The 16th Annual Castlegar Art Walk runs from now until September 16, 2012 and features 27 different artists on display at 25 venues throughout the community. For brochures and information visit the Castlegar Chamber of Commerce at www.castlegar.com or 1995 6th Avenue, Castlegar (250.365.6313).
Here is just one of the delightful artists featured this year.
Artist Name: Mirja Vahala
Exhibit Location: Soap ‘n Suds Laundromat – Kootenay Crossing Mall (Location 22)
Artist City: Robson, BC
Medium: Acrylics
Years Active: 9
Contact: www.mirjavahala.com
Statement: As I painter, I strive to convey a sense of life’s beauty and meaning through the messages I see within nature. Ideas come to me from our common well of human needs and experiences: how we relate to time, change and mortality. I also create artwork as a way to be visible—and to connect with people who, like me, thrive on stories that lie beyond the surface of things. Walking in the West Kootenay outdoors with my husband and dogs, I see stories in the surrounding landscape. I see lightning strike a tree and think about how a forest needs fire to flourish, just as we need hardship to become our best beings. In my imagination I see a tree, struck by lightning, transforming into birds. With this image in my heart and mind’s eye, I feel that flutter in my belly. I return to my studio and begin again to paint.