There’s an owl, a raccoon and a seal named after a tennis star.
And it’s clear the wild and domestic animals captured on canvas for the new Port Coquitlam art show are at their best — content with their surroundings and in their full glory, either at play or at rest.
Vancouver artist Jeff Wilson, who is best known for his painting series on neon signs, proposed his animal portrait display to the city of PoCo last November. City staff, in turn, brought on PoCo resident Sarah Ronald to complement the collection, knowing she also had similar work.
Wilson has 15 pieces in Up Close, which opens Thursday at the Leigh Square Community Arts Village, while Ronald has around 60 works though, for the most part, on a smaller scale.
Wilson’s subjects are pets, working animals and wildlife that are based on his own photos. “I encounter the animals in a range of settings, whether in the wild, rehabilitation centres, stable farms or museums,” he said.
Ronald, however, stuck to the outdoors. “I choose to depict wild animals as a way to appreciate them as sentient and, in some instances, draw attention to how human beings adversely impact them,” she said.
For inspiration, she sourced her own pictures as well as professional printed and online images.
But though Up Close was a joint effort, the artists never met. Ronald said she looks forward to getting to know her exhibit partner Thursday night. And then? “Perhaps we’ll show together again some time.”
• The opening reception for Up Close is March 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Michael Wright Art Gallery at the Gathering Place (beside Port Coquitlam city hall). The exhibit runs until April 4.
