ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Visual Arts Centre held its Spring Pottery Show and Sale from April 24 to 26.
All of the pottery displayed was crafted by members of the centre, said Patricia Tymofichuk, president of the Visual Arts Centre board.
She said the centre has an in-house pottery studio utilized by members, and sometimes, students from schools.
The show and sale provided an opportunity to showcase those works, she added, but also to provide an option for community members to buy gifts, especially with Mother’s Day being so close.
But while the highlight was pottery, other handmade crafts like artworks, glass fusion, jewellery, and more, all created by local artists, were also showcased.
Rosanne Hale, a member of the Visual Arts Centre, was among the artists whose works were featured during the exhibit. Among the artwork she displayed were items created by glass fusion.
Glass fusion is an art form that involves melting multiple pieces of glass together to create a decorative, colourful piece.
As an artist, Hale said she’s grateful to everyone who came out during the three-day show, not only to look at the works displayed, but also to learn more about what the centre does.
“If you look at the exterior of our building,” it looks unassuming, said Hale. But inside are works of art boasting the creativity and passion of the artists in St. Paul. “We have this much creativity in town."
Works of special guests were also displayed, including St. Paul-based sculptor Herman Poulin, and model-maker Steven Keeler.
Keeler said he was happy to be able to showcase his work during the show, which includes some dioramas.
Model building involves using model kits to assemble and paint miniatures. The pieces can take weeks or months to create, depending on the complexity of a subject or a kit.
Keeler then sculpts his own miniature human figurines to create dioramas with his models. He’s particularly interested with building model cars.
“It’s just something that my dad and I always did,” he said. He has been building for almost 15 years.
For those who missed the event, more show and sales are coming up. “We have a sale usually during the rodeo weekend, and then the last weekend in November before the Christmas craft sale,” said Tymofichuk.
She thanked all who came out, with some even driving to town just to check out the event, including a group of people from Cold Lake.
“They came to visit our sale just for the day and then they were going back.”
