Inspiring Minds Fine Art is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Mirja Vahala and participants, November 19 and 20, 10 - 4 p.m. at Windborne B&B, 3900 Broadwater Road. The artist will be present.
Mirja Vahala’s love for the natural world comes together in this exhibition of landscape paintings: rocky moraines sculpted from ice, mood created by fog, new beginnings of flowers and wildlife. Her impressionistic scenes are frozen in a moment, making visible the beauty and power of nature. We sense the underlying messages that nature patiently waits for us to discover.
Ideas for Mirja Vahala’s landscape paintings come to her from our common well of human experiences: how we relate to time, to change, and to mortality. Walking with her husband and dogs in the West Kootenay outdoors, she sees stories in the surrounding landscape. In her imagination Mirja sees a tree, touched by a passing meteor, transformed into a glow of light in the night-time forest. With this image in her mind, she is inspired to paint.
Mirja is also passionate about encouraging others to pursue their artistic dreams through her teaching and by displaying artists’ work.
“I believe it is important to show our artwork and bring the arts to our local community,” states Mirja. “Also, this show provides a venue for participants of my art classes to show their work, whether they have painted for years or just begun, and to celebrate their accomplishments.”
Mirja Vahala has lived in Castlegar since 2007. Since then she has established Inspiring Minds Fine Art, has displayed her artwork at Windborne B&B, at the Kootenay Gallery, Rouge Gallery and Fisher Peak Art Gallery to name a few. She has taught hundreds of students via Selkirk College and Inspiring Minds Fine Art over the past eight years.