JUNE 7 – AUGUST 31, 2018
The Jansen Art Center is pleased to welcome painters Ria Harboe and Nancy Canyon to the Chamber Hall Gallery for a duo exhibition of their work this summer. The exhibit, Organic Shape and Perception, opens with a reception from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM on Thursday, June 7.
ARTIST STATEMENTS
Ria Harboe is attracted to the mysterious while marveling in the natural beauty around her. “As I wander in nature I love finding the otherworldly quality in our own environment. I am in awe of a light that makes the day or time of day more eerie, more dramatic. If I can push that quality even a little more, to create something beyond real, I try.”
Harboe lives on Lummi Island, Washington and maintains a studio there as well as in Bellingham, where she participates in Studio Tours and Gallery Walks. A daughter of Danish immigrants, Harboe grew up in the high desert of California, where she fostered a love of the environment, art, and music. After graduating CSU Chico, with a degree in Fine Art, she moved to the Pacific Northwest where she has pursued her art.
Nancy Canyon’s acrylic paintings depict natural elements witnessed on walks and hikes in the mountains, along rivers, and beside the pond. She loves the patterns mirrored reflections on water make. “Reflected trees, reeds, leaves, and clouds marble the surface, undulating and smoothing in unique patterns.” She explains, “I didn’t grow up in the Pacific Northwest. My hometown, Spokane, has great rivers and lakes, but there, it was the forest and Palouse that drew me. Here, it is the water.”
Canyon has been painting, drawing, sculpting, making music, dancing, and writing since grade school. She is a member of the Morgan Block Studios in Fairhaven and participates in Whatcom Artist Studio Tour the first two weekends of October each year.
Ria Harboe
Nancy Canyon
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