This month in the Station House’s Main Gallery get to know the artists of the Cariboo Art Society’s new show, Abstracted Colour.
The Cariboo Art Society is one of western Canada’s oldest established art societies and was first founded 74 years ago by legendary Cariboo artists Sonia Cornwall and Vivien Cowan, said Linda Bachman, spokesperson for the show.
Currently, Bachman said there are about 20 active members of the Cariboo Art Society with 10 of them lending their talents to this month’s show.
Bachman said she and the other artists involved in the show were challenged to go outside their comfort zones and normal artistic techniques for this show. In essence, their mandate was “anything goes, any colour (and) to make it bright” which as a traditional impressionist was particularly challenging for Bachman.
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Abstracted Colour, in essence, consists of dozens of pieces in a variety of styles in which the artists use exaggerated or the exact opposite colours one would expect for mundane subjects, such as brown trees being turned blue. Bachman said that they then had to consider how to build their paintings around these inversions and exaggerations to make the unusual consistent.
“I’m sure, as well as my own, (everyone’s) pallet had changed. You’re creating as you go on a show like that because you’re exploring, you’ve never done it before,” Bachman said.
The collection includes pieces that utilize watercolours, inks, pastels and mixed media piece involving acrylics that all explore the underlying value of colour and abstract concepts.
For her, the best part of the show was seeing everyone get motivated and discussing the meanings of each piece and technique they used for the show.
The most fun part for Bachman and everyone else was their self-portraits because next to Dwayne Davis it was the first time any of them had done one. Personally, she feels its something they should start doing annually.
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The Cariboo Art Society is always welcoming new members to attend their weekly meetings at their studio space at the Central Cariboo Arts Centre from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. every Saturday where they discuss art and work on projects together.
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