Rumour turned to reality for a Turner Valley artist who heard rave reviews about a Black Diamond art show from her peers.
Chester Lees is displaying a varied collection of landscape and nature paintings to sell among the greenhouse greenery this weekend after being impressed with the Vale’s Greenhouse Cultivation of Art Show as a first-time participant last year.
The event takes place June 17 to 19 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“Coming from Calgary I thought it would be a little provincial show in a little greenhouse, but it was incredibly impressive,” she said.
“In term of horticulture and plants it’s quite stunning. The standards of artistry are amazing.
“There are some incredibly talented and quite famous artists that exhibit there.”
Lees submitted an application to showcase her art in the juried show last year after moving to Turner Valley from Calgary.
She plans to submit a combination of her small paintings and four-by-six-foot prairie landscapes.
“It’s a beautiful idea of mixing art and plants because horticulture in itself is an art,” she said. “To see all the beautiful flowers and shrubs and trees and the artwork actually set in them and the jewelry and pottery and the weaving. It’s quite exquisite.”
Rocky Mountain House artist Roberta Murray will display her landscape paintings at the show for the first time this weekend.
“Vale’s Greenhouse sale had been on my radar for a long time,” she said.
“Any artist that I know that has participated in it before has always held it in high regard. It’s considered one of the better shows in Alberta.”
Murray said the event showcases art in an approachable manner.
“At a gallery setting people are often intimidated,” she said. “Having it at a greenhouse and not having it in a distinct area gives people the opportunity to interact with the art and not be intimidated by it. It puts it out here for the everyday person and shows them that art is not something to be a afraid of.”
Vale’s Greenhouse owner Katrina Diebel said the show has grown in both size and popularity since its inaugural year in 2009.
“I had really no idea what running an art show would entail or how it would work or if anybody would even come,” she said. “Now I get a bit scared how many people are going to show up – if we have enough parking and space.”
This year’s Cultivation of Art Show will feature the work of 50 southern Alberta artists amongst flowers, trees and shrubs. It includes paintings, sculptures, pottery, glass, metal, jewelry and fibre art pieces, said Diebel.
“We use the plants to highlight each piece of art,” she said. “We really have a cross section of all media and we have exceptionally good artists.”
Diebel said many of the artists attend the event on Saturday to mingle with potential buyers.
“It really makes it more personal,” she said. “It’s more of an experience if you can meet the person who created this thing that you really like and is probably going to live on your wall for many years. This art show has no airs. You don’t have to ring a doorbell.”
Diebel plans to increase security this weekend after two paintings were stolen during last year’s show.
“We were very disappointed,” she said, adding no one has yet been charged with the crime. “You want to keep it a small country show and not have to have their bags checked. Then you have something like that happen.”
For more details about Vale’s Greenhouse Cultivation of Art Show go to valesgreenhouse.com
