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Art, plants the perfect combination

Local green thumbs with an appreciation for art can get the best of both worlds at a Black Diamond greenhouse this weekend.
Chester Lees
Turner Valley artist Chester Lees will have several pieces of her art on display at Vale’s Greenhouse Cultivation of Art Show and Sale June 21-23.

Local green thumbs with an appreciation for art can get the best of both worlds at a Black Diamond greenhouse this weekend.

Vale’s Greenhouse owner Katrina Diebel is hosting her annual Cultivation of Art Show and Sale, which places paintings, pottery, jewelry and sculptures alongside plants in an event she implemented 10 years ago.

The show takes place June 21-23 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“We blend the elements between nature and art so we utilize our flowers to decorate around the art so that you get a really nice feeling,” said Diebel. “When you see a beautiful painting and it’s surrounded by nature it’s so different from other shows.”

Diebel selects artists from across southern Alberta, ensuring there’s a cross section of hand-made pieces that are original and of high quality.

“It isn’t just oil and acrylics, it’s fibre art, wood, ceramic, glass and you can buy a really nice pair of $10 earrings,” she said. “We have something for everybody’s budget.”

The Black Diamond business owner said she considers style, medium and technique, and ensures the artist is a good fit for the show.

Among those she selects year after year is Turner Valley artist Chester Lees, a juried member of the Alberta Society of Artists, member of the Canadian Federation of Artists and recipient of Global Television’s Woman of Vision.

Lees will have on display paintings of a prairie cactus, the Okotoks Erratic, owls and Foothills landscapes.

“There will be a lot of local things off of Highway 22 and the Highwood Pass that people would recognize, plus a whole bunch of owls,” said Lees.

Since moving to Turner Valley five years ago, Lees has had an abundance of inspiration from the picturesque foothills that surround her. The opportunity to showcase her work at the greenhouse is a feather in her cap.

“I like the marriage of the art – not just paintings but pottery and jewelry – in this beautiful setting Katrina has got amongst the plants and flowers,” she said.

Lees said she also enjoys the camaraderie between the artists and is thrilled to be invited to the show year after year.

“In a juried show it means there’s a standard that people can expect,” she said. “You know that everything that’s in there is going to be of high quality and a good standard. I’m thrilled to be accepted and to show with such talented people.”

Since moving to Canada from Britain, Lees fell in love with the landscape, which shows in her art. She went from painting flora and fauna to bright prairie grasses and stormy skies.

“You don’t see much sky in Britain,” she said. “When we arrived here and went out onto the prairie it was just hundreds of miles of nothing and these magnificent skies. You could watch a storm come in on the left and the sun on the right. Most of my paintings are big prairie skies and landscapes. I was so taken with it.”

Having lived around the world, Lees said she wouldn’t live anywhere else but the Foothills.

“I just love this area,” she said. “It’s breathtaking and the scenery is incredible.”

With talents like Lees in the show, Diebel said it’s been successful year after year.

While she was concerned about how it would be received in its first year, she quickly learned that her idea was a hit.

“We’ve been very successful for such a small little business,” she said. “We sell a substantial amount of art.”

It’s not just the artists who make the annual event successful, it’s also the venue, Diebel said.

“It’s not an imposing venue and there is no admission charge, lots of parking and we’re in a small town,” she said. “If mom wants to come to the art show, the kids want to buy ice cream and dad wants a burrito, you don’t have to drive miles out of your way to make the whole family happy.”

An artists’ reception will take place Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. featuring drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

For more details go to valesgreenhouse.com

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