May 14–June 19, 2022
Barbara DeMott, Randi Gurholt-Seary & Pia Sillem
The “Spirit of the Forest” explores our inspiration, emotions and intense gratitude for the beauty, tangible gifts and spiritual sustenance the forest provides. Three artists who explore different mediums join together to present images and objects that celebrate how the forest is woven into our lives.
Please use password: F*za4FC^ to view the recorded Artist Talk
Barbara DeMott
Barbara holds a PhD in Art History and Cultural Anthropology, from Columbia University in New York City. She has taught Art history and Cultural Anthropology for over 25 years at universities in both Canada and the USA. Only after retirement from teaching, she has been able to focus on her own paintings. Her paintings in watercolor, oil and acrylic are represented in private collections internationally as well as Canada.
Randi Gurholt-Seary
Art and outdoor adventure has been threaded throughout Randi Lisbeth Gurholt’s life journey. Expressing herself through writing, drawing, performing, and outdoor adventures started when she was just a little child. Her passion for creative living was deeply rooted in her family.
In 1976 she spent a year in Norway studying Theatre followed by three years in the professional theatre program at Dawson college in Montreal. After graduating she worked as a professional window dresser for Montreal‘s Ogilvie department store on Saint Catherine St and continued working in window design after moving to Edmonton. Her career and love for outdoor living brought her to Vancouver where she worked in developing children’s childcare programs that encompassed creative arts and outdoor recreation. She came to Earls Cove in 2004 and recently made the Sunshine Coast and Madeira Park her permanent residence. She has been connected with the Fibre Arts gallery and studio since 2013 where she learned the art of Pine Needle Basketry under the tutelage of Hattie Olson.
Always loving the sensory experiences of art and nature, she began hand building in clay and incorporating her basketry skills into sculptures. She continues to focus her career as an artist through exploration using a variety of different art mediums.
Pia Sillem
Upon arriving from the Netherlands in 1973, Pia enrolled in the Ceramic Program at Capilano College, where she learned to make functional pottery. In the 1980’s she lived in California for a couple of years, followed by three years of world travel during which she observed the different uses of clay in the developing world.
During the 1990’s, and back in Vancouver, she started working with clay again; first in a community centre clay studio and eventually starting a successful co-op studio with five other artists.
In 2007 Pia moved to the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Living in the country and being exposed to the magnificence of nature influenced her work, which has become increasingly sculptural in recent years.
Pia has exhibited her work in several galleries in Vancouver, Seattle, and the Sunshine Coast.