‘Deep Roots’ artists both inspired by trees and wood in show at The Art Gallery Osoyoos

Stained Glass Window is an oil painting by Ann Willsie. (Richard McGuire Photo)

Two artists, both inspired by trees and wood in different ways, appear in a show titled Deep Roots at The Art Gallery Osoyoos (TAGO). The show runs from Saturday, Feb. 3 to Saturday, Feb. 24.

Ann Willsie does large oil paintings on canvas often showing huge gnarly trees and dramatic light. She is a Senior member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. She lives and works in Lake Country, B.C.

Mike Voros carves wood and bark to make fantasy scenes of people, strange creatures, and twisted vertical cities and towns. He lives near Jackfish Lake, north of North Battleford, Sask., and spends winters as an Osoyoos snowbird.

In recent years, Willsie has found a passion for painting outdoors, en plein air.

“How many of us have walked into a deep forest and been overcome by a strong sense of calmness and tranquility; a sense of wonder and respect,” she says, describing standing in a Spanish olive grove more than 1,000 years old. “I could only imagine what they [trees] must have witnessed over the years, and the stories they would tell if they could only talk.”

Voros has been carving wood and bark for more than 30 years. Describing his approach to carvings, he once told a Prince Albert newspaper: “The more that you play with them, your skill develops and all of a sudden you get to the point where you want to do something and it’s kind of like you’re watching your hands do the work. You don’t think about it, they just do what the hands require.”

The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It is located at 8713 Main St. in Osoyoos, B.C., just west of Town Hall.

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Author: Richard McGuire

Richard McGuire is an Osoyoos photographer who worked at the Osoyoos Times between 2012 and 2018, first as reporter and then as editor. He has a long career in journalism as well as research, communication and management at the House of Commons in Ottawa and in the federal government.