Sheryl Fremlin’s and Lynne Flanders’ art could not be more different.
Fremlin’s watercolour paintings feature light colours and portray beautiful, inspiring images.
Flanders’ oil paintings feature vibrant, dark colours and reflect the macabre side of life.
And yet, the women are teaming up to display their work together at the Parkside Art gallery in a show they’re calling Seasons of Change: the Tale of Two Artists.
“We thought our work would compliment each other,” said Flanders.
“It’ll be a nice contrast,” said Fremlin.
The show is intended to juxtapose the journey of two women and express how they’ve grown and changed as individuals through their art.
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For Flanders, her journey has been to the other side of the world and back. She lived and worked as a nurse in southeast Asia for years. She learned to do batik (painting on cloth using dyes and wax) in a hut in Indonesia.
Her life’s journey has also taken her through grief to healing.
“I’ve had a lot of change and a lot of people in my life that I’ve been close to have actually passed away.”
Flanders said her first husband died fairly young. She also lost her father, Alexander Wright, who was a commercial artist, cartoonist and wood carver.
“That’s changed my art,” she said.
Her art became quite dark for many years as she moved through the grieving process, but she said it has gotten noticeably brighter in recent years.
“I think that has to do with healing. I think that I went through that period where things weren’t very good and I was probably grieving a lot.”
Flanders admitted she is drawn to the darker, more macabre side of life.
“I know it’s there and I know you can’t hide it and I’ve lived in places where people have been dirt poor, so I know there is another side to life.”
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For Fremlin, her journey has taken her from value painting (adhering to the contrast of black and white or light and dark) to introducing colour.
“I’ve tried to capture in my style a lot more mood and atmosphere in my paintings, and also trying to get more vibrancy and colour…” she said.
“So in that way, it’s changed considerably.”
She’s also experimented with compliment colours – green to red or orange to blue – and said the combination of these changes has enhanced her immensely art by adding an intensity to it.
Fremlin worked at the Flying U Guest Ranch, in 70 Mile House, for 30 years so she said many of her pieces capture the Cariboo’s ranching community.
“The Cariboo (provides) endless fascination, endless subject matter,” she said. “I just do it because I love doing it and it gives me joy to do it, so I just keep doing it, right. It’s a habbit.”
Moving forward, Fremlin aspires to experiment with other mediums, like pastel or multimedia, while Flanders has ambitions to show her work in galleries on the coast.
Both women belong to the Cariboo Artists Guild. Flanders is a new member while Fremlin is a founding member. Their art has been displayed together in previous shows.
Their collaborative show can be viewed at the Parkside Art Gallery, in 100 Mile House, from Oct. 19 to Nov. 10.
An opening reception with light refreshments is being held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19.
beth.audet@100milefreepress.net
