Port Alberni artist Cynthia Bonesky was introduced to art as a young and curious kid, frequently drawing and painting and creating crafts with plasticine.
Bonesky has since flourished into an established artist whose vivid and colourful acrylic, oil and watercolour paintings will be on display at the Rollin Art Centre until April 1.
Painting mostly in her lake-view gallery at her Sproat Lake home, Bonesky, a retired teacher, said she had no institutional art training. Other than several painting and drawing workshops throughout her years, Bonesky is primarily a self-taught painter who believes practice is key to progress.
“I really like painting people,” Bonesky said. Her compositions are largely inspired by photographs she’s taken herself, are provided by friends or cut from magazines.
Bonesky said she’s most inclined to paint in the winter months or on a rainy spring day because she enjoys being out in her garden when the sun is shining.
On average, one of her paintings will take about a week to complete, painting four to five hours a day.
To get ready for her current exhibit she “painted like mad” to complete seven compositions in a month and a half.
“I’ve always wanted to make stuff, and it isn’t always painting,” Bonesky said.
“I think that’s what appeals to me about gardening.”
The display at the Rollin Art Centre showcases some of Bonesky’s favourite paintings and drawings that depict distinguished characters from her travels, her daughters, a Pearl Harbor soldier and many more faces she’s met throughout her life.
“I need to sell them so I can empty my house out. My gallery is getting pretty full,” she said.
Bonesky began painting more seriously in 1994 but it wasn’t until about ten years later that she actually felt like a “real painter” and wanted to frame her artwork.
“The most important thing is to be patient with yourself and to make lots and lots of mistakes because theres a lot of people who start painting and they want it to look perfect right away and that’s not going to happen,” she said.
“I have got stacks and stacks of really awful paintings and every time you switch to a new medium you go through that again.”
Aside from painting and drawing in her own gallery, Bonesky shares her skills with avid painters at the Wednesday Painters, an association that began as a group of friends and graduated into a larger group of painters who bring instructors in for workshops at the Alberni Athletic Hall.
Bonesky also teaches an adult drawing workshop held at Echo Centre.
Inspired by Norman Rockwell’s ability to tell a story through art, Bonesky hopes people will perceive the emotion behind her illustrations and be able to imagine the story they tell—like she does with Rockwell’s.
“I’m so excited about this [exhibit] because I feel like this is a new level for me in terms of the paintings I’ve done,” Bonesky said.
