Morhart captures rural memories

A life-long love of drawing continues to keep Val Morhart active and productive at his easel.

Morhart, whose art is currently hanging at the pARTners Gallery in the Yorkton Public Library, said he was just a youngster when he was first introduced to the joys of drawing.

“I was four or five when mom handed me a pen and paper and said draw my own horse,” he said Sunday in an interview during an artist reception.

An art kit from the Eaton’s Christmas catalogue would follow.

“That got me into art pretty good,” he said.

Morhart, 69, who now lives in Canora, drew a lot as a youngster, but when he turned to farming as an adult, the hobby went into a decades-long hiatus.

Then a touch of fate got involved.

In 2004, Morhart had hip surgery.

“It was a 16-week recovery time and I thought I’d try painting again,” he said.

Morhart was raised in Killaly, SK, and moved to Regina at age 11. He graduated from Balfour Tech School with electrical training. He was employed at Regina General Hospital as maintenance and boiler technician for five years. He farmed north of Craven and then at Estevan for 20 years.

Now in retirement, Morhart said he appreciates painting as a way to deal with what can be very long winters. With a brush in hand he stays creative, active, and productive.

Much of Morhart’s artwork reflects a bygone era; log and sod houses, grain elevators, and vintage machinery. He said if someone doesn’t capture such things in works of art, the next generation may not know they even existed.

“Soon the only place you’ll see a log house will be in a museum,” he said.

Morhart uses a combination of things to inspire a specific piece. He said he often takes elements from two or three photographs, adds some things from his childhood memories on the farm along with a dash of imagination, and then he paints a single work.

Rarely does he simply paint what he sees in a photograph because that image isn’t his in terms of art.

In that regard Morhart has a simple tip for budding artists.

“One word of advice for budding artists is that there is no such thing as bad art. It is all in the mind and eye of those looking at your art. So paint what you like and are comfortable with. Do it for the enjoyment you receive from it and only please yourself,” he said in his artist’s statement.

Morhart said he enjoys displaying his work, having been involved in the Memories and Landscapes local artist shows the past five years, and at events in Norquay and Canora.

But the pARTners show is special.

“This is great, the perfect opportunity,” he said, adding he has wanted a solo show but Canora is a bit small for it. He jumped at the opportunity to show at pARTners.

“It’s a perfect setting,” he said, adding that a library attracts a lot of people who have the opportunity to see his works.

Morhart’s works hang at the gallery until Apr. 29.