It's two perspectives but one topic - nature. Saskatchewan artists Karen Holden and Mel Bolen, the first a painter, the latter a pottery artist - are all about perserving nature and sharing the beauty that surrounds us. The pair, married for 38 years, were on hand at the Godfrey Dean Art Gallery Sunday to show off their work and meet and greet the public.
Two Perspectives will be on display at the Godfrey Dean until December 15. Comprised of an array of interesting pottery pieces and complimentary paintings, the show is an exhibition of Bolen's landscape inspired stoneware and Holden's oil on canvas landscapes of Saskatchewan.
"I've been painting for about 15 years now," said Holden in a Sunday interview with The News Review. "We decided to put this show together and bounce off each others work - nature being the theme of course because that's where we live, out in the country (near Humboldt). So it's really about our life and where we live and how important nature is to us.
"It's important to us to get out the message that we need to preserve nature, that's what we're aiming at with this show..."
The pair resides in an old brick church that serves as both home and studio as well as an inspirational back drop to create unique works.
Bolen has been crafting pottery for more than 40 years. "I started off in Regina at the university there, then moved out to the area we are in now in 1976. From there on it's been about making functional work to survive - mugs, teapots, bowls, things like that - and then when I get some ideas and want to take off on a tangent I do the work like is in this exhibition.
"It's still made out of clay but it's fired in a completely different way. It's more of a sculptural approach..."
Strategically placed throughout the gallery with Holden's paintings, the works take visitors on a metaphorical journey through Saskatchewan's landscapes.
All of the works currently on display are inspired by nature. "There are big prairie grasses, bull rushes, northern lights, water, trees... all the types of things we notice walking around in our land."
The couple hopes the experience will encourage others to appreciate nature in the same way they do.
"People need to get out in it more, get away from their computers, put down their cell phones, get out there and realize how therapeutic it all is and how important it is to preserve it."
Two Perspectives made it's debut in Saskatoon, after Yorkton it will make its way to Regina and then back to Humboldt for an unveiling in a new gallery in the works.
Many of the pieces from the show have already been sold but the artists say they create new shows every year and hold an open house at their home gallery every May. Anyone interested in purchasing a piece or in seeing others can do so either speaking with the gallery director or call the couple at 306-682-3223. "If we are home, we're open."
