Salutations my friends, how has your day been going? I have had a really beautiful day with friends and sunshine! 

Today, along with visiting our good friend Allisa, we (me and @offgridninja) visited the Kelowna Art Gallery for their free admission Thursday. I like to visit the art gallery every couple months as the galleries change and its a really nice atmosphere. They also have art supplies and a space for you to make art! 

I invite you to join us in our exploration of the local art gallery and partake in some art-talk with us! Although the art gallery is pretty small, there is still a lot of art in there so we are going to need a couple posts to cover it all. More the merrier though, right?

Before we went to the art gallery we got to visit with Allisa, a lovely older lady who is a good friend to us and a mentor to me in gardening and in life. We went over to her place to eat some nourishing bone broth soup and dandelion tea and to catch up before she dropped us off at the art gallery. When we pulled up to here house we encountered this incredible blue heron, who stuck around for a while and let us take pictures!

I believe that this majestic bird stuck around long enough for its message to sink in, which upon googling seems to indicate self reflection. I got some really beautiful pictures. Yes, this one where its flying away with the sun behind it is real, and natural, not edits!

Now, welcome to the Kelowna Art Gallery! It is small and friendly, and features both local artists and those from afar. 

The first exhibit that we encounter is 'Encounters'. This is a series focusing on portraits by many local artists. There are ninty works in total. The Kelowna Art Gallery website says this about this exhibit; 

"Portraiture is an opportunity to observe humanity. By taking a sustained look at ourselves, we are able to examine who we are, reflect on what we’ve become and consider who we aspire to be. Portraits do not merely record someone’s features, but say something about who they are by offering a sense of their inner essence.

This exhibition features ninety works by local artists celebrating the art of portraiture. They range dramatically throughout the space and tell personal and compelling stories about the artists’ histories and experiences.

By sharing notions of who we are, this exhibition hopes to form a sense of connection and empathy within the space and beyond."

Self-reflection is the message of the blue heron, and portraits indeed are a doorway into reflection. A self portrait is a challenge and also can be surprisingly psychological, an unusually long look into our own faces. A portrait of someone else can also be really fun and challenging, and I love how in this exhibit there are many interesting ways the artists bring out the spirit and energy of those people through colour, texture and creative innovation. 

If you would like to view this exhibit online, please visit the website here! You can find all the individual artworks and who they are by through the pdf online version of the gallery they offer. You can also come on a tour with me and see things through my eyes, though I am mostly focusing on works that resonate with me in particular and tried to make the art into artsy photographs!

Around the first corner, we find text on canvas stating the obvious, dazzling color, and a backwards portrait. The three of these together in one picture felt pretty artsy to me. I particularly enjoy the color-explosion and the folds in the clothing of the gold-hued portrait. The text one literally states that it is text and displayed at the art gallery, is this some sort of irony?

Humanity is diverse, and there is a diverse show of talent and style here. From colourful acrylics to black and white pen, true self portraits to strange abstractions. 

  

I love the contrast of colour and monotones here. My favorites are the colourful ones however, with the sun shining bright outside I have been in a bright and colourful mood! The ostrich and the large-eyed girl in the corner catch my eye and make me curious. When you look at art you can get a sense of the intention and spirit of the artist and art, but I always am curious for the full-story. 

 

I love this piece, the colour! Such sunshine! And the creativity of pulling strips off but finding something behind that layer as well. The figures in this painting are particularly interesting. The theme overall is pretty joyful and infused with a creative innovative feel. 

@offgridninja got a totally opposite view on this piece. Art does that! He saw mostly female figures on the top layer, and their images were ripped and torn. Underneath, more male figures. A sinister feel, he says. I wonder, maybe I did not look close enough? Was I simply captivated by the bright and glowing colour?

Uh, I am a little confused by this one. I guess there is a sort of beauty in hanging bags. I didn't happen to read the info on this piece, but I sorta wish I had, because I certainly cant figure it out. I guess art can do that though, it can be really odd, strange and need no explanation. I suppose this hanging potato sack thing is pretty artsy in the sunlight. 

I really wish that I got decent photos of both of these paintings, but the light on the glass interfered. The portrait is named Portrait of Yaw, which I found pretty interesting. I like the smiling spirit of it. The nature scene is actually a scene from the beloved local mission creek park, a beautiful natural area that stretches through the city from end to end. 

<3 a textured heart. There are little jeweled, shiny and textured parts of this painting that I enjoyed. 

This panel of portraits varies from jester girls, to Oprah to Johnny Depp. My most favorite of these is The Pious One, a portrait of Mother Teresa. This photo is from the website because my photos were only mediocre and could not do this portrait justice! I admire the detail in the face and the lines in her kind, pious face. I also adore the colour scheme of this painting, the turquoises. 

This wall is chok full of diverse and interesting portraits. I could not speak for each of these paintings if I tried, there was so many! I will show you just a few I really like.

A colourful and meaningful portrait of 'me and my great grandma.' A young girl and her great grandma, who has angelic wings and with a spacey background, the message is clear. It really does an interesting and lovely job  incorporating old memories and meaning, and beautifully composed. 

An encounter with ageing, is the name of this piece. Its the kind of innovative art that makes you ponder. 

This piece feels art nouveau and I love it. it is bold and the portraiture is done with such skill! 

As you can see, this gallery is very diverse! There were many interesting things to look at. It would take me many posts to talk about each of them. 

This rather intriguing painting is called, 'silence is not always golden'. It seems to be a portrayal of gay Hitler and his lover with a clergy member in the background. Real weird, another one of those pieces of art that makes you go hmmmmm. I can't truly know the artists message or intentions with this one, but the title and the piece give me an idea. 

Finally, we took a break in-between exhibits to make some art in the art room! One of the activities there was making portraits out of tissue paper. It was quite the challenge! I ripped up pieces of coloured tissue paper and glued them onto this paper, to make a cute cat girl! As usual, the theme is cute cat girl with big eyes and pink hair. I would have liked to stay even longer and work on this more. I might just go back to paint and make another :P

What were your favorite pieces in the encounter gallery? Portraiture's really are a glimpse into humanness. Have you ever experimented with portraits, of others or of yourself? What kind of magic do you find in this art?

That will be it for this part friends, but there is more to see soon!  Thank you for joining me on this tour and blessed be <3