Even though she has only been painting since 2015, Marilyn Anderson has become a very familiar face in the Ashcroft arts scene. She owns and operates the Bloomin’ Paintbrush art studio and art courtyard in the 600-block of Railway Avenue, where several of her works can be seen, and until June 30 a selection of her landscape and “summer bounty” paintings are on display at the Sidewalk Gallery in the 200-block of Railway.
It’s the third or fourth time that Anderson’s paintings have been at the gallery, she says. “I normally have a showing every year in October, but this year I booked earlier, for June.”
She says she began painting a lot of the works in January, and liked the theme of summer bounty.
“It’s about new birth and new growth, and it gives me something to look forward to as we move into spring and summer. Spring is my favourite time of year because of new growth. I just love it because there’s lots of colour, lots of veggies and fruit growing. In spring you see the blossoms and flowers coming out, and I’ve also been incorporating more fruits and vegetables into my diet, so I’ve been looking at fruit and the succulence of it.”
Landscapes have always been a favourite subject of Anderson’s. While she hasn’t painted a lot of local scenes, she says she’d do it if asked. A prominent local landmark does, however, feature in one of her works: Elephant Mountain near Ashcroft. The original hangs in the art courtyard beside the Bloomin’ Paintbrush, and she sold prints of it, one of which hangs in The Canuck, a hockey and sports bar in New York City.
“It hangs over the door,” says Anderson. “The owner is the son of a local person and she sent him a picture of it and he bought a print, because he knows Ashcroft. He has work by other Canadian artists, so I was added to his gallery.”
For the most part, Anderson says, ideas for her work come out of her mind. “I try different things and do different things. I love painting horses, and have several in my studio. I do use reference photos, but after that I visualise what I want to do and set up the composition from my memory, and ask what trees do I want, what foliage do I want.
“The painting of Elephant Mountain was done from pictures I took in winter, but I painted it as a summer picture. I like to make the landscape my own.”
When Anderson isn’t painting she is busy with the Bloomin’ Paintbrush, where she sells basic art supplies and holds art workshops in the studio; she also does group lessons for children and adults, as well as private lessons, from the beginning of October to the end of April. After that, however, she gets working in the garden.
“I do some vegetable gardening, but not in the art courtyard; that’s flowers and plants and shrubs and an art display that I set up on June 3 and which goes through September. I also do Gospel in the Garden in the bandstand from June to September, on the second and fourth Saturdays at 6 p.m.”
The event, which features contemporary Christian music and a singalong, is back by popular demand after its success last year.
“It’s always weather-dependent, and last year it went into mid-October because everyone liked it so much and begged us to keep it going, even when it got really hot at 36 C. I said to the crowd ‘If it’s like this in two weeks then we probably shouldn’t have it,’ and everyone said ‘No!’”
The art courtyard is open when the Bloomin’ Paintbrush is: noon to 5 p.m. on Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. It can also be explored during Gospel in the Garden, with the next event taking place on Saturday, June 24. And even when the display at the Sidewalk Gallery ends, you can still see some of Anderson’s work at the Bear’s Claw restaurant in Cache Creek, where 20 pieces are on display.
editorial@accjournal.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
