Toronto’s Distillery District, founded in 2003, hosts many galleries and artists. In September and May, Artfest Toronto brings together 75 artists for a juried show of works in multiple mediums. The Entertainment District, concentrated around King Street West, hosts theaters, performing arts centers and galleries for tourists to immerse themself in the local arts scene.
In the French-speaking province of Quebec, the Old Port district, Île d’Orléans, Côte-de-Beaupré and Jacque-Cartier National Park all provide compelling scenic views. In Quebec City, La Nuit des Galeries occurs every September, and combines art, cocktails, music and more.
Calgary, in south-central Canada, is renowned for its annual Calgary Stampede, which includes a Western art show. The 2019 edition takes place July 5 through 14. For visitors with more modern interests is Contemporary Calgary, which began as a collaboration between Institute of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Gallery of Calgary and Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Also in the city is Glenbow Museum, home to a collection of more than 1.3 million artifacts and works of art.
For those seeking fresh air outside the city, Banff National Park is Canada’s oldest national park, nestled within the Alberta stretch of the Rocky Mountains. Beyond the scenic vistas, Banff is also home to the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and the Willock & Sax Gallery, which hold historic works from iconic Canadian artists.
Vancouver and its suburbs encompass many art destinations. Granville Island is a peninsula and shopping district within Vancouver where visitors can engage in artist demonstrations as they tour studios. South Granville has nearly 20 art-related storefronts, and in June, galleries host the South Granville ArtWalk. Vancouver is also home to the annual juried Art Vancouver, next taking place April 25 to 28, 2019, at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
In this destination guide, readers will learn about artists and organizations from across Canada, including Lisa J Levasseur, who runs the Terracana Ranch Resort, Cindy Sorley-Keichinger, Lynne Saunders and Rashmi Rekha.
Represented by Picture This Gallery, 959 Ordze Road, Sherwood Park, AB T8A 4L7, (800) 528-4278, www.picturethisgallery.com
Cindy Sorley- Keichinger, South American Red, oil, 9 x 12"Cindy Sorley-Keichinger grew up on a farm in East Central Alberta, where her parents encouraged an interest in the world around her. She now lives on a grain farm, in the Lloydminster, Alberta, area, with her husband of 38 years. They have four grown children and seven grandchildren. She originally trained as a medical laboratory technician and has no formal art training.
Sorley-Keichinger has been painting for more than 30 years; of that, seriously painting for about 15. The early years she viewed as her apprenticeship. Some of her teachers have been among the best in the wildlife genre, and she draws her inspiration from the natural world around her, which she finds to be a constant delight. She never grows bored with nature as it is an ever-changing subject.
Cindy Sorley- Keichinger, Safe, acrylic, 5 x 7"Her approach to painting is to be as accurate to form and habitat as possible; with punch to her colors, using acrylic, gouache or oil paint. She uses her own references, as she feels having seen the subjects herself, gives her a better understanding of what she is trying to portray. She is currently working on some underwater themes.
Sorley-Keichinger is a member of Artists for Conservation, a fellow of American Artists Professional League, a National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society Signature member, a Society of Animal Artists associate, and a Women Artists of the West Associate member. She also chairs the annual Arts Without Borders fine art show in Lloydminster, Alberta, and has designed a coin for the Royal Canadian Mint.
Cindy Sorley- Keichinger, Hogsback Falls, acrylic, 17 x 42"Sorley-Keichinger’s artwork has been shown across Canada and the United States, and is in collections domestically and overseas. Upcoming shows include the OH, West Canada! at On Site Gallery; and American Artists Professional League 2018 Exhibition through November 19 at the Salmagundi Club in New York.
Lisa J Levasseur, Black Gold, PaletteArt recycled paint (100 percent acrylic onIn 2010, Lisa J Levasseur took two months off of work and began painting. Frustrated that she was unable to put her vision on canvas, she decided to try abstract imagery and took the dried up paint she had wasted trying to create a painting and sculpted it into artwork. She has since developed a range of different techniques using recycled paint, which evolved into her unique art form, PaletteArt.
Levasseur’s work has been featured in books and exhibitions in New York and Palm Desert. She also runs the Terracana Ranch Resort in Canada’s Rocky Mountains, which also serves as an art center with a studio where industry professionals can learn how to use PaletteArt and recycled paint to create new products.
Art Vancouver, Skyla Self Portrait, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 72" by Skyla Wayrynen.Taking place April 25 through 28, 2019, Art Vancouver connects the international art community under one roof at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Among the accomplished artists at this year’s fair will be siblings Talin Wayrynen, Taisha Wayrynen and Skyla Wayrynen.
Taisha Wayrynen addresses a crowd during an art lecture.Raised in a creative household, the siblings have been exposed to various artistic mediums and projects throughout their lives. Each developed their own distinct styles that reflect their individual passions. Interested in travel, nature and drone photography, Talin travels to capture aerial images of sights that inspire him, the most recent locale being Mexico. Taisha and Skyla both specialize in mixed media and acrylic paint on canvas. Skyla has frequently combined acrylics with spray paint in a modern way that is characteristic of street art, while Taisha uses some spray paint and even glitter. Both focus on themes of empowerment. In Skyla’s case, this relates to her interests in lifestyle philosophies. Taisha is studying art therapy, and is excited about using creativity as a supplementary antidote to physical and mental health ailments.
An aerial view of the Terracana Ranch Resort.At the art-centered Terracana Ranch Resort, artists will stay in log cabins, which are fully set up to cater to their needs with studio spaces and art supplies available to use. While in the city, those on the tour can grab an artist’s backpack and easel and head into the landscape or use the private studio. They also can book a mountaintop painting expedition with a local artist, or share a studio and collaborate with resident artist Lisa J Levasseur.
The lounge at Terracana Ranch Resort.Visitors can also get inspired by Canada’s pristine wilderness during the Rocky Mountain Art Tour. During one- and two-week tour experiences, artists can escape to the Canadian Rockies. Available May 15 to June 15 or September 15 through October 15, artists will spend time in Canmore, the Columbia Ice Fields Glacier in Jasper, and hike Maligne Canyon. These breathtaking views provide plenty of inspiration for artists to record on canvas.
Rashmi Rekha, Greed & Despair, oil on canvas, 48 x 30"Painting has been Rashmi Rekha’s passion since a very early age, and that passion has continued throughout her life even though she studied physics and a career in information technology and business management.
Rekha says, “I love nature and enjoy painting landscape impressions and semi-abstract representation on canvas.”
Her representational paintings depict her investigation and interpretation of the social landscape of the modern world. Each of these paintings tells a story through a combination of familiar human forms and satirical elements. “I draw my inspiration from the current issues of society, my favorite novels and movies, and the expressive qualities of the human face and gesture,” she says. “I have tried to use these elements to create a visual story that sparks the curiosity and imagination of viewers of all ages.”
Rashmi Rekha, Ecstasy, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 36"Social pressure, game of financial market, semantics of communication, burden of self-awareness and wisdom, the self-imposed pressure of race, and reaction to the media are some of the key subjects of these paintings.
Rekha’s art is bold and colorful yet easily accessible. She uses simple forms to depict the human figures and a wealth of color to express the depth of her theme and create a moving narrative. She is represented by TransVision Gallery in Ottawa and has upcoming shows at Art Lending of Ottawa at R.A. Centre, Kevin Dodds Art Gallery, the Ottawa Tulip Festival Gallery, and the St. Laurent Library and St. Laurent Centre.
Lynne Saunders, Off the Beaten Path, oil on canvas, 48 x 64"“My art has taken me on a journey exploring many different subjects and mediums from portrait sculpture in modeled clay and bronze, to watercolors to my current series of large landscape oils inspired by the rainforests of British Columbia,” says Lynne Saunders. She is enchanted by the light, atmosphere and complex chaos of forms found in the forest and endeavors to draw the viewer into that space with her paintings. In one series Saunders explores the intricate forms of the Arbutus trees that grow out of the sculptural rock formations on coastal islands and inlets.
“It is easy to find these subjects while living in a small community on Vancouver Island where our summers are spent cruising the waters by boat and look forward to continuing my passion for large landscape paintings inspired by our amazing environment,” she says.
Preview New Artworks from Galleries Coast-to-Coast
