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North BC Artists and Artisans Celebrate

Creative survival turned into creative success for BC North artisans

What started as a 90-day Creative Survival Challenge turned now after 80 days into creative success for BC North Artists - now silk painting rising stars

FIRST GRADUATES feature their work

North BC Artists and Artisans Celebrate the finish sprint of the 90-day creative survival training challenge. After 80 days of learning silk painting for income generation with homework, setting up their first presentations and digital presence, the first four publicly showcase their work.

North BC Artists and Artisans Celebrate their silk paining artwork publicly

First 4 to publicly feature their Silk Artwork - Photo credit: Mila Lansdowne.

Let's Meet the Silk Painting North BC Artists and Artisans

Jessica Harrison - Fort St. John, BC

Jessica is a multidisciplinary artist now adding painting on silk to her portfolio. This artist titled her first silk painting collection "Nature of the Peace," which describes "The topographical shapes and waterways of the Peace River near Fort St. John, British Columbia."

You can enjoy many beautiful creations by browsing Jessica Harrison's online displays at Wild Elements Creative.

In this silk painting collection, we can see clearly this artist's passion for nature and landscapes. Living in the beautiful Peace Region of the BC North with rolling hills and wide open spaces is a rich well of inspiration for the northern artists and artisans. The beauty of silk painting is that it is a wearable art. And so not only North BC Artists and Artisans celebrate but all the visitors to their craft fairs. Therefore, with ten weeks of training, Jessica and the other ten members of the 90-day Creative Survival Challenge are well ready for an exciting new path of their creative journey.

Linda Dufresne - Taylor, Northern BC

Linda is a lifelong crafter with experience in a variety of projects and media completed. With the 12-week silk painting for income generation training kindly sponsored by the SPMTrust she moved to the next level as an artisan. Linda is graduating from the training with the work featured publicly as "Silk Artistry, Crafty Creations & more," where we can see her energy-filled creation on silk.

One can literally feel the energy encapsulated in the hand-painted silk scarves. Here is what Linda says about her first silk scarves collection:

"I chose my collection to reflect the various colour combinations of the rainbow and my love of flowers. My favourite technique is the blossom design, hence the name, "Rainbow Blossom" Something pretty to wear, something soft against the harsh weather to brighten up a dull winter day."
by Linda Dufresne

Let your day blossom with colourful silks as North BC Artists and Artisans Celebrate the holiday cheer with their work.

Lorna Penner - Montney, BC North, Canada

Lorna Penner is a well-established and accomplished artist in the BC North of Canada. With this in mind you can read about her recent accomplishment in the Alaska Highway News.

With the 12 weeks of training in her new adventure of silk painting, we all are excited about the work her experience, talent and fine-arts skills will create. The uniqueness of every artist shines through their work. You can see her work at Penner's Patch and reagional galleries where North BC Artists and Artisans Celebrate and showcase their beautiful work.

Here are Lorna's words about her first collection of silk scarves, a description that reads like poetry. A look into the artist's soul:

"Moon Dust in the Garden"

"Heading out at sunrise to set up for the Christmas market with the addition of my newest silk collection, "Moon Dust in the Garden ."When I set my work out for others to see, there is always a feeling of vulnerability, yet very satisfying as an accomplishment of my own interpretation of my world. Hand-painting silk has started to have ideas exploding in my head! There is so much I want to share and do with this beautiful wearable art! I can't wait to continue on this journey, and with our instructor's guidance, we now have a group of artists linked together in support and creativity! There are no limits to all our different creations! So thankful and grateful to live in this beautiful, inspiring, Peace Country!"
by Lorna Penner

Shahab Fatima - Canada, BC, Fort St. John

Shahab Fatima is known for her Henna Designs; you can view them online at Henna Designs by Shahab. Consequently, on September 15th, 2022, this talented artisan enrolled in the sponsored 12-week training in silk painting for income generation. The intention of this 90-day creative survival challenge was to have the participants create their first hand-painted silk scarves collection for public presentation. This target was successfully reached, as you can see from the images of these first four rising stars. The Christmas craft shows and fairs in the BC North take place in all communities. Some to name are Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, and Tumbler Ridge. Shahab is busy featuring her creations now.

This is the first step into the public light with her hand-painted silk scarves. Shahab shows her success mindset by exploring new opportunities available in the BC north. for the abundant creative potential of artists and artisans. Peace Liard Regional Arts Council, The Peace Gallery North, and BC Arts Council or Art BC when looking at the Province of British Columbia.

Always looking forward to the next step, Shahab says about her first hand-painted silk scarves collection:

"Living in the north, the springtime is always a season to look forward to. My collection "Blossom Love" reflects my intense love for spring."
by Shahab Fatima

A mind-blowing success - What started as a 90-day Creative Survival Challenge turned now after 80 days into a creative success for BC North Artists - now silk painting rising stars.

Creativity is the magic of life. Artists and artisans use and express their gift to enrich us with their expression of their unique views of life. Therefore they inspire, uplift and empower us. In this article, we could look into the individual expression of four brave, creative ladies. Jessica, Linda, Lorna and Shahab stand for the creative power of the BC North. Beautiful British Columbia expressed in art as seen through the eyes of artists.