The Arts are coming to Chestermere for Arts Days, September 25 and 26. On Friday night, join us for the Opening Night Blank Canvas Event and browse the Art Market’s Show and Sale while enjoying wine and beer. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased in advance at the Library or at the door. On Saturday, there will be plenty of workshops for all ages and arts abilities, sign up for the free workshops today!
To give you a sense of what to expect, we met with some of the artists who will be teaching or showing art at Chestermere Arts Days!
Bill Peddlesden
William (Bill) Peddlesden recalls being attracted to art since his elementary school days, calling it an innate interest. Both his grandmother and her brother were artists, so maybe there really is something in the genes?
Bill’s interests lie mostly in landscapes and has also done a few portraits. He enjoys working in oils but prefers water colour, pen and ink. Bill believes every artist seems to have a palette of colours that they are comfortable with. His colour preference is blue or cool colours. He enjoys placing them beside the warm complementary colours to give them “pop.”
“I think the thing that keeps me interested in art is the enormous challenge required to produce a quality painting,” says Bill. “There is a deep sense of accomplishment when you complete a painting that you are happy with. It is a difficult skill that takes hours of practice and you end up throwing away lots of your work.”
During Arts Days Bill will be leading a workshop on portraiture of the human face. Bill wants workshop attendees to look at the relationships of how everything on our faces are positioned.
“The intent is to create a number of sketches of face profiles using pencil on paper, both provided. Students are asked to bring a photograph of a face in profile as reference material,” says Bill.
Latasha Luchsinger
Artist Latasha Luchsinger first started drawing at three years old, and has used varying creative outlets ever since. During her time in University, in the Visual Arts program, Latasha fell in love with charcoal as an art medium.
“The softness that can be achieved through delicate blending and yet the striking contrast it has when used on white paper. As a result, a lot of my work is black-and-white,” says Latasha.
Since joining the Chestermere Fine Art Guild in September 2014, Latasha started to experiment more and more with colour using colour pencils and chalk pastels.
“As an artist, I am influenced and inspired by fairy-tales, and a lot of my personal work is concerned with blending reality and surrealism by incorporating fairy-tale or surreal elements into realistic or relatable subjects.”
A few of Latasha’s pieces include human figures covered in feathers, or horse-like creatures with strange patterns and antlers.
Latasha enjoys drawing highly-detailed subjects such as horses, wolves and dragons, choosing to draw whatever fits her mood or piques her interest in a particular moment. Come out and see what Latasha has in store for you during the Art Market at Chestermere Arts Days.
Chestermere Arts Days takes place September 25 and 26 at the Municipal Building (105 Marina Road). More information and a schedule of events can be found at www.chestermere.ca/artsdays.
