Vancouver-raised artist Victoria Mitchell will shed light on her anatomical-themed paintings in the next Thursday Artist Talk at Surrey Art Gallery.
On the evening of Feb. 6, she will talk about “Returning to Your Creative Passion” in a 90-minute forum that starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
After 22 years of employment as a massage therapist and yoga teacher, Mitchell was encouraged by her terminally-ill father to paint with the passion she showed more than two decades previous.
“Many of my early childhood memories include the pleasure of drawing and painting,” Mitchell writes in a bio posted to her website, victoriamitchellstudio.com. “I was born in 1971 and raised in Vancouver BC. I was a quiet child, but found a very comfortable way to relate with subjects and adults through art. I was consequently given opportunities to attend workshops and receive private instruction from local teachers and career artists.”
Since her 20s Mitchell was predominantly focused on work as an RMT. “In recent years,” she wrote, “the creation of a home art studio has re-ignited and enriched my work in abstract/representational mixed media. I began showing my paintings again from 2017. This was a tremendously important step to not conceal, but rather to develop my creative expressions…and share these experiences with others.”
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Mitchell says she’s continually inspired by her work in massage and teaching yoga.
“The visual representation of body tissues that underlie what we may take at face value is particularly interesting for me,” she wrote. “I am thankful for the earlier formal teachings stressing the critical importance of technique, material & realism for a serious artistic endeavor. However, venturing from literal points of reference has been most important in discovering broader emotional and visceral impacts. As much as I am inspired by intricacies of the body, I am also very much influenced by other natural elements, flora and landscapes I’ve had the pleasure to experience around the world.”
Surrey Art Gallery is located at 13750 88th Ave., Surrey. For more event details, call 604-501-5566 or visit surrey.ca.
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tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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