Robert Sears has shared the stories behind some of his paintings from his solo show “Shadowplay”.

Deep Forest
Where we live we are surrounded by forest; we often walk in the forest on moonlit nights- the trail like a path of moonbeams.  I pictured Allison walking in her sleep in her nightgown or in a dream; her spirit will always be in the places we walk

Shooting Range
This is a theme from a Japanese woodblock.  I am an archer and these two women are also archers- their tattoos and appearance seems like a new order of woman, and yet timeless

Girls In the Rain
This is another theme from a Japanese woodblock- simple and timeless; umbrellas are a favorite motif of mine- colourful protective shields

My Chambermaid
I once lived in a rooming house with a winding staircase and the wallpaper looked like stars.  I remember the young French girls who cleaned the rooms ascending the stairs – like climbing upward toward the light

October Ferry To Gabriola
A tribute to the novel by Malcolm Lowry-  Allison on the ferry with Gabriola Island in the background-  also an homage to Alex Colville who was an influence on my work

Chinatown
I have explored Chinatown in a few different cities -New York, Vancouver, Victoria- and have always felt a dark mystery of the place- a working girl ascending a darkened stairway

Magic Coat
When Lillian wears her strange colourful coat she feels like a child and indulges in flights of fancy

Dark Birds
These three are like the witches of Macbeth; they suddenly just appeared with the birds. I wondered what they were talking about as they walked in the park early one morning; they seemed to be casting a spell.

Woman and Swan
Leda and the Swan- this could be anywhere and any time; her fate approaches closer and closer;  two beauties, woman and nature

Evening Boats
These boats seem mysterious and melancholy- ready to sail on a dark mysterious journey

Evening Bus
A mysterious fantasy bus stop in the middle of nowhere; a nondescript bus with no one in sight- waiting for whom and going where?

Child and Sea
In this painting I am trying to express how fragile we are- the vastness of the sea behind the child- if she were afloat she would be almost lost from sight

Winter Dream
Allison fell asleep on the couch during a snowstorm and dreamed that she was covered with a blanket of snow like the earth. Wallpaper is a favorite motif of mine and this wallpaper became snowflakes

A New Wave
A crew waits as a new kind of ship is ready to embark on a new kind of journey and a new age

To Artists and Collectors,

I chair the art procurement committee charged with art acquisitions for the incredible new  Ronald McDonald House BC of which I have attached a complete description.

RMHBC New House Artist Information

We are looking for donations of art that provide inspiration and hope for the families of young patients who need specialized treatment offered at BC Children’s hospital. These families will be coming from throughout BC and the Yukon.

The donations can be from artists or collectors.

We are looking for artwork which encompasses the theme of each pavilion.

The four pavilions are:

1. Mountain House
2. River House
3. Forest House
4. Beach house

As a committee we feel that artwork that is non-figurative is preferred.

If you are interested in making a submission, please contact me directly by phone or email.
Final selections will be made by the committee.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
phone: (604) 732-5353, email: matt [at] petleyjones.com

Thank you for your help,

Matt Petley-Jones

Ronald McDonald House® BC
is a vital resource to the residents of BC and the Yukon and provides a home-away from-home for families whose seriously ill children are receiving medical treatment at BC Children’s Hospital.

Why Donate Artwork?
The positive and therapeutic impact of art on those in distress is well documented. While families are here to focus on treatment and care for their child, our goal is to ensure the positive and hopeful experience we create improves their psychological state, which is critical to dealing with the impacts of serious illness and a key component in better outcomes for patients.

Choosing Frames

Winter is a great time to think about your framing needs. From family photos to recent art acquisitions we have a huge selection of moldings to suit your taste, to enhance a painting’s beauty, make it period appropriate, or preserve it for the ages, we have the perfect frame for your fine art. Since its opening, Petley Jones Gallery has offered the highest quality in conservation framing. All framing is done in-house by our own experienced framer

The right frame can make all the difference in a work of art. John Horton has been framing his paintings in a traditional gold frame and liner. I have used Larson Juhl’s interactive frame designer to try a new look. Click on the thumbnails to have a closer look. How would you frame this painting?

Amelia Alcock-White’s “All from the Sea”, is headlining the first ever Ocean Art Exhibition. Join the Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver Art Gallery, Ocean Networks Canada, Opus Art Supplies and Coastal America for Canada’s first Ocean Art Exhibition!

As “6th&Fir” welcomes it’s new residents the street is clear again for parking. Don’t forget we also have a loading spot right in front of the gallery for picking up or dropping off.

Marie-Doris has been painting and showing her work since 1992. Trained in an intuitive approach to drawing and painting, for several years now she has been fascinated by the techniques of the great masters at the fine arts school Mission Renassaince in Montreal. These techniques have helped her to enrich her own artistic language. She has also studied color and painting with artist Francine Labelle in Montreal. Previously, she created a line of ready-to-wear women’s clothing and bed linens, all hand-painted. For 17 years she exhibited her creations at salons in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto.

Her passion for artistic creation, her dynamism and her highly-developed organizational sense served her well in the establishment of the ÉCOLE D’ÉTÉ, arts et métiers d’art de Mont-Laurier in 1998. She worked for seven years in this unique setting combining creation and exploration. She now organizes workshops where the unique expression of each participant is recognized and valued.

“A landscape rendered by spontaneous figurative strokes, a piece of live Nature that dances and sings at the touch of the artist… this is what my work is about. I like to transpose and reinvent what I see, what I feel.By my perception of things, I renew the landscape that I have appropriated. My work seeks to show life in all its movement.I leave myself open to the effects of the light as it falls on a particular element, to the play of its shadows…

A rapid stroke of the brush, elaborate colors inspired by Nature, my constant source of inspiration, plunge the spectator into a visual poem.These same colors, with their naïve dimensions and connotations, find their place spontaneously in the composition. The dabs and splashes applied to the canvas become masses of color that assume recognizable shapes:the subject is figurative without erasing completely the trace of the strokes that gave it life. Like reality, the observer’s perceptions change, according to the mood, or to the light.

My technique is inevitably based on early as well as more recent training and practice. Beyond this, I feel the influence of several contemporary figurative artists. The works of the great masters have also inspired and nourished my artistic development.

By exploring and experimenting outside the bounds of a preconceived visual notion, I aspire to a personal, original style. By keeping my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds of my imagination, I hope to take the spectatoron a trip to a world where anything and everything is possible, the world where I explore the instantaneous of the changing image.”

Marie-Doris Valois

www.mariedorisvalois.com

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2006-07 Paysage du Québec, Théâtre des 4 Sœurs, St-André-Avellin QC
2006-07-08 Le paysage d’ici et d’ailleurs, Funérarium A. Ouellette, Mont-Laurier QC
2006 Restaurant-Gallery Robino’s, San Isidro, Costa Rica
2003 Les Musiciens, Café Saint Chasles, Mont-Laurier QC
2003 Jam de monde, Café Saint Chasles, Mont-Laurier QC

Selected Group Exhibitions
2010 UNLEASHED, Petley Jones Gallery, Vancouver BC
2010 The Road Less Travelled, Petley Jones Gallery, Vancouver BC
2007 Juried show at the Maison des Arts et de la Culture of Saint-Faustin QC
2006 Arbutus Gallery, Sidney BC
2006 Laroche Fine Art Gallery, Sidney BC
2004-7 Exposition Indisciplinée, group show to benefit the Centre d’Exposition, Maison de la Culture, Mont-Laurier QC
2002 municipal library of Mont-Laurier QC, Balad’Art event, engraving
2001 Massé, Mont-Laurier QC, Balad’Art event, painting
1998 Portrait de famille, Belgo Building, Montreal QC
1997 La Couleur: Dialogue Avec L’émotion, Gallery 1040, Montreal QC

Education
2002-6 l’École des Beaux-Arts Mission Renaissance
2002-4 Apprenticeship with Clarence Bourgoin; Landscape with Françoise Sullivan; The Art of Abstraction with Dominique Sarrazin; Picture, Space and Color
1998 Painting session and apprenticeship with Seymour Segal
1998 Art Therapy training with Diane Petit
1992-7 Painting and design course – Studio of Francine Labelle

Awards
2008 First Place in Painting – Competition of the Maison des Arts et de la Culture de St-Faustin QC
2008 painting “Casse-Croûte Chez Mo-nik” chosen as cover of the recipe book “Saint-Élie à Table, d’Hier à Aujourd’hui”
2007 painting “L’essouflement” chosen by Playwrights Canada Press as cover of the book “August, an Afternoon in the Country”
2006-8 Chosen for Benefit Auction of the Écomusée du Fier Monde, Montréal QC

Participation in Other Events
2008 Selected: Symposium Art et Passion de Sainte-Julie QC
2007-8 Festival International de Racour, Belgium
2007-8 Selected: Painting Symposium, Sainte-Flore QC
2006-8 Selected: Painting Symposium, Kamouraska QC
Painting and Sculpture Symposium of Sainte-Rose, Rose-Art, Laval QC
Festiv’art, Frelighsburg QC
2004-8 Rendez-vous des Artistes, Saint-Léonard NB
2006 Painting Symposium of Rosemère QC
2006 Festival Arts et Reflets, Château Richer QC
2002-4 Art Teachers’ Show at L’École D’été, Arts et Métiers d’Art, Mt-Laurier QC
1997 Benefit Auction of The Happy Couple Foundation, Château Dufresne, Montreal