BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS  

September Exhibition of the Vancouver Sketch Club

An Impression by Alice M. Winlow

     (INTRODUCTION OMITTED)
     So much for modern thought on the interplay of color and emotion. The Vancouver Sketch Club does much to foster a love for art and color, and in encouraging its members to self-expression adds to the richness of life.
     In the September exhibition of work Mr. D. McEvoy shows "End of a City Street" in oil. A dusty path leads through pale-foliaged trees to a cool secluded spot. Not what the picture says definitely but what it suggests in its charm.
     Miss Conran's "Capilano River" has a coloring and singing quality that are unique. We are all so familiar with just this spot, that it is a delightful surprise to find a mood of cool grey-blues and purple and not too tempestuous water.
     Mr. S. Tytler's "Thistles on the Spit" is rugged in the foreground, but what soft rolling clouds over the farther shore.
     "Ley Hop Toy" is a study in charcoal by Miss D. Thompson. An alert, pampered, be-ribboned dog. Very engaging.
     Water of indigo, purple, blue, green. Darkened here with shadow, and filled there with a ghostly light. Crested with foam. The romance of a sailing ship. Mr. Cowper's Marine Views are always an attraction in the exhibit.
     Mrs. Schooley exhibits a still life in oil. The subject is the homely carrot, a bunch of them beside a jardiniere. That lowly vegetable was surely never before invested with such poetry as in this picture. The color of the carrots merges into the terra cotta of the jar, and all melt and mingle into a background of indescribable red-brown. The leaves are a soft green of ferny texture. An exquisite color study.
     "Looking up North Arm" is an exhibit by Miss A. Olander. There is a lovely stretch of mauve and silver water. The sky is mauve, rose and primrose.
     Mr. A.B. Williamson's "Chakamus (sic) River" shows a shack built by the side of the green swiftly-flowing Chakamus.
     Mrs. Imrie's "Mist on the Marshland" is full of poetry. An illuminated cloud finds answer in a pool of water. It is just a shimmer of light, but it is the soul of the picture.
     "Sunset on Texada Island" is the work of Mrs. Maw. It is a rejoicing canvas of purple, green, brown, and gold.
     Mrs. Grimes shows a study of pansies, purple, red-brown and bronze in a bowl of a lovely glowing blue.
     "Poppies" in water-color is shown by Mrs. J. Wattie. There are purple, red, blue and white poppies of transparent colors and delicate texture.
     Mr. J. Scott's "Lynn Creek" is in pencil. One marvels at the exquisite economy of the pencil work. Poetry is entangled in a few swift strokes.
     "Coal Harbor" by Mrs. Rankin is a familiar scene. The picture is in water-colors of purple, sepia and browns, with a score of boats reflected on the silver water.
     Mr. Blake Hunt's "Color Note" in oil should be named "Color Chord." It is a bold chord of blue, black, green, orange, red and white.
     Mrs. F.B. Lewis shows a study of peaches in oil. There is a soft velvet bloom on the fruit and a living quality that is remarkable. The peaches are on a plate of red-brown that add to the color scheme. In the background is a curtain of dark crimson falling in soft shadowy folds.
     The same artist shows "A Bit of Old England" in water-colors. An Elizabethan castle stands by a moat. There is a luminous quality about the water and reflections. Patches of blossoming moss add vivid touches of color to the picture. The colors are clear and jewel-like.
     Miss Wake's "Broom at Savary Island" shows blue mountains in the background, purple and green near the base. Through groups of trees can be seen a stretch of lovely sapphire water. The broom in the foreground is a gorgeous mass of color.
     Miss M. Sherman shows a study of fir-trees. There are three tall trees standing against a pale sky. The picture hints of the dark loneliness of the forest.
     Mrs. Hartley's "Old English Garden" is filled with larkspurs, verbenas and rhododendrons, while at the end of a sun-flecked path is a rose-covered pergola.
     Miss J. Gladwin's "McDonald Lake" shows a stretch of water that has gathered the silver rays out of the twilight. The sky is a sparkling silver.
     Mr. Fripp's "Edge of Lake Anderson" shows a jewelled bit of water between the trees. There is an exquisite intangible quality about the trees, as though it is not trees we see, but their very spirit.
     In "Ocean Park" by Mrs. Baron there are two trees, swayed by the wind, against a gray and silver sky.
     Mrs. Creery's "Home in June" is covered with a mass of wistaria blossoms. Trellis-work, climbing roses, grass and shrubs are beautiful, but it is the wistaria that is the spirit of loveliness there.
     Miss L. Arnold shows a view from Mt. Baker Road. Through two great tree-trunks can be seen blue mountains and a pale blue sky. But the eye rests most lovingly on the little maples between the trees, with their fiery-tipped leaves.
     Mrs. Downie shows a two-toned picture in water-color. Three poplar trees deliciously reflected in cool water.
     Mr. J. Scott shows a seascape from a phantom palette. He has Japanese lavenders, greys, sepia, and browns. They are etherealized colors.
     Mrs. G. Gilpin's "View from Sechelt" is in deep glowing tones of bronze, green, blue, cobalt, jade and turquoise. The water is exquisitely clear and crystalline, emerald, jade and turquoise, reflecting red and brown foliage and rocks. To one who responds to vivid and passionate colors it is a most stimulating picture.

British Columbia Monthly. "September Exhibition of the Vancouver Sketch Club" by Alice M. Winlow (Vol. XXIII, No. 2 September 1924): Canadiana, https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06940_65/12

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