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firesign
four
TRANSITIONS
A
painting exhibit of four artists in transition
at
the Tidemark Theatre
in Campbell River, BC
Dianne Bersea
The
Firesign Four Paint their way through Life's Transitions
For the month of
March 2007, four accomplished artists from Quadra and Cortes Island:
Christina Munck, Dianne Bersea, Nanci Cook and
Perrin Sparks will fill the Tidemark Theatre lobby with
light, colour and their response to the surrounding landscape and
personal muse. Brought together through classes and workshops with
Firesign Studio on Quadra Island, the four artists will display
paintings that reflect elements of recent transitions they have
experienced in their creative and personal lives.
To see how each of the
Firesign Four have interpreted and re-interpreted their creative
vision through these transitions, join them at the opening of their show
at the Tidemark Theatre, Saturday, March 3, from 1 pm to 4 pm.
Dianne, Christina and Perri will also demonstrate their
particular artistic craft.
Firesign founder,
Nanci Cook lived through major life changes when osteoarthritis
and tendinitis disrupted her life as a studio potter on Hornby Island.
“I was a potter for 15 years. When I couldn’t physically do
pottery anymore, I had to come up with another way to live as an
artist.” Having a BA in Arts & Crafts and their History from the
University of California Santa Cruz, she then earned a Tourism
& Hospitality diploma at North Island College in Campbell River,
and dove into art & design courses at NIC in Courtenay.
Aware of tourism
opportunities, Nanci realized there would be other artists interested in
painting workshops and retreats on Quadra Island. With assistance
from husband Tracy Tomlinson, they created a 3-bedroom bed and breakfast
on the ground floor of their home and redesigned Nanci’s pottery studio
to facilitate art workshops and life drawing classes as Firesign Art
& Design Studio & B&B.
Creating bold,
vibrant, deep-hued fish land and under-seascapes, primarily in acrylics,
Nanci also paints figures, landscapes, portraits, and still life; with
paintings and cards on display in the Heriot Bay Inn and at her studio
on Quadra Island.
“I’m very fortunate.
I live in a beautiful place and I have an art school in my studio.”
Workshops facilitators, Marjorie Turnbull, president and signature
member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, and plein aire painter
Warren Stenberg from Hawaii have had a positive impact on Nanci’s work
and that of Firesign workshop participants. “This year I’m excited about
adding Peter Shostak and Brian Simons to the workshop schedule, and that
Dianne Bersea, Perri Sparks, and Kristen Scholfield-Sweet are coming
back with their popular and dynamic presentations.”
It’s that creative synergy that brought the
Firesign Four together.
Christina Munck
has been an active participant at many Firesign workshops and, in the
process, re-invigorated her own artistic career. “I’ve been
drawing and painting from childhood on, with the inevitable stops and
starts as I got married and had a child.” With an interest in
science and a BSc in Biology, Christina pursued illustration at
Concordia University and drew nature in fine and carefully rendered
detail.
“My main medium was
pen & ink, some watercolour. Now I’m working in acrylic on canvas
to break from formal representation. I’m looking for a more relaxed
style, a more minimalist approach relying on pattern and vigorously
applied brush strokes. And, I want to have fun with it!”
For Christina, challenging herself is an essential part of the creative
process. Recently juried to Active Status with the Federation
of Canadian Artists, Christina has also joined several Island FCA
Chapters and is actively submitting work to juried shows with an
Honourable Mention at a fall show in Comox.
Christina and husband
Eric are relative newcomers to Quadra, becoming year round residents
three years ago after several summers on the Island, making the move
from Ontario where Christina had a number of shows. Quickly
becoming involved in the local arts scene, Christina became acquainted
with island art & artists in her role on the 2006 and 2007 Quadra
Island Studio Tour Organizing Committee.
Perri Sparks,
artist and Firesign workshop facilitator, is in transition from a
successful career as a medical illustrator and commissioned portrait
painter in the US. A desire to be nearer to family in San
Francisco and penchant to try country living brought Perri to Quadra
from her home in Texas. “It’s been quite a transition,” Perri
says, stating the obvious. “It’s been all about adjusting to
island life and a winter of snow, high winds and power outages.”
“I’m really pleased
there’s a working art community I can jump into at Firesign. It’s
always been a big part of my life to interact with other artists, either
as an instructor, in a painting group or to have students working with
me in my studio.” Creative transition for Perri is in moving from
commissioned portraits to fine art portraits that transcend the
individual and speak to an archetype. Following a career of preparing
small, precise, award winning illustrations for limited color
publication, she enjoys producing full-sized figurative paintings with a
focus on drawing from life. Her pastels are particularly colorful
and expressive and lately she has enjoyed capturing smaller, on-site
landscapes in this looser manner. “I guess after years of ‘red for
the arteries, and blue for the veins’ I needed to break out and tell my
own story!”
Perri’s art has
appeared in The Artist’s Magazine, The Pastel Journal,
International Artist and was included in 1998 publication
‘The Best of Portraiture’. Her two videos, ‘Steps to a
Likeness-Pastel’ and ‘Steps to a Likeness-Oil’ were featured in the 2005
summer issue of the North Light Book Club.
Dianne Bersea,
a partner with Jodi Forster in Manzanita Muse Studio on Cortes Island,
is an honours graduate of the Alberta College of Art and well
known to Cortes Islanders. In 1999, Dianne established her reputation
with a spectacular watercolour painting show “The Lived Landscape”
at the Campbell River Public Art Gallery. “I achieved
elected membership in the Canadian Society of Painters in Water
Colour that same year. My art career took off with a bang, and
I’ve been running to catch up ever since.” Recent
accomplishments include the cover image on the FCA magazine, Art Avenue,
and a whimsical landscape in the Nanaimo Rotary Club’s 2007 Vancouver
Island Art Calendar. Her paintings now reside in the US, Germany,
New Zealand and many collections closer to home.
Dianne is now
experimenting with acrylics. “I’ve been painting watercolours for
10 years. I thought I’d like to explore the malleability of
acrylic – the option of evolving the painting as I work, as opposed to
holding a picture of the completed image in my mind as I build a
watercolour.” The results have been very satisfying for
Dianne. She has developed a series of paintings, many with her
trademark stylization and subjective colour, from sketches and
watercolour paintings that date back to her first summer on Cortes
Island, twelve years ago. “That was a magical time for me.
I put a pack on my back in the morning and spent the day roaming around
the rocky shores and headlands, just painting, sketching the day away.”
Dianne’s connection to
Firesign? As a presenter with previous workshops at Hollyhock
and the Malibu Arts Retreat, Dianne has been bringing her
enthusiasm and successful teaching style to Firesign Workshops since
Nanci’s opening season. “It’s a marvelous endeavor to be part of,
with the added bonus of becoming one of the Firesign Four.”
Light snacks and
beverages will be served. The show continues through March 30,
noon to 5 pm Tuesday thru Saturday and during performances.
Dianne Bersea
Sunset Bluffs
Please click on a link below
for more about Firesign Studio:
Workshops
Drop-In Sessions
Painting
Gallery
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