Anyone spending time in downtown Westlock last Monday may have noticed the scene was a little more artistic than usual.
Westlock artist Roberta Peirson and Barrhead artist Marilynn Jeffery took to the sidewalk outside the Flower Shoppe in the morning — before chilly weather drove them inside during the afternoon — to do an impromptu live art demonstration.
“We want to get people interested in the arts, and inspire them to want to do it,” Peirson said. “It’s surprising the interest you do get. Somebody will say, ‘Oh I could never do that,’ but when they leave we hope we’ve convinced them they can.”
The idea for the demonstration, which the two describe as “pop-up art,” came from an idea they had heard about with empty storefronts. A landlord may want to bring in a little bit of extra money so a business would pop up in the space for a day — whether it’s an art gallery, a shoe store or anything else.
“We just thought we should take another step and pop up as artists,” Peirson said.
The two artists are members of Barrhead’s art club, but they emphasized this isn’t an event they do as members of the club but rather just because they want to expose more people to art and get them to give it a try.
“They can see kind of the steps, and then realize it’s maybe not that hard to do,” Jeffery said.
The event in Westlock on Monday follows closely on the heels of a similar demonstration done outside the Barrhead library a week prior, and many more events are planned for as long as the weather remains reasonably warm.
“One will be coming up in Barrhead, and there are places that we’re going to approach in Westlock but we haven’t done so yet,” Peirson said.
“We’re going to bounce back and forth between Westlock and Barrhead, and just pop up in places,” Jeffery added.
Both were working on some impressive-looking oil landscapes, which is both the medium and style the two artists prefer — although they have both dabbled in a variety of media and styles.
Getting started in art can be as simple as putting a pencil to a paper, they added.
With a bit of practice drawing, people can move to a basic palette. With a bit of background in shapes and colour values, the rest is just practice.
“Then you just go from there,” Peirson said.
As for their host, Tina Wold, she said she loves the idea of raising the profile of art in the community and was happy to offer the space.
“It’s talent in our town. It’s just another form of art; it’s just another form of expression,” she said.
The next pop-up art event isn’t yet scheduled, which is exactly how the artists want it to be, but folks in Westlock and Barrhead should keep their eyes open.
