Local Artists
Picture Perfect Features Local Artists.
Below is a partial list of some of the fantastic local artists whose works we carry. We are privileged and proud to direct your attention to them and their artwork. Discover and purchase the works of these artists and many more at our Kelowna and Vernon store locations.
Julia Hargreaves, MA MBA Dip Mktg.
Two time Canadian Ducks Unlimited National Art Portfolio winner, British Columbia artist Julia Hargreaves trained in England and graduated with a masters degree in art from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Her art has been published internationally and in 2008 Julia illustrated Birdscapes – A Pop-Up Celebration Of Bird Song, with text by Cornell University, published by Chronicle. Her painting of a Great Horned Owl was selected for the first Artists For Conservation Exhibition at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum in New York September, 2008. In 2004, Julia was chosen out of thousands of artists worldwide to appear in the International Artist publication How Did You Paint That? – 100 Ways to Paint Still Life and Florals.
Alex Fong
Born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1956, Alex Fong’s interest in art began at a young age. However, it was not until his study of interior design that he discovered the medium of watercolour and the freedom of colour and expression that matched his vision of the world.
Alex’s early works reflected a traditional oriental technique. As his talents flourished, Alex developed a personal style that has since become his hallmark. Alex’s paintings are a kaleidoscope of light and colour – a bouquet of wonder and whimsy. The sense of delight that accompanies them draws the viewer in for a closer look. His translucent, impressionistic paintings are distinguished by a parade of coloured flecks that he calls “confetti” which represent his celebration of life. The result is an exquisite balance of spontaneity and grace. Though Alex’s artistic vision continues to evolve, his works reflect a fresh and youthful outlook.
Alex Fong’s work has attracted the attention of fine art collectors since the early days when he exhibited at Vancouver galleries, and then through his years as a touring member of the Western Lights Artists Group. Alex has exhibited in both Canada and the U.S. for over twenty five years. His watercolours are featured in both private and corporate collections throughout the continent.
John Revill
John Revill was born on a morning in March, 1954 in the Toronto area but has lived in the Okanagan since the age of five. During his late teens he decided on a career as a painter and has stayed on that path ever since.
While never studying in a formal school of art, John Revill has developed his talents through mentoring with other artists and through his own personal studies. Painters such as Alex Colville, Salvador Dali, and many of the Old Masters have had an effect on his technique and compositional style, as have the art forms of Canada’s West Coast Indiginous People.
Most of John Revill’s work embraces the Okanagan landscape and with his unique interpretation of trees, rocks, hills and sky he opens the mind to an unspoiled and robust view of nature. But more than the inspiring and sometimes playful trees, it is the colours -melding and twisting with the forms, carrying the viewer’s eyes and thoughts through the image – that sets John’s work apart. Colours that leap out from an image telling of the calm, or the storm of a sky, the serenity of a grass-covered hillside or the still icy freshness of a mountain lake in early winter. Colours and structures that in many ways reflect John’s own personality and character – at times in conflict with life as in his image Broken Sky, and in others, at peace and full of life as in Twilight Pines.
John continues his work at present in his home in the Okanagan Valley. He is constantly developing and challenging his technique and style to bring us fresh new works of art for our minds.
Tina Siddiqui
Over 25 years experience as an exhibiting artist and an art instructor . Working and teaching in a variety of media, namely, pastels, mixed media, water colours, acrylics, collage and charcoal. Awarded for works in portraiture and abstract painting.
Mal Gagnon
Mal Gagnon was born in Vanguard, Saskatchewan and received his formal art training at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, Alberta majoring in advertising art.
In 1973 he came to British Columbia to work as a staff artist for a mining company in the West Kootenay region. It is here that he came to understand the importance of recording our history through visual art when he was commissioned by a financial institution to draw eight images for an ambitious project chronicling the mining history of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia.
In 1988 he moved to the Okanagan where he worked for a leading commercial printing company gaining an invalueable knowledge of the printing process. This led to the self-publishing of his artwork. His popular detailed painting style has led to many private and corporate commissions among which include mining companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, golf courses and wineries. His passion for art and the Okanagan are evident in his many paintings that depict the beautiful scenery and exciting places of the Okanagan Valley.
Guzman Aymara
Guzman Aymara began painting as a child in his native Peru. He received his formal education at the Escuela de Bella Arts in Lima. He describes his painting style as: “A reflection from the eyes to the brush stroke of the happiness and enthusiasm of a calm summers days.”
The source of his art is the land itself. In roaming the Peruvian countryside for hours on end, he meticulously searches for the artistic inspiration and ideas that will be magically transformed onto canvas.
