Although she now lives in Merritt, Katalin Kovacs remains a fan of the 100 Mile Wranglers.
Kovacs’ devotion to the local hockey team came after she moved to a five-acre lot along Horse Lake in 2004 and her husband, a longtime hockey fan, started taking her to Wranglers games. Attending those hockey games, and rediscovering her love of art by volunteering at Parkside Art Gallery helped conspire to make Kovacs fall in love with the local area over the next 15 years.
“My heart is crying because I am still very emotionally close to that area,” Kovacs said.
Her immense soft spot for the team led Kovacs to offer her support to the Wranglers’ latest fundraising drive, in which a dozen artists have donated 19 pieces of art for a secret bid auction. The auction started Feb. 22 and runs until just before Easter, around April 2 or 3.
READ MORE: Wranglers and artists team up to raise money
Kovacs, who first tried her hand at art while living in Hungary, became an artist after joining the Cariboo Artist’s Guild, which encouraged her to pursue her interests. She has donated two small paintings she had made for a Christmas bazaar last year. One is Christmas-themed called Winter, depicting the Cariboo winter in soft blues and whites with an added dash of red in the form of a cardinal, while the other titled Fall in Cariboo depicts the colours of the Cariboo fall, her favourite season.
Kovacs said she’s most comfortable using watercolour paints to bring vivid landscapes to life, although she also dabbles in acrylic for more abstract works. Much of her work has been inspired by the vistas of the South Cariboo, especially by her former home on Horse Lake road, a place she still misses deeply.
Whenever she can, Kovacs said she likes returning to the area to visit her friends and hopes to make a visit in March. Currently, she said she spends most of her days practicing her technique and reading books on art theory to pass the time.
“I wish them all the best and hopefully we’ll be able to get over this pandemic,” Kovacs said about the fundraiser. “The hockey team, I hope they’ll make it because I think they’re very good (for the community).”
‘Fall in the Cariboo’ is valued at $95 at the Sugar Shack in 70 Mile while ‘Winter’ is valued at $95 and currently on display at Pharmasave.
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Red Cardinal by Katalin Kovacs was an effort to inspire the holiday spirit by painting a snowy forest and breaking it up with the red plumage of a cardinal. (Photo submitted)
