Painters of the East Shore

Val van der Poel from Wynndel, BC, started to dabble in art when her grandfather gave her some calligraphy lessons—she was nine years old at the time. But it wasn’t until 1996 that she started taking art as a serious avocation. Although mostly self-taught, Val has studied with Zoltan Szabo, Joyce Kamakura, Katherine Haynes and a number of local artists. Her work has been exhibited locally and regionally, and is in a number of private collections internationally. Val enjoys encouraging and helping emerging

Sandy graduated from the Alberta Collage of Art and Design in Printmaking. She lives in Wynndel, BC, and has been experimenting in different media, primarily painting and clay. Her paintings are represented in public, private and corporate collections worldwide.  Sandy paints on site, as she soaks up the spirit of the location. She loves how the work becomes about the unique personal experience encountered during each session, and how this experience transfers to the work. Sandy’s large-scale plein air and still life paintings

Karen is a Watercolour artist and a well-known instructor. Karen was born is Calgary, Alberta but moved to the Kootenays with her husband and young children to find a simpler life. Karen worked as a nurse before changing careers to becoming a full-time artist. Watercolour has been her main medium for over 25 years. Her paintings illustrate her love of nature and her belief that man and nature are intertwined. Karen finds that watercolour allows her new possibilities and challenges to be creative

Garry Sly graduated from the University of Victoria Fine Arts program where he focused primarily on painting. He lives in the small community of Crawford Bay, on the east shore of Kootenay Lake, British Columbia, Canada. His close connection to the natural world, particularly water, are an important source of inspiration for him. His use of bright, bold colour, pattern and rhythm have been consistent elements in his paintings.  http://saatchiart.com/garrysly, Website : garrysly.ca

(Written by Sharman Horwood) Most of Shirley Wyngaard’s work is in landscapes. By painting landscapes, she aims “not to duplicate the landscape but to respond to it as a human being.” Consequently, in her paintings, she can interpret the “moods” of the natural world. Her favourite painting technique for this is Plein Air, the act of painting outdoors. She says, “the more I paint Plein Air . . . the more I am in touch with nature and life itself.” For landscape artists,

Vignettes of human interaction and portraying the spirit therein is what Diane Trudel seeks to capture at the core of her work. The emotional entity is the focus of her creative exploration – the tenderness and tenacity of humans, the flora and fauna of the natural world, and the shapes and shades of forever shifting landscapes. Such intangible moments of human interaction are her paint, and the shapes and shades of the earth her canvas. She is absorbed with texture and transparency. Her

Sharman Horwood is a Canadian artist/writer/professor who lives in Riondel, BC. She comes from a family of artists , although she never drew and painted until she lived in Korea. Something about living in Korea’s city culture stirred her creativity and led her to try to paint in her spare time. She says, “I like the overlapping of the natural, both plant and animal, with some man-made products. Of course, the natural is far more beautiful than the human imitations, but there is

Ted Wallace is an artist and a recently retired high school teacher who lives with his wife, Janet, on the East Shore of Kootenay Lake. Ted studied Art at the University of Calgary and graduated with a Bachelor of Education in 1972. “I am fortunate to be hitting the phase of my life where I get to spend more and more time in my studio. Our children are grown up, my wife, Janet is growing her weaving business, the house is finished. So,