Artists - The Breeze Gold and Gallery

328 Reid St.
Quesnel BC
250.992.6060

ARTISTS

Anna Ashcroft lives in Quesnel, and presently works full time as a sculptor in her home based studio gallery. Anna attended the Kootenay School of Art in the 1970's majoring in applied design, and after years of working in graphic design she has now returned to her first love – sculpting. Anna says of her work: "I am primarily a figurative sculptor, currently obsessed with stone. I like the way the material itself influences the piece – the original shape suggests the image within, and as flaws, cracks or veins are revealed they are incorporated into the flow of the emerging sculpture. The final texture and colour is only revealed after Tung Oil is applied and is always a surprise. My pieces are subjective statements. Like an anthropologist of my own life and culture, I am exploring themes that have an intimate quality to them. These themes have appeared in my life again and again, forcing me to look more closely at them.”

Sandra Borgun was born and raised in the interior town of Vanderhoof, BC, after a few moves in 1994 she found herself living in Dawson Creek, BC. The local college offered a pottery course and with a life time of crafts and hobbies she decided to try her hand. It was immediate love, and she has been throwing ever since. Moving to Quesnel in 2006 she has been fortunate to have space in her home where she has set up a private studio, and looks forward to many more years of learning and perfecting her art. Her work is mainly functional with "one off" whimsical pieces thrown in. Her main inspiration comes from the clay itself, and what it can and cannot do.

Judy Crannis is a Quesnel quilt maker and fabric artist. She is passionate about quilts and her work speaks of strong feelings on traditional family morals and values, as well as filling her creative needs. She has attended International Quilt Conventions in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Pennsylvania, attended Island Mountain Arts in Wells, and taken classes with Wendy Lewington Coultor, Valerie Hearder, Pam Godderis and Diane Jensen. Her awards include: Viewers Choice, Top 10 in Prince George Regional Art Show in 2000, and Judges Choice at Quilt Canada in 2007. Judy is very passionate about quilts and think her work speaks strongly of nature and family morals and values. It also fills her creative needs and if she's not physically working on a piece, she's planning, visualizing or shopping for the next one.

Michael deBlois was born in Victoria BC in 1962 and has lived in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. In 1983 he attended the Victoria College of Art. He now lives in Quesnel with his wife and two children. Since 2005 he has been studying photography and the use of computer software which he uses to enhance and manipulate his images. At Artfest 2008 his image “Cut Field” was chosen to tour central BC. Michael sells his work in Quesnel and Victoria, and also does commission works. Michael says of his work “Letting go of everyday concerns and creating art work has always been necessary for me. When I am first impressed by a subject I pause and ask myself what is it in this scene that has caught my eye, and why? It could be the whole or it could be a very small part of the subject matter. Once identified, I attempt to capture the scene. I am not always immediately successful and often the moment must reside in my memory for some time. My goal is to create images that are engaging to the viewer, possibly to spur forgotten memories, or to evoke a specific emotion – to reconnect us with the world that we so often pass by without noticing its drama.”

Judith DesBrisay’s art career gained momentum as her role as a community health nurse/educator drew to a close. Speaking of this experience she says “Nursing gave me privileged access to diverse populations in urban and remote communities from Nunavut to Antarctica, including three years experience in various regions of South America. In every situation, my awareness has grown concerning the interrelationship of people with their natural settings; often manifested through cultural undertakings, including art. Part time diploma studies in the Emily Carr Institute served to focus and further my artistic explorations.”

Bert De Vink - After sculpting in wood and stone, Bert deVink started to experiment with steel in the late 1960’s. Although occasionally he still carves in wood, steel is the medium in which he prefers to express himself. While working in historic Barkerville and living on the Bowron River at the edge of the wilderness, he became intimately aware of the beauty –the inter-dependence and sometimes raw aspects of nature, as well as the devastation and waste caused by modern logging. After moving closer to Quesnel he moved from being an environmental activist to a social activist, joining the Council of Canadians. The human misery and environmental damage caused by the corporate sector became the source of inspiration for his next period, the “human observation period,” At present he is creating sculptures that bring happiness in a world that is more and more deprived of joy – working with wood, stone, natural rock, steel and combinations of all these materials.

David Duris (Castle Rock Woods) lived in isolation surveyinmg roads into wilderness areas in his 20's. He settled on a large acreage and practiced agriculture and forestry on this land. He learned to appreciate the qualities of different types of wood and to carve and turn burls from his trees. When he places a block of wood on the lathe he has only a vague idea as to what shape the bowl will be. As the wood spins, he cuts out the defects and the bowl begins to take its shape. One of his favourite finishes is pure tung oil. This is food safe, has a natural look, and tends to emphasize the grain and colour, although other finishes are also appropriate. Each bowl has up to six layers of finish.

Lupita Fuentes was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. She worked in several parts of her native state, the city of Oaxaca and in the Republic of Mexico, teaching middle school and high school, specializing in Pedagogy. She is now retired and married to Peter Josephy, a Canadian landscaper designer. She currently resides in Quesnel, where she began to develop her artistic gift as a painter in 1990. Lupita has also written two books; one entitled La Fuerza Del Silencio – The Force of Silence- a novel about her deaf mute mother, the other entitled El Tesoro deButzow, a chronicle of her travels with her husband. Lupita says “Life is art. Beauty is everywhere and we can design our lives in harmony and simplicity.”

Elmer Gunderson has been consumed with the urge to artistically manipulate the world around him since childhood. He started doodling, and then progressed to using water colours and 'pen & ink'. As he continued to explore his creative talents he found the challenge of art in three dimensional form to be most fulfilling. To create something within the boundaries of a natural object rather than that of a piece of paper allows him to explore his limits as an artist. The intricacy of each piece of wood or stone creates a character or emotion distinct to every piece. The feeling he gets when he can bring beauty to a piece of discarded Juniper or a simple stone is a natural high. He enjoys sculpting the human form because he strives to create a unique piece, the cracks and lines in the human face and body are as original as a fingerprint. Whether he is working in stone or wood he feels that he's giving back to nature. Combining the beauty of the natural world with his own creativity he can give something ordinary a finer disctinction. He hopes you can get as much pleasure from viewing his work as he gets from creating it.

Joan Ramsay Harker was born in Edmonton, and has painted for pleasure all her life, attending painting classes for eight years at the Edmonton Art Gallery. In 1964 she received a Bachelor of Interior Design from the University of Manitoba. During her 36 year career she has worked as a designer in architectural offices in Toronto and Vancouver, then for the Insurance Corporation of BC. Joan moved to Alexandria after retirement, and has become increasingly involved in the arts in Quesnel. She joined Quesnel Wordspinners in 2002 and is a past president of that group. She works with the Regional Arts Council, assisting with their projects, such as the recent hosting of the Artsfest 2008, and is now serving a second term on the Quesnel Arts Advisory Committee. Painting is her first love and absorbs most of her time. She has had solo exhibitions in Williams Lake and Quesnel, regularly exhibits in the Quesnel Art Gallery and in 2007 was accepted as an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Darleen Hendry was raised in the Okanagan and Shuswap, where she was influenced by the quaintness of her paternal grandmother’s home in Kelowna. Backed by Mill Creek, her grandmother’s flower gardens, fruit trees, and letter-pane windows had a lasting influence on Darleen. She paints a variety of subjects and enjoys the challenges of using new techniques and different approaches, but she concentrates mostly on landscapes, still life, florals, and people. The strongest influence in her work continues to be the impressionist painters. Darlene says “I love the emotional impact and lively brushstrokes of the impressionist style. Painting is about what I feel more then what I see. I feel very connected to the things I paint, and become totally engrossed in them.”

Bill Horne was born in Vancouver, and he studied painting and drawing at the Banff Centre and film animation at UBC. He has taught silkscreen printing at the Vancouver Native Education Centre, Kakali Handmade Papers and Island Mountain Arts, and paper-making at the National Art School in Managua. Bill has exhibited his work across Canada, most recently at the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre in Hamilton, Ontario. Bill likes to print on a wide range of materials, such as handmade paper, marble and hides, depending on his subject. Bill's Behind the Lines series of 3-D assemblages, which poses screen printed letters from MPs with related imagery, brings together his activism and art. He designed BC photographer Chris Harris' books and Derek Evans' Before the War. Bill is currently the Vice-President of Canadian Artists Representation/ le front des artistes canadiens BC, editor of Visual Arts Voice, and a past Western Vice-Representative for CARFAC National.

Katja Kovanen is a jewellry artist specializing in free-form sterling silver and intricate beaded work. She studied at the Kootenay School of the Arts at Nelson in the Jewellery and Small Object Design program, then returned to Quesnel, where she currently lives. Katja says of her design process “I love making new combinations of colours for necklaces, and selecting which beads go together to create an effect. I also love sawing and filing, coming up with new designs in silver and gold. A great feeling for me is when I see someone on the street who I don’t know wearing a piece of jewellery that I’ve made.”

Claire Kujundzic was born in Scotland, and emigrated to B.C. at age five. Between 1959 and 1964 she lived in Nelson, where her father founded the Kootenay School of Art. In her teens, living in the home of writer George Ryga and his family in Summerland further encouraged her interest in social issues, music and art. After living on a co-op farm in the Salmon Valley, she moved to Vancouver where she volunteered at Co-op Radio, trained in commercial printing, and attended Langara and Emily Carr Colleges. Her images have been reproduced by groups including Amnesty International, CoDevelopment Canada, the International Congress of Midwives, and the Health Sciences Association. In 1997 she won the Canadian Association of Labour Media best illustration award, and in 2002, a Woman of Distinction Award in BC's Northern Interior region. The canvas paintings in Claire's 2009 exhibition "Cariboo" at the Two Rivers Art Gallery in Prince George, as well as at the Langham Cultural Centre in Kaslo and Station House Gallery in Williams Lake in 2010, incorporate pine beetle marks, maps, animals and wood textures in a range of beautiful imagery and abstraction. A large selection of her canvas "trees" and pine beetle paintings were installed in the athletes' living rooms in Vancouver and Whistler during the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Claire and her husband Bill Horne have converted the former Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Wells into "Amazing Space Studio". She has done a number of community murals in the Cariboo and north central interior, and is a Past President of the Wells and District Chamber of Commerce.

Anika Lacerte is experimenting with nature photography in Quesnel, BC. She is inspired by late afternoon light on her photography walks and enjoys photographing details found in flowers, leaves, and wild animals like deer, bees and birds.