Landscapes of the rocky variety have a tendency to eyeball Oak Bay artist Pat Hindmarch-Watson.
She’s accustomed to faces jumping out at her from nature, and even captured a photo of one in a brick-and-mortar wall of a jail in Ireland.
She keeps photos of the faces and paints them.
“They’re basically from the landscape in one way or another,” she said. “I can do the faces over and over again and paint them differently.”
Faces and landscapes in acrylic are the staple of her repertoire, though she’ll dabble in oils and dip her toes in watercolour on occasion.
It’s hard for her to remember a time when art wasn’t part of her life, but there is a memory that stands out from her youth through a program with the Vancouver Art Gallery.
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Settled in under the canopy of an expansive old chestnut tree, she worked on a board with paper pinned to it using clothes pegs.
“I remember just sitting there and painting this tree,” Hindmarch-Watson said.
She recalls the massive trunk and brush going up the cliff behind it, and others in the shade of that same tree doing the same activity.
It’s something she does still as one of 45 members of the oldest arts club in Western Canada. The Victoria Sketch Club formed in 1909 under the name Island Arts Club and famed past members include Samuel McClure, Emily Carr and Ted Harrison.
The group meets every week, for four hours, just about every week of the year to critique, share expertise and be inspired by each other.
“It just becomes such a big part of life,” she said. “It’s a big commitment but also a big reward working with other artists.”
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In the right weather, they take outdoor field trips and settle in sharing different perspectives of landscapes. There are a lot of differing focuses, whether it’s the artist’s medium or their vision.
For Hindmarch-Watson, that diversity exists even in her own works. When she says she’ll have two landscapes and two faces on display at the approaching Victoria Sketch Club show and sale, really it’s four landscape pieces.
The 115th annual show and sale includes demonstrations by artists, personal sketches and door prizes.
Usually an artist will apply to a juried show, where they’d have likely one or two pieces selected to suit that particular show.
But club members are essentially juried in for membership, and each artist brings three or four pieces. Without a theme it allows artist to share their passion, and provides both challenge and opportunity for those hanging the show.
The members also run the show, so they work shifts on the floor and get to interact with visitors – gathering insight and public response to share with their peers.
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Hindmarch-Watson enjoys her shifts, meeting people who drop by while out walking the Oak Bay waterfront and others make a special trip for the annual event.
The Victoria Sketch Club show opens March 19 at 4 p.m. in the gym at Glen Lyon Norfolk School, 1701 Beach Dr.
The free event continues March 20 through 23 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day and finishes Sunday (March 24) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“The Victoria Sketch Club’s annual art show is a fun event and a tremendous asset to our community,” said Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch. “It marks the start of the visual art show season in Oak Bay so it’s great to see it continue to thrive and be so popular. I hope many art appreciators and young artists alike come out to see the talent showcased.”
