Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

A visit to Ucluelet in 2009 started Carole Finn on her artistic journey as a professional artist. Like so many other painters, she was drawn in to put on canvas by the bold majesty of the rugged rock juxtaposed by the power and force of the ocean waters. “These first works were at the trailhead of the rest of my life” says Finn. The series that was produced from this trip to this part of Vancouver Island became a gallery show for the Agnes Jamieson Art Gallery of Minden Ontario Canada. The paintings, then, came back to Blackrock to be shown about the same time as the 2021 show but 12 years later . As if the fates are playing tricks, the same 2009 CEO, Adele Larkin, has returned to manage Blackrock and be on hand for this second show. Much has changed by now in Finn’s professional and personal life. She has now been awarded an SFCA by the Federation of Canadian Artists which is a status given “in recognition of Extraordinary achievement in the field of Visual Fine Arts”. In addition, she is an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists which is one of the oldest art associations in Canada. The OSA is responsible for the founding of the Ontario Art College, as it was known and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Both groups can claim having one or more of the Group of Seven as one of its members. Until recently, Finn had a gallery and studio in Haliburton County, Ontario. There she held exhibitions of her own work as well as works of her students and other arts groups in the County. Never one to let her life become boring, Finn took a giant step and moved to Oak Bay, Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Amid Covid isolation she set up a new studio and prepared to make her way into a new and unknown art world. This exhibition is one of those first steps. The works you will see will delight your senses. You will feel the dampness and fog in the air as the sun sets over the trees and the waves of the incoming tide lap over rocks draped with kelp. A trip down one of the trails will be a new adventure as you look at the forest canopy of branches above and remember the work that made you aware of the intricacies of their patterns. You will be looking for the blue in the paths and pink in trees . Finn photo-documents an area with many, many pictures. Then in the quietness of her studio she uploads her pictures and carefully chooses her painting reference material, that to her, best represent the uniqueness of the area. When you see the show you will be asking “Has she chosen well?” The answer will be your response to the show.