Fruit has personality.
And, in the eyes of Maple Ridge watercolour artist Sharon Ferreira, they make great subjects for her paintings – paintings that will be available for sale during the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour this Mother’s Day weekend, May 11 and 12.
Ferreira will have two collections on show for the tour: the Berry Delish Collection and Fruitful Conversations.
They will feature miniature paintings of various fruits like pears, oranges, and pomegranates.
“They have these shapes that look like people in fruit,” laughed the 42-year-old, who only picked up watercolour about a year and a half ago.
Ferreira has been an artist her whole life, starting in sculpture about 20 years ago and then migrating to acrylics five years later. Then she picked up oils and for the past year she has been working with soft pastels and chalk.
What she loves about water colour is the way the paint moves through the water and the shapes she is able to create.
This will be the artist’s first time showcasing her work in the tour. She is a member of the Garibaldi Art Club and learned about the tour after deciding to make her art a full-time endeavor.
“I really want to meet people who are excited about meeting other artists,” said Ferreira about the tour.
She also understands how expensive it can be to purchase an original art piece and doesn’t want it to be a deterrent for people to come out and enjoy the art.
Ferreira decided to sell miniature watercolours in order to give people the opportunity to purchase an original work of art without breaking the bank.
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“To be able to take home a little nugget of that original piece of art, or even a print or a card, I find it’s just so special,” she said.
What Ferreira is looking forward to most are the conversations that naturally happen over an art event, conversations, the artist finds that are not your everyday topics of conversation.
“They are so deep and nourishing and they inspire me to want to make more art,”she added.
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The annual tour takes place every Mother’s Day weekend and it is a free event where artists across Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows open their studios to the public.
This year more than 100 local and visiting artists will be taking part in the event at 27 locations across urban neighbourhoods and rural landscapes.
Participants will discover a variety of art mediums including stained glass, photography, sculpture, pottery, painting, comic book storytelling, textiles, woodwork, and jewelry.
The 24th annual Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Art Studio Tour takes place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 11, and Sunday, May 12.
For a map of studios go to: https://www.artstudiotour.ca/.
