Contributed
A new exhibition of paintings by Ev McDougall will be presented at Nadine’s Fine Art and Frames during the month of October, allowing a good head start on the Christmas list.
Opening reception is Oct. 5 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
McDougall showed a very early interest in art and won her first award, for a drawing of a spaniel, when she was seven.
After graduating from the University of Alberta in 1969 with a master’s of arts degree, she went on to become an instructor at Mount Royal College in Calgary.
Full-time work and being a mother to three children put a bit of a crimp in her involvement in painting and her energies became redirected to more practical aspects of artistic expression such as the design and construction of ski clothing, tents, bike covers, furniture and so on.
With the anticipation of early retirement, however, and the discovery that watercolour need not be wishy-washy, she indulged her long-standing desire to learn more. She enrolled in her first course in watercolour painting in 1990, and has since taken classes in oils, drawing, acrylics and finally pastels. And somewhere along the way, pastels and acrylics became her main focus.
She has been an active supporter of the arts in the community since her move to the Okanagan in 1995.
Already a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, she transferred her allegiance from Calgary to the North Okanagan chapter, eventually spending over eleven years working in various positions on the executive. She was also secretary on the board of the Vernon Public Art Gallery for four years, on the executive of the Okanagan Artists League, and a volunteer with other organizations in the valley.
She is a signature member of the Northwest Pastel Society, based in Seattle, the Pastel Society of America, based in New York City, an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists, a master pastellist with Pastel Artists of Canada, and a distinguished pastellist with the Pastel Society of the West Coast, a California group.
One of her most recent works, Wicker, Wonderland II, now showing with the Pastel Society of America, has just been selected for a further exhibit at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.
Nadine’s Fine Art and Frames is open Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and otherwise by appointment.