They've been working with teachers on their craft all year. Now, it's time for their work to shine on the walls and in display cases at two Tri-City art galleries.
Thursday will see student exhibits open for a month at Coquitlam's Place des Arts and at the Port Moody Arts Centre.
Among the pieces on show at the Maillardville facility - which is currently marking its 40th year - will be from Rae Yano, who studies watercolours, pastels, inks and acrylics with Laurie Thompson.
A member of the Art Focus Art Association in Port Coquitlam and the Port Moody Artists' Association, Yano will have three acrylics of animal portraits and landscapes in the Place des Arts' exhibit.
"I love creating something on an empty canvas with natural themes," she told The Tri-City News. "Like golf, painting is a humbling experience: the results are not always as the mind pictures them. But every once in a while a few good strokes come together."
Seeing her art in a public setting "gives me a goal to strive for and a certain satisfaction that my work is not just hidden away in the basement," she said. "It is always good to get feedback from a variety of sources. And there is the question, 'Is it art if nobody sees it?'"
Yano's work will be part of the APex (Arts, Performance & Exhibitions): Student Show, in the Atrium Gallery, while a Place des Arts' alumni display will run concurrently in the Mezzanine Gallery. And in the Leonore Peyton Salon will be Images and Ideas from Don Portelance's art enhancement students.
Meanwhile, PoMo Arts Centre (PMAC) will highlight 39 paintings in oil, acrylics and watercolour from 22 student artists plus more than 20 ceramic pieces from eight artists.
Executive director Bruce Campbell said each of the students has taken at least one class at PMAC over the past year. "The work is really diverse," he said. "There is an excellent realist painting called Working Man, a stunning oil-on-canvas called Sunrise over Newport and a wonderful ceramic bowl with a calligraphy-like freehand brushed glaze."
Best of all, some of the works are for sale, he said.
Opening receptions for the student exhibits at Place des Arts (1120 Brunette Ave.) and PMAC (2425 St. John's St.) are on Thursday, June 6, starting at 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. In addition, Papergirl Vancouver - a Place des Arts' partner - will host a free printmaking workshop at the Maillardville reception. It is also the last open weaving session for the centre's social fabric project. Participants can bring a special thread to stitch into the tapestry.
