I am again participating in the Sechelt Art Walk, which began Saturday Sept 26th and continues through October. This year I have four works at the Fish Market on Cowrie Street in Sechelt. Appropriately, they are beach and water themed, including this big spawning salmon. Enjoy while picking up your fresh fish and seafood from the best vendor in town!
Take Me to the River mixed media 24 x 24 $650
The sequel to my first historical fiction book, Those Who Wander, will officially launch on Saturday October 3rd, via a Zoom presentation from 4:00-4:40 pm PST. Those Who Stay follows many of the characters from the first book, but focuses on Grace Joe, a fictional mixed blood character, as she struggles to find her identity in the face of many challenges presented by the British Columbia health care system in the 1920s-1940s. The online event will include a slide show and reading, and time for a Q & A. Hope to see you then!
The first book explored the early days of Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia through the eyes of Clara Lyell, Halfmoon Bay’s actual first white settler, concluding with her involvement in an unsolved murder that took place in Halfmoon Bay in 1922. The sequel takes us further up the Sunshine Coast to Pender Harbour and inland to the Chilliwack area in the Fraser Valley. Whereas the first book’s characters were affected by BC’s residential schools, this book places Grace in a segregated ‘Indian’ hospital.
To register for the launch, contact Emily Kammerle at ekammerle@hotmail.com. A link to the online event will be sent to you on the day of the event. If you need instructions for downloading the Zoom software (it’s truly simple), contact Emily for assistance.
Books ($25) are available from me at the studio (contact me at rodgers.ruth@gmail.com to arrange pick-up) or at Talewind Books in Sechelt.
Maybe you’ve been wondering—will our usual fabulous studio tour featuring hundreds of artists along the Sunshine Coast from Langdale to Earl’s Cove run in our current pandemic? The answer is YES—with some differences to protect both artists and visitors.
ALL artists on the Crawl will have an expanded web presence at https://suncoastarts.com/art-crawl/. Each artist will be available online via a ZOOM link for specified times each day from October 23-25, during the Crawl. My time will be from 900-930 am each of the three days. The link will be published on the Art Crawl site—just click on it and join the conversation! Great for connecting with artists you admire, inquiring about specific works, or making private appointments to view their works.
SOME artists will be web-only; SOME will be ‘by appointment only’; SOME—including me—will be ‘drop in (almost) as usual.’ Open studios will be following provincial guidelines. Masks may be required (and always preferred); hand disinfection prior to entry will be required; numbers in the studio at any one time will be restricted; contact information will be collected at the door for contact-tracing; one-way directional flow will be established. My studio is spacious enough to accommodate about ten people at a time, which is typical of my traffic during the Crawl anyway. So you can come by and feel safe—though I’ll have to skip the hot tea and cookies this year, I think, just to be safe—sorry!
So we are working hard to be ready for you and hope you’ll support your local artists this year more than ever—low traffic and reduced exposure has made it hard for artists this year, just as for many others. If you can help us out with purchases and encouragement, we’d be glad of it!
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Passing Shadow Oil on paper 19 x 26 framed $650
The Landing Artist’s long-delayed exhibit at the Gibsons Public Market has been rescheduled to begin tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, and continue through to August 15th. Come upstairs and see works by Charmaine Bayntun, Ed Hill, Trisha Joel, Elaine Sheepish, Coralie Swaney and me while shopping for fresh foods and treats on the lower floor of the Market. The Market is open 10-5, Tuesday through Sunday. Hope to see you there!
For artists, the required self-isolation due to the COVID-19 virus is both a gift and a curse. Having dedicated and uninterrupted time in the studio is a blessing, allowing me to watch videos and read books and magazines for inspiration from other artists., and experiment, paint new works, try new techniques and subjects. I’ve even painted the studio itself! A fresh coat of banana-custard-coloured paint on the walls has made it look fresh and warm.
The isolation also means, however, no students in the studio—and I miss you all! It also means almost no sales. So, as a member of The Landing Artists collective, I am engaging in an Instagram campaign designed to encourage online sales for the duration of the quarantine. If you live here on BC’s Sunshine Coast, I will deliver any purchase free. If you live somewhere else, I will ship your work within Canada and split the shipping costs with you. USA customers—sorry, I can’t offer this discount to you but your $$ are worth more than Canadian so it works out almost the same. Remember, there’s no sales tax if you buy directly from me!
So follow The Landing Artists and/or me on Instagram, or browse this site and choose something to brighten your walls and your spirits! Hope to be back with you very soon.
How about abstracts at $1 per square inch? Commissions welcomed—your choice of colours and size…
