The Cherry Point Artists will be showing and selling their work in many different mediums at the end of April.
Cherry Point Artists is an informal, friendly and supportive art group that meets each Thursday morning from September to June. As well as weekly painting sessions where ideas are exchanged and tips and techniques are shared, there are scheduled in-house workshops and demonstrations for painting in watercolour, pen and ink, oils and acrylics and pastels.
During the summer months of July and August, En Plein Air painting days at various local beauty spots add to the social benefits of this welcoming art group. Last summer Cherry Point Artists took part in Art in the Alley during Duncan Market days.
Each spring (late April) Cherry Point Artists host their Fine Art Show & Sale which offers a great opportunity to meet with members and learn how you can be part of this well established art group. New members are always welcome.
This year's show is on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Peter's Church, Duncan.
At this year’s event artworks by Pauline Dunlop, Paul Watkins and Pat Howe, three local artists, will be on display alongside many more.
Howe began exploring her artistic talents in 2023, and joined Cherry Point Artists the same year.
She says she has been encouraged to get over her fear of other people seeing her work by the kind welcome and shared knowledge from Cherry Point Artists members. Participating in workshops and technique demonstrations she has been able to silence her inner critic. Howe also works with clay and some of her pottery will be displayed alongside her artwork at the upcoming show.
Dunlop is one of Cherry Point Artists' longest standing members. To pursue her passion for art she joined the group when she retired from a long career in the travel industry. Tapping into her extensive travels she gained a broad perspective of the world which opened her eyes to shapes, textures and colour.
Primarily self taught she has attended workshops with Roger Garbet, Pat Fischer, Bryony Wynne Jones and Roger Jackson to name a few.
Her preferred medium is acrylics. She also loves to paint with pastels and coloured pencils. Dunlop loves to explore abstract and textured art forms.
Watkins is an accomplished watercolour artist whose skills developed from a young age and a natural aptitude for drawing. As a teenager he attended art classes “not so much concerned with painting…it was all about perspective, angles, depth and realism” he said.
Watkins credits the Australian water colour artist Joseph Zbukvich as a great influence, and in Paul’s words “a veritable genius.”
Watkins understands “once the brush stroke of paint is laid, it should not be erased, the premise being every mark you make adds to the final outcome.”
Watkins now concentrates entirely on watercolour. Many of his paintings include fascinating architecture and colourful street scenes.
Cherry Point Artists invite you to visit the group at the Cowichan Exhibition Grounds Thursday mornings, and to consider joining this diverse and dynamic art group.
