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Local artists put their talent on display at the Terrace Art Gallery

Despite the winter weather, the event was filled with art enthusiasts as they perused local works
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The Terrace Art Gallery held its opening reception featuring the work of three local artists last Wednesday.

Despite the winter weather, the event was filled with art enthusiasts as they perused works ranging from acrylic pouring to designs on felt.

Pouring Out my Heart, by Vickie Kornelson

Metallic Bubbles is Vickie Kornelson's first attempt at making 3D bubbles from a YouTube tutorial. It is one of her favourite pieces because she has received a lot of positive feedback on the piece and got it right on her first try. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


Local Terrace artist Vickie Kornelson is expressing herself in all shades of colours.

Kornelson held her first show in Terrace in 2006, with her oil paintings on exhibit. More than a decade later she is showing off a new style, and has already completed her new year’s resolution of having her work displayed.

Kornelson has been in Terrace for more than 20 years but only got a chance to reorganize her art supplies a few years ago when she moved into a different home. When she finally got her supplies all together after her move, she took all her old supplies of paint and canvas and learned how to do acrylic pouring.

Acrylic pouring is a painting technique where acrylic paint is mixed and then poured onto a surface in a variety of ways. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


“For me acrylic pouring is a way to release emotion. Whatever colours feel good in the moment, I combine them together. All of these colours and all of these things represent different moods. If you do something and you don’t like it, you just pour over it and start again. It’s a way for me to express myself in colour,” Kornelson said.

Acrylic pouring is a painting technique where acrylic paint is mixed and then poured onto a surface in a variety of ways.

Pathways to the Soul, by Cecilia McKay

Cecilia McKay, local Terrace artist, poses next to one of her favourite pieces of work. McKay said it was the first time she made a piece so simple, a change from her usually busy intuitive expressionist paintings. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


Yes Cecilia McKay totally can do anything.

McKay, who is an art historian by trade, started painting very late in her career.

“I never painted before. I was afraid because I don’t know how to draw so it took me forever to actually express myself. Once I was able to express what I felt inside, I was able to let myself go and flow when I paint. It pushes me out of my comfort zone,” she said.

McKay refers to her work as intuitive expressionism, a form of art where one presents their views from an emotional, subjective perspective.

McKay said she has really evolved in her work since her last exhibit in Terrace. On one of her pieces, which took months to make, McKay knew it was done when she imprinted the words “yes you totally can” on the canvas.

“I added that and I knew it was complete. I said yes that’s me, yes you totally can.”

(Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


(Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


Northern B.C. in Felt, by Cheryl Porter

Cheryl Porter poses next to one of her favourite felt pieces, which is full of detail and intricacy.(Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


Cheryl Porter started off the evening with a drumming performance with her all female musical band, Djembe Femme. The group has been performing for 10 years, and Porter herself has been drumming for seven.

After her performance she showcased her pictures of Northern B.C., expressed through felt.

Felting is a process that takes several days. Wool comes off the sheep, it is then dyed and laid out ready to be shaped into a picture. Porter then adds materials like silk, banana thread and hemp to add textures and details to her pictures.

Cheryl Porter (left) performs with her all-female group Djembe Femme during a reception a the Terrace Art Gallery, where her felt work is displayed. (Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


Porter chose the medium over more traditional forms of art expression because “it takes on a life of its own when you lay it out,” she said. “It does look very different then once it’s felted. It does look very organic and seems to come together to speak to you.”

(Jenna Cocullo / The Northern View)


The art exhibit will run until Feb. 1.


Jenna Cocullo | Journalist
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