been in more than 20 single and group exhibitions across Canada including faculty shows for the Kootenay School of Art, Victoria College of Art, Red Deer College of Art and others. His work is in collections across North America.
Cepella has taught art to thousands of students for more than 25 years at numerous art schools, public art galleries and in the public school system. He has taught at the Okanagan School of the Arts, Selkirk College and the Kootenay School of Art among others. He studied drawing and design at the University of British Columbia, The University of Ottawa, and Emily Carr College of Art and Design and has attended a number of artist residencies in B.C., twice receiving full scholarship to the Tony Onley artists project in Wells, B.C.
Cepella will be staying at the Caetani house while in Vernon, and can be found most days in his studio, provided by the Allan Brooks Nature Centre.
His workshops are this weekend at the Vernon Community Arts Centre (contact the VCAC to register at 250-542-6243) and at the Lake Country Art Gallery Art House, Nov. 2 and 3 (call 250-766-1299.) Although the workshops are specifically geared towards acrylic painting, Cepella will accept students who choose to work in oils.
