Shoreline – “The line along which a large body of water meets the land.” (Oxford Dictionary)
The Pearl Ellis Gallery presents an exhibit of watercolour paintings by Alora Griffin, from May 30-June 17. A reception will be held on Saturday, June 3, 2-4 p.m. with the artist in attendance. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.
The show features paintings focusing on the West Coast shoreline, where Griffin has lived for her most of her life. Born in Tofino, she was raised in Ucluelet, when both of these villages were sleepy logging and fishing communities. She spent summers on Cortes Island where her great-grandparents had homesteaded more than a century ago.
Griffin graduated from UBC with a degree in Fine Arts History. She also took studio courses, including a drawing class with B.C. Binning and printmaking with Tony Onley. Griffin then transferred to art education where she studied painting with Ian Thomas and ceramics with Jean Weakland.
After teaching high school art in New Zealand and Vancouver, Griffin applied to the UBC School of Architecture and obtained her degree in architecture.
While working as an intern architect in Toronto, she continued with drawing, painting and photography classes.
The watercolours have been created over the past decade and feature scenes from Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii, the Skeena River as well as Comox, Qualicum Beach and Cortes Island, where she recently attended an ‘en plein air’ watercolour course with David McEown. Since moving to Comox three years ago, Griffin has spent many hours walking along the shoreline and photographing the salt marshes, many of which are featured in her paintings.
The Pearl Ellis Art Gallery is located at 1729 Comox Avenue in Comox. For more information about the gallery, and to see a virtual display of the exhibition, visit www.pearlellisgallery.com
