Intimate Forest by Dany Couture & Vintage Lovelies by Shannon Butler
Dany Couture’s stunning photography in “Intimate Forest” captures in imagery the emotion and peaceful stillness of a single moment.
“Vintage Lovelies”, Shannon Butler’s functional and sculptural porcelain ceramic art, speaks to both a bygone era and to the modern day, work that is both elegant and rustic and which brings a contemporary twist to a vintage aesthetic.
The joint exhibition will be up in the Smithers Gallery from April 5th – 30th. Gallery hours are Tues-Sat, 12pm-4pm.
Shannon will be giving a BreakThru Noon artist lecture in the Gallery on Friday, April 8th, 12pm-1pm, when she will demonstrate her very individual style of working with ceramics. If you haven’t seen her pieces yet, come and be inspired by her amazing gift for detail, colour, and design.
Opening reception is on Friday April 8th, 7-9pm, when the artists will be in attendance. All welcome, admission is free, and delicious refreshments will be served!
ARTISTS BIOS
Dany Couture’s passion is to capture in imagery the emotion of a single moment. Creatively, she is drawn to peaceful stillness in natural scenes and portraiture. Dany studied commercial photography in Montreal and has an AEC degree (2009). She has a portrait studio in Smithers, and lives in Telkwa.
Shannon Butler’s work is influenced by every corner of her life: music, a farm upbringing, fables, nostalgia, conversations, fashion, and pop culture all play a role in her day-to-day inspiration. Tongue-in-cheek sayings and song lyrics with strands of humour or truth often end up permanently pressed into mugs with the help of vintage stamps.
By using both wheel-throwing and hand-building techniques, each piece is lovingly decorated in a variety of different ways - sgraffito(carving technique), pressed vintage lace, hand drawn images, stains, high gloss glazes, and low-fire vintage decals all help her to create layered textures that you can both feel and see. All pieces are completely one-of-a-kind, food-safe, and made with love!
Shannon Butler began her formal artist training at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, she then went on to complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majoring in Ceramics, at the Alberta College of Art and Design. She graduated from ACAD with Distinction and had the honour of receiving the Board of Governor’s Award for her work in 2006. She took part in countless shows while attending ACAD, most importantly her first solo show named “Ornamental Orgasm” at the Marion Nicoll Gallery.
She has attended artist residencies and workshops at the Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts, the Medicine Hat International Artists in Residence Program, and the Banff Center and had the pleasure of attending the National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts Conference in Portland Oregon in 2006 where one of her hand-built gas-fired pieces was shown at the Juried Student Exhibition.
Since her graduation in 2006, Shannon moved back to her hometown of Fort St. John. She continued to make work, teach pottery classes, and was involved in many shows including “Image Three” at the Dawson Creek Art Gallery in 2007, a solo show “Bohemia” at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie in 2008, “Coming Up Next” at the Alberta Craft Council Gallery in Edmonton in 2009, the Peace Liard Juried Exhibition in 2009 and 2010, a solo show named “Rainbow Owl and The Spring Collection” at Peace Gallery North in 2010, and finally a solo show “Drink” at the Fairview Art Center in 2010.
In August of 2008 Shannon opened her own studio named kilnhouse studio, where she works full time making handmade one-of-a-kind pottery for sale.