|
Flagstop
Gallery: Art gallery opening makes waves
May
13 to July 1, 2006.
An
annual summer art show in Fort Langley fosters the community's local art
scene.
by
Angela Wiebe - Langley Advance,
published on 05/12/2006
For
aspiring artist Robin Bandenieks,
it's never too late to discover your true passion in life. Bandenieks
has also pursued her newfound passion for art and joined the Fort Langley
Artists Group this year. "It's to interact with other artists,"
she said. "Artists supporting artists in the community." This
year will also mark her first gallery showing, as the Fort Langley Artists
Group's summer Flagstop Gallery at the CN Train Station in Fort Langley
opens tomorrow.
The
theme for the first show, which lasts six weeks, is All Things Nautical.
All of the 15 artists in the group have to create pieces around that theme.
Bandenieks
said that it's been a fantastic experience watching the other artists
explore the theme and make it their own. For herself, she did whatever
she could to get faces in, so painted a mermaid and a sailor.
After
all of the artists' work is done, a hanging committee comes in to judge
the work, said FLAG member LeEtta
LaFontaine.
"Because
you are being judged, it pushes you to a higher level," Bandenieks
said.
LaFontaine
has been involved with the group and summer gallery for the last three
years. She said the goal of the gallery this year is to have it as more
of an interactive experience for its visitors. "We're actually trying
to participate more," she said, adding that there may be artists
on the boardwalk outside of the gallery working on their pieces while
tourists come to view the Flagstop Gallery this summer.
FLAG
will hold three shows this summer, beginning with All Things Nautical
from May 13 to July 1, 2006. Works will include sculptures, portraits,
watercolours, and pastels.
|
The divine equine – run Friday, August
4, 2006
Brenda Anderson, Times Reporter
W hen Fort Langley Artists Group (FLAG)
mounts its final exhibit of the summer, there will be a show within
the show to tickle the fancy of horse lovers.
Roughly half the artists involved in the August exhibition have elected
to hang work based on an equine theme, said FLAG member Margo Harrison.
Among those creating horse-themed pieces for the show, is Aldergrove’s
Robin Bandenieks,
who joined FLAG in March.
Bandenieks has been painting for seven years but became “serious
about it” just two years ago. Her collection of oil paintings reflects
a childhood dominated by days spent around race horses and the track.
Bandenieks’ family made their living from the horse racing industry,
explained the artist, showing off her work on the boardwalk of the old
CN Train station in Fort Langley, where FLAG exhibits each summer.
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, Bandenieks and fellow FLAG artists Margo
Harrison and Julie
Bourne have each brought a few pieces of their work to the
station to get a head start hanging the group’s final show of the
season.
It will remain up until the Labour Day weekend. On Bandenieks’ vividly
coloured canvasses, the horses are not the primary focus.
Her works feature jockeys in their vibrant silks and crowds of ladies
and gentlemen in fancy dress, topped off with their best Ascot-worthy
hats, watching from the sidelines as (one imagines) the race horses go
thundering past. Another image focuses on a jockey, eyes locked on the
track ahead, with just the upper body of his steed beneath him visible
on the canvas.
“My paintings all have a narrative. I want a story going on for
people to think about,” Bandenieks said. She accomplishes that through
the action, colour, subject and placement and the rhythms of her pieces,
she explained.
Bourne, a sculptor, has combined fantasy and reality with her collection
of horse heads, unicorns and seahorses. Her pieces are hand-moulded from
rolled slabs of clay, which she cuts and assembles before firing and glazing
them to a high gloss or raku finish. Bourne started out sculpting sea
creatures before focusing in on seahorses eight years ago, then moving
on to include horses and unicorns. A horse enthusiast since childhood,
it was she who suggested an equine theme for the exhibit, Bourne said.
In
fact, at last year’s Shoe
Show, also put on by FLAG, Bourne exhibited art related to
horse shoeing rather than focus on human footwear, as her colleagues had.
FLAG has welcomed four new members this year, however the size of the
group has remained relatively constant, said Harrison. Because they exhibit
in a small gallery, with limited wall space, shows are usually limited
to about 15 or 16 artists, she explained.
top |