In December 2014, the Lake Country Art Gallery began work on a new partnership with Investors Group Kelowna to create a new satellite gallery in the offices of Investors Group in Kelowna.
Featuring the work of:
Katie Brennan
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Destanne Norris
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Katie Brennan
Katie Brennan is an artist, curator and art consultant currently based in Lake Country BC. She completed her MFA at the University of Guelph in Guelph Ontario and her BFA at Emily Carr University in Vancouver BC. She has exhibited work across Canada, the United States and England. Her work has been offered at major retailers such as Crate & Barrel and Williams Sonoma Home and appeared in interior design work in House Beautiful and House and Home. She has completed Public Art projects at the University of Guelph and in Lake Country, BC. She has taught at the University of Guelph and the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus. Her writing has appeared in Border Crossings and Galleries Westmagazines. Her curatorial work includes shows at the Helen Pitt Art Gallery, the Concourse Gallery at Emily Carr University, Gallery Vertigo, UBC Okanagan’s FINA Gallery, and the Lake Country Art Gallery where she is serves as its Curator. She has also put on several pop-up galleries in 2013, in and around Kelowna. In October 2014, she launched the Okanagan Art Review, an online magazine and member website about visual art in the Okanagan Valley, of which she is the Founder and Editor in Chief. www.katiebrennan.ca |
Daniel Dearborn
Daniel Dearborn was born in British Columbia and grew up in towns from the coast of BC to living near the beautiful rocky mountains and the flat land of the Saskatoon . From early childhood Daniel felt that his connection to the nature around him was the heart of his world. At a young age he developed the habit of observation, the appreciation of small things, and an intense love for the strange and beauty in nature. Daniel has been painting and drawing from nature most of his life, and though he has had some formal study he is largely self-taught. Daniel paints mainly landscapes. In the past several years Daniel’s concentration has been on expressing color. His paintings could be described as lively, light and colorful landscapes: they are about observing nature and the delight of what we can discover when we look closely. Daniel has been an Okanagan resident for over 25 years and loves to capture spectacular vistas of the beautiful Okanagan Lake to the orchards and vineyards that surround us. danieldearbornartist.blogspot.ca |
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Fern Helfand
I have always used the camera to observe and comment on contemporary culture and the surrounding environment. At the same time though, I have also always pushed the straight documentary image by combining photographs into believable combinations that I feel more effectively convey the experience of place and event, than what could be conveyed through a single image. www.fernhelfand.com |
Christina Leinemann Knittel
Based in Kelowna, BC, (Canada), I work in digital and traditional mediums to create fun paintings inspired by our interactions with nature. In 2006, I earned my BFA from UBCO and received a Campus Enhancement Award that purchased one of my paintings for the University’s public collection. Kelowna has a wonderfully vibrant arts culture and I participate in many local community art events and exhibitions by volunteering and displaying my work. When I'm not creating I love to enjoy a good wine on the patio, go for a paddle in the canoe with my hubby or take a walk with my mini schnauzer, Rory! clkstudio.com |
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Maureen Lejbak
Maureen Lejbak has been an event coordinator for over 30 years in Kelowna, B.C. She began painting about 5 years ago and is self taught. Her paintings are a cosmic dance between patterns, light, color, balance and texture. Her philosophy with respects to her paintings are to show up in her studio in the Lake Country Art House with an open attitude and go places in her paintings that she is inspired to go. She likes Picasso's quote "I begin with something and then it becomes something else." www.facebook.com/MaureenLejbak |
River Lewis
One of Lewis' first artistic memories is drawing at the Musee des Beaux Arts, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts when he was five years old. It was a very intense time politically in the cities of Quebec - quite the opposite of a child's interest in things fine and beautiful. Lewis trained in academics including anthropology while living in Vancouver as a young adult. There, he rediscovered his visual arts passion and completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) at the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design (now the Emily Carr University) and moved to the Okanagan in 1992. " When I lived deep in the cities of Montreal and Vancouver it was rare to see the tangle of development and nature. I heard about it everyday, but it was like a rumour. " Lewis' current visual art practice as a Canadian artist involves exploration of Belonging and visual study on the authority of the common landscape in contemporary art through use of landscape metaphor to decode differences between external real and internal real. www.riverlewis.com |
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Wanda Lock
Wanda Lock graduated in 1992 from the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver with a studio major in painting. Lock returned to the Okanagan in 1992, and since then, she has been exhibiting throughout the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland. Lock employs a variety of mediums such as graphite, oil, pastel and acrylic on paper, board and canvas. Drawing became an important aspect in achieving her artistic vision. The series of drawings she creates tends to be open-ended, continuous and evolving. These documents of unresolved reality become the templates for Lock’s future explorations in painting. The paintings themselves become a compilation displaying figurative and landscape elements. wandalockart.com |
Frieda Martin
I grew up on Vancouver Island and have been living in Salmon Arm since 1982. I became seriously interested in art at high school where I was encouraged by two unforgettable art teachers. Their teaching style was based on a self-learning atmosphere and I naturally fell into the same pattern after graduating - as a result I did not pursue formal art instruction. My subjects are varied and I most often work with Watercolour, Pen & Ink and Pencil. I love Watercolour for the immediacy and fluidity it involves, but Pen & Ink allows me to indulge in the drawing that I have always loved to do. I carry a camera with me everywhere I go and often use the resulting photos as reference. I am an Active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and a member of the Shuswap Art Gallery Association. Over the years I have participated in the Lake Country ArtWalk, Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts, member’s shows at the Shuswap Art Gallery, Paint the Town, Roots and Blues Festival events, and local shows. friedamartin.ca |
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Destanne Norris
Destanne was awarded a BFA (Honours) Degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of Victoria in British Columbia in 1987 and a Master of Fine Art Degree by Research at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia in 2009. Primarily, a landscape-based oil painter, Destanne’s professional art career was established while she lived and painted in the Rocky Mountains in Jasper, Alberta. In 2003 Destanne accepted an offer to pursue post-graduate research at the University of Tasmania School of Art, which has a strong concentration in Natural Environment and Art Studies. Painted Pools: A Lens into Subjectivity is the title of her research project that is an investigation into water as a metaphor for life. It was the call of ‘home’ that brought Destanne back to live in the Okanagan in 2006. Currently she lives on Silver Star Mountain and paints in her studio at the Caetani Cultural Centre in Vernon. Destanne’s paintings have been exhibited internationally and nationally in Public, University and Artist-Run Galleries. Upcoming in March 2014 Destanne will be exhibiting new work in an exhibition featuring three women artists at the Lake Country Art Gallery. Her work can be found in numerous private collections around the world and in corporate collections, as well as being in the permanent collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Penticton Art Gallery. destannenorris.com |
Gary Nylander
Gary Nylander was born in Victoria, BC in 1958 and began his interest in photography at 15 years of age after graduating from high school in 1976 Gary landed a part time job as a photographer at the weekly newspaper, the Goldstream Gazette on Vancouver Island, from there he moved to Ontario where he worked for The Brampton Daily Times for 4 1/2 years.  Gary returned to B.C. after being hired at the Kelowna Daily Courier in October of 1983 where he is currently employed. During the past 30 years as a photojournalist Gary has received numerous awards and special recognition's which include 7 Canadian Press picture of the month awards and the 2003 news picture of the year from Canadian Press , his work is also in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Gary's personal work also includes black and white landscape images and other subjects from around Western Canada, the images are made with a traditional large format film cameras. His work has been the subject of various exhibits. www.garynylander.com |
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David Skelhon
David Skelhon has been a photographer and writer for over 25 years and was well known for his contributions to sailing and adventure sports magazines in the UK. He also co-authored four regional guide books for hikers - one remained in print for almost 20 years. David has a commercial pilot's license and besides aerial photography, has worked as a charter pilot, giving him the opportunity to see remote parts of Western Canada. Some of his work, illustrating the interaction of man and nature, has been exhibited in public and private art galleries in BC. Portfolios of his work have also been published in BC Magazine, Photo Life and Okanagan Life. David is a member of the Canadian Association of Photographic Artists. davidskelhon.zenfolio.com |
John van der Woude
I was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada and initially studied art and design at Camosun College in Victoria, BC. I later received my BFA (Interdisciplinary) degree from NSCAD University in Halifax, NS in 2007. I’m an award-winning artist who has shown work across the country. My work is in numerous public and private collections. I’m also a freelance graphic designer and run my own design business, John van der Woude Designs. You can check out my design portfolio atwww.jvdwdesigns.com. I currently live in Kelowna, BC. johnvanderwoude.com/art |
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Ann Willsie
Ann moved to Canada in the early sixties from England and settled in Vancouver, B.C. With a family background in the arts (both her mother and grandfather were painters) it was inevitable that she would take up painting . In 1997 Ann attended Kwantlen University College in the Fine Arts program, where she achieved the Dean's Honour Roll Status. Over the years she has also attended numerous workshops and classes of local artists and instructors as well as one-on-one mentoring with her fellow artists. Ann is a member of the,West Vancouver Art Council , Lake Country Public Art Gallery , Peachland Gallery, as well as an Active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Central Okanagan Chapter. She has participated in public art projects at Kwantlen University College , Fort Langley and in Lake Country and has been exhibiting her work for over 18 years throughout B.C. Alberta, California and Hong Kong. Ann is currently represented by three galleries in British Columbia. Ann has had many solo shows, shows with other artists, and group shows and has participated in numerous live painting competitions and plein air competitions. In 2012 she was published in the Artists of British Columbia, Volume 4. In 2013, her family moved up the Okanagan, settling in Lake Country (formerly Winfield). Ann was able to find studio space in the “Art House”, adjacent to the Lake Country Public Art Gallery. It is here that she spends most of her days, immersed in the process of creating, exploring and experimenting with new techniques, subject matter and colors. Ann is currently offering painting workshops and mentoring at her studio, Studio Cerulean, in Lake Country, B.C. htwww.annwillsie.com |
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The mandate of this project is to:
- insert art, good art, local art, into a venue it's never been before
- introduce a new audience to work of local artists
- creates a new and different exhibition opportunity for artists
- extend the Lake Country Art Gallery's reach into Kelowna and its business community
- create a community feel / connection between Investor's Group and the local art community
