Artist turns the tables on herself
 |
|||
|
James Bay painter’s work on display on the Avenue
After 17 years of promoting other artists, Marie Nagel is doing the opposite – promoting herself.
Her semi-abstract acrylic landscapes are featured in an exhibit, “A Brush with Colour,” at Eclectic Gallery this month, with an opening reception set for Thursday (Dec. 3).
As a young child in Saskatchewan, Nagel was encouraged to draw and paint by an elementary school teacher who was also a professional artist. After two years at the Alberta College of Art, Nagel worked as a photographer for a daily newspaper in Moose Jaw.
“I got a summer job that I just couldn’t leave – it was just way too much fun,” she said in her James Bay apartment, which doubles as her studio. But she continued to paint, switching from oil to acrylic when her only child, Jeff, was a toddler.
“Oil takes so long to dry and I needed to have something dry quickly so he could keep his fingers out of it,” she said.
In 1980 Nagel moved to Prince George to manage the public art gallery there. Ten years later she bought an old church and converted it to a gallery. In the winter, when tourists were scarce, she painted.
Since arriving in Victoria two years ago she’s been focused on landscape. “I’m not attracted to a far distant view. I look for that object or shape; I zero in on something.”
Work resulting from a recent trip to Tofino shows a compact beach scene of broad sweeps of steel blues, undulating grey and sparks of muddied yellow. “I don’t worry too much about colours I’m seeing there, I choose them myself,” she said of her semi-realist approach.
Nagel ventures out twice a week to paint en plein air with two other painting groups. She’s content to continue developing her craft on the West Coast.
“I just want to keep exploring this area – there’s a lot of beauty here.”
Nagel will attend the opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at Eclectic, 2170 Oak Bay Ave.
“A Brush with Colour” runs until Jan. 16.
vmoreau@saanichnews.com
© Copyright 2007 Oak Bay News