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Artful : The Gallery
Living An Artful Existence
With gratitude and deep respect
living, working and creating
on the unceded traditional territory
of the Pentlatch people and
the K'ómoks First Nation,
comprised of the Sathloot, Sasitla,
Ieeksen and Xa'xe people
Wednesday thru Saturday 12 to 5pm 526C Cumberland Road Courtenay BC
Home: Welcome
And we are off! The first exhibition for 2025 begins today at Artful. ‘Scapes…land, sea, garden, urban, rural…four Comox Valley artists bring the world to the gallery. Alora Griffin, Channing Holland, Trisha Milne and Roger Vermeulen interpret their visions of the environment with water and colour. The exhibition includes both framed and I framed artwork. Join us for the Artist Reception this Saturday, February 22nd, 7-9pm! Gallery hours Weds - Sat 12-5pm.
On tonight at Artful, the Comox Valley Singersongwriters Circle! Bring your original tunes to share with the group 🎶 7-9pm, $10 or pwyc.
If spending time with friends and being more creative we’re on your list of intentions for 2025…I can help: Come and play! Invite a friend to join you ($25 off bring a friend discount for each of you!) Spend this Sunday afternoon feeding yourself nutritious heart & soul food, and enjoy by some sanctuary from the storm. I know where I will be! 😉
Sunshine and a flurry of Clive Powsey is in the forecast! Clive’s prints are all over the walls at Artful for this One Day Only Pop Up Exhibition: ‘Discontemporary Printmaking’ Be sure to stop by the gallery today when you are out and about. 10-4pm
Print lovers tomorrow is your day! Clive Powsey is taking over Artful : The Gallery for the day with his Pop Up Exhibition (10am to 4pm) ‘Discontemporary Printmaking’. Over at the Pearl in Comox ‘Through Lines’ has their opening reception 1 to 3pm. Looking forward to seeing you out and about 😎
Artful : The Poets will be an open mic only tonight for those who live nearby. The feature poet Carol Neufeld will be rescheduled for later this spring. Be safe!
Join us Monday evening, February 3rd, 7-9pm to welcome Carol Neufeld as our feature poet. Her reading will be followed by an open mic hosted by Ed Varney, iconic ‘Big Dada’ (or more recently ‘Big Nada’) poet, artist and publisher. Don’t miss these two gems of the Comox Valley! $10 or pwyc, sign up for the open mic (5 minutes each spot) at the door.
So excited to host this One-Day-Only Pop-Up Exhibition by a Comox Valley treasure: Clive Powsey! ‘Discontemporary Printmaking’ features a collection of Clive’s prints, resolutely refusing to be located within the temporality of the current moment. Referencing archetypal imagery Clive creates signals rather than noise, with the intention that the work withstand the passage of time. This exhibition will appear briefly in time and space at 10am on the morning of February 8th, providing opportunities to delight and/or offend gallery visitors, before disappearing at 4pm. Don’t miss it!
…and we are off! First event of 2025: the Comox Valley Songwriters Circle gathers here at Artful monthly (usually the third Monday of the month) and brings together a variety of the valley’s sing songwriters to share their songs with each other. While the tunes must be your original songs, that’s about the only criteria. From beginners to performers, using a lovely variety of instruments (including the gallery’s piano!) or singing a capella, come share your work with this inviting group of musical creators! Monday, January 20th, 7-9pm, $10 or pwyc.
Here’s your Thursday afternoon art interlude…music on! Only two more days of Capt. Jeff in the house, don’t miss it!
A whimsical corner of the gallery is available if you’re looking for something to soothe the chaos of the season, Capt. Jeff’s exhibition closes this Saturday, Dec 21st so be sure to get in if you are hoping to see it.
Last CV Songwriters Circle of 2024 coming up on Monday evening. Join us with host Ashley Sykes and bring your original tunes to share with the group. Monday, December 16, 7-9 pm, $10 or pwyc.
This exhibition is a fun recap of the artistic output of Capt. Jeff. Exhibition posters and photo portraits of many of the artists who have played a role in the strong creative community here in the Comox Valley are interspersed with Capt. Jeff sculptures, memorabilia and exhibition awards. This exhibition is ample evidence of two aphorisms: it is never too late to start (Capt. Jeff made his first artworks after he retired here in his 60’s) and that great things are achieved by a series of small things brought together (small but consistent input over two decades equals a major body of work!) Jeff has been delighted to see all of these works (contributed by his collectors) displayed together and to revel in what he has created
What an afternoon! 4 authors read from their contributions to the anthology “Gumboots in the Straits”, and fiddle, guitar and bass filled the gallery with toe tapping tunes, and even the piano got some airtime. The gallery was as full as it can get as these friends came together to celebrate their BC bestseller.
Just a little reminder that 4 of the authors in this BC Bestseller will be at Artful tomorrow afternoon reading excerpts from their contributions to this anthology. Joe Ziner will be leading the band for a bit of fiddle music 🎶 Stop by the gallery between 2 and 4 tomorrow afternoon to enjoy some true West Coast/Best Coast entertainment
Capt. Jeff’s “Small Time Big Apple Clocks”. You’ve really got to read the whole story. From the kitschy pewter frames with the ‘Statue of Liverty’ and the ‘Brooklkn Bridge’ mis-spellings, to the haunting image of the Twin Towers still standing, and the second hand airplanes circling the clock face, these ‘small time’ clocks have an awful lot to say.
Capt. Jeff’s portrait of beat poet William Burrows greeting gallery visitors
Tonight at Artful! Kim June Johnson is our feature poet, followed by Dan Kirk hosting the open mic, 7-9pm, $10 or pwyc.
Lisa Kirk was inspired to create “Portrait of William Burroughs” in response to Capt. Jeff’s sculpture of the American author and artist. Nietzsche’s quote seems a fitting epigraph.
Thank you to everyone who made the evening such a treat for Jeff 🥰
Lots happening today in downtown Courtenay! CVAG opens their 50/20 year retrospective with an Art Faire 1-5pm and Artful : The Gallery opens the retrospective exhibition “Capt. Jeff” with artist reception this evening, 7-9pm. That leaves the perfect amount of time for dinner at one of our great downtown restaurants in between…make it an Artful Day!
Doors open at noon tomorrow! This retrospective of 25 years of Jeff Hartbower’s artistic output is like wandering into a life sized cabinet of curiosities: delightful, disturbing and definitely provocative. Jeff is a talented sculptor of wood and assemblage, with a folk artist ethos. Over 80 pieces have found their way to Artful, lovingly loaned for this exhibition from the Comox Valley community that has both supported and benefited from having Jeff Hartbower a central part of it. Artist reception this Saturday, Nov 23rd, 7-9pm. Come join the party!
Tonight at Artful! Bring your original songs to share with the Comox Valley Songwriters Circle led by singer/songwriter Ashley Sykes. The circle will get a sneak preview of the exhibition opening this Weds, “Capt. Jeff”, a 25 year retrospective of the artwork of Jeff Hartbower.
Don’t miss this trio of talent at the next Artful : The Poets! Monday, November 4th, 7-9 pm. Natalie Nickerson is our host for the evening, and an open mic follows our feature poets. $10 or pwyc. For more info about the poets, check out Artful’s event page, link in bio.
Join us this Sunday for the third in the words + images series of workshops offered by local poets Diana Kolpak and Carys Owen. To register send an email to dlkolpak@gmail.com
Just a little reminder about the Comox Valley Singer Songwriter Circle tonight at Artful. Hope to see you!
The group painting is almost complete, with a fluid stream of contributors all afternoon!
Tomorrow, Sat Oct 12th, Artful is hosting the Art Writers Ghost Collective for their One Day Only Pop-Up Art exhibition, 1-5pm. Join us for the interactive painting experience set to the experimental music soundscape of ZEX (Dave Miklos & Jesse Gentes). The collective started up late 2023 as a low-key and creative way for friends and family to support Comox Valley artist Josh Klassen through his treatment for lymphoma. Using up-cycled canvases, large enough to cover a table top, the group of artists rotate around the canvas through the afternoon, beginning with a colourful abstraction which is then detailed with a final inking. The intention of letting go, non-judgement, and trust in each other with no wrong answers sets the tone for the journey through each session. Anna Rambow, Josh Klassen, Olivia Klassen, Marcelle Wheeler and Dave Miklos are the core members of the collective, and a fluid range of people have contributed to the paintings which will be on display.
Join us Monday night at Artful : The Poets, 7pm. Our feature poet is Steven J. Thompson, and host Carys Owen will guide us through the evening. Sign up for the open mic (5 mins each, to follow the feature poet) $10 or pwyc.
The Comox Valley community has come out in full support of this trio of talent! Friends, family, colleagues, customers and neighbours have flooded the gallery these past few weeks, leaving a trail of red dots 🎈in their wake! Congratulations to Yin Hoskins, Jenny Mitchell and Elaine Prodor on such a successful exhibition! Last two days if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet 👀, 12-5pm till Oct 5.
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