Boundary resident Heather Hollingsworth has scored another triumph in the art world. Her piece “A Break in the Clouds” won Best Landscape at the Annual International Representational Show (AIRS) exhibition held at Granville Island in Vancouver.
The juried show had 63 pieces this year; the number each year depends on the calibre of the entries. She was also juried into the show last year, one of 50 pieces selected from amoung the 350 pieces entered.
Not only was her painting recognized with a $250 cash award and certificate, it was also selected for display as the Artist of the Month at Vancity for the month of November.
Artist of the Month is a collaborative project between Vancity and the Federation of Canadian Artists that highlights one artist per month by displaying a work, their business cards and a poster with short statement about themselves.
Hollingsworth said she was introduced to watercolour when she was in Grade 11. “My art teacher was very wonderful. She had a lot of patience with me because I was really slow and that really hasn’t changed yet,” she said with a smile. “She treated my nicely.”
After college her art was interrupted by parenthood. Eventually she began doing watercolours again. “I just kept teaching myself. I bought a book and played around and started doing it. You can only do so much by the book —you try this technique, try that technique, and there you go.”
Eventually her own technique came through and is now gaining the recognition it deserves.
More information about AIRS 2014 may be found online at www.artists.ca