Plein Air Adventures with Shirley Mckell
Cost:
FREE per personDuration:
2h – 3hAbout This Experience
Join us for an artistic adventure into the outdoors with Opus Plein Air Adventures! From June 15 to July 31, 2024, immerse yourself in the beauty of outdoor painting as our talented Plein Air Artists lead you on captivating artistic expeditions.
This adventure will be led by professional artist, Shirley Mckell. Meet them on the date and time at Opus Art Supplies North Vancouver and head out from there!
Thursday, June 20th, 2024 meeting on Pilot House Road in West Vancouver, Shirley will have a sign with her to help locate her and participants will be painting in surrounding park area.
9:30am to 11:30am
Sunday, July 7th, 2024
10:00am to 12:00pm
Tuesday, July 23th, 2024 meeting outside the Silk purse in John Lawson Park in West Vancouver.
9:30am to 12:30am
Near the end, we'll head back to Opus North Vancouver with your painting, regardless of its status of completion. As a participant, you will receive an entry slip for our exciting draw prizes. Each adventure you join and each painting you bring back will earn you an additional entry for the prize draw, increasing your chances of winning!
Speaking of prizes, in early August we'll draw the lucky winners. The anticipation will be high as we collect all the draw slips and award the coveted prizes to the randomly drawn recipients! Winners will be contacted via the info on the draw slip.
To further enhance your chance of winning, we encourage you to showcase your artwork online through Instagram with #OpusPleinAirChallenge. By sharing your creations, you stand a chance to win even more prizes through our online gallery contest. In addition, capture the attention of art enthusiasts and immerse yourself in a vibrant community of like-minded creatives with your instagram post.
About Your Host
![Host image](https://dyjc3q172eyog.cloudfront.net/1717195245456_57cjarih.jpg)
As a kid, artwork was encouraged by my mom, who was artistic herself. We had crayons, paints, pencils, coloured pencils, felt, fabric, pastels, scrap paper and it was also a time when art had a strong presence in schools. I loved art. I was raised on a grain farm in Saskatchewan. I had horses in a 160 acre summer pasture and every day would walk to get them and at that time I learned to observe my landscapes - I'd watch and listen to the water and land birds, listen to how wind rushed through the grasses, watch the light dance on surfaces...sniffing everything as I went along; the fur of my dog - the nose of my horse and all of the scents of the land. In hindsight, I think these were building blocks of observation.
But then I entered university and completed a science degree and travelled, built a career and moved to the west coast, where I explored all of my surroundings with hiking, scuba diving, biking and even rock climbing for a time. During that time, I was employed by West Vancouver Parks as a Horticulturist. Still, I observed.
Arts were still present, but in the background or silently lurking, and when I semi retired in 2015, I thought I'd try my hand at painting. And I haven't stopped since.
I sometimes doubt myself as a true artist, but what is that anyway? We are all artists if we dig deep and wish to try it in whatever form that appeals to us.
I paint in oils mostly these days, but sometimes go back to acrylic where I started and who knows, some day may gravitate to other media.
Currently I am a member of the North Shore Artists Guild and an Active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. I am very blessed to have been able to work and participate in workshops with many local professionals who I am greatly indebted to for their help and encouragement.