An Okotoks artist has been painting what she knows best with some stunning results.
Annette Petrovich is showing a selection of her work at Okotoks Municipal Centre for the month of October and she doesn’t capture just anybody on canvas but people who are near and dear to her.
“They are not famous people, they are my family,” Petrovich explained of her Art in the Hall show which is made up mostly of watercolour portraits. “They are my guinea pigs.”
Testing the limits of her artistic ability on her family has produced paintings of Petrovich’s nieces, nephews, mother-in-law and grandchildren. Thankfully, the painter is not the type to make her subjects sit still in front of her for hours on end.
“I use photos as a resource only,” she said. “When I get down to the painting I have to envision what the face looks like in 3-D. I have been studying faces for a while. So I have an idea where the details in the picture should be.”
Petrovich said she equates her process of painting with the assembling of a jigsaw puzzle. She utilizes her visual memory and her understanding of facial structures to put all the pieces together.
“I love it,” Petrovich said. “It’s my favourite thing to paint portraits. I also do landscapes, still life and some floral pieces.”
The Art in the Hall show is dominated by Petrovich’s portraits, but also features some animal paintings and a bird of paradise floral image.
The painter has lived in Okotoks for about five years giving her the time to make some solid connections with the local art community.
One of her Foothills peers is artist Tina Winistok of Turner Valley. Winistok, with the help others, recently convinced Petrovich to make the leap from working in watercolour to acrylics.
Winistok is an admitted fan of Petrovich’s portraits.
“Because they are her family it’s a real a labour of love,” she said. “She captures the character in them. Its always a show of a love of people I think when people do portraits. It shows they are a real people person.”
Winistok and Petrovich are both members of Big Rock Artists who are presenting an Okotoks art sale in support of the Foothills Country Hospice Oct. 21-22. The pair as well as fellow artist group members Marg Smith and Renee Carrier often get together, in one combination or another, to see the work of the others.
“We look at art and see the same things,” Winistok said of the connection the quartet shares.
Petrovich explained how regular get-togethers with her fellow painters serves to improve her craft.
“We talk about art and we critique each other’s art but in a positive way,” she said. “You learn a lot. Sure I am painting portraits but still I could miss something. Where another eye will look at it and say, ‘you know what? That nose is too big.’”
Petrovich’s art will continue to show at Okotoks Municipal Centre downtown on Elizabeth Street until the end of the month.
