Gallery at Milner March 1 to 31 - Edmonton Sculptors' Association
I've always loved to draw and paint since I was in Public School. During High School, art was an extra -curricular activity one day a week after school; as I did not have time to fit it into my regular classes. During my B.Sc., I did a course in painting my third year. I also attended Ecole des Beaux Arts in the evening and joined the Montreal Pottery Guild during my one year sabbatical from Medical School.
Since 1988 I have tried to make an effort to fit in art and explore different media: pottery, clay sculpture, painting, print making, bronze casting, welding, stone sculpture, cement sculpture and casting, making masks, ice carving and most recently wood carving.
My favourite media is clay but I also enjoy watercolour and oil painting. My favourite subject is the human body and its infinite diversity. I find it relaxing to turn on the radio and do my thing, forgetting about life's problems.
Sometimes we just need to do nothing and let our thoughts take us on an internal journey to oblivion. When we are without hope we are in despair. One little step will lead us into more progressive changes. We have to take time from running our race to relax and meditate.
In my travels, one thing is very clear to me - the bond between the parent and child is universal. I wanted to capture that feeling in my clay. Children are very precious. It is the very existence of the child that creates the parent. The parent is molded by that experience of creation. Holding that child elicits feelings that many a parent had not experienced hitherto becoming a parent. Protectiveness, love, and a sense of responsibility are some of the emotions that are overpowering.
I began creating this Parent Series by doing the young mother and child - "Mom 1". However, that piece quickly demanded a counterpart, the father and child - "Dad 1". That relief sculpture began to speak to me of another and I discovered that the project was crying to become a series... the Parent Series was born.
Keith began his art education in 1992, attending courses in sculpture at the University of Alberta's Extension Department and later at the Edmonton City Arts Centre, Harcourt House Arts Centre and the Sculptor's Association of Alberta.
He is active in the community, sitting on the boards of Harcourt House Arts Centre and the Edmonton Arts Council (past chair). He is a member of the Sculptors' Association of Alberta and participates in ice and snow carving events.
He has participated in many group sculpture exhibits in Edmonton and is represented in private collections across Canada and the USA. He has curated art shows teaches figurative sculpture.
Speaking of his art, Keith states that "my goal is to create figurative sculptures that portray people in all their diversity".
Edmonton based artist, Ritchie Velthuis, has been a practicing his craft for most of his life and this commitment was rewarded last year with the distinct honour of being a demonstrating artist for the Royal Visit in 2005.
After attending the Design Arts Program at Grant McEwan Community College in Edmonton, Ritchie worked as a graphic artist for several years but was always drawn back to a fine art sensibility. The last 20 years have been devoted to exploring sculpture in various mediums including clay, resin, stone, cement, ice, and snow. A SAA group project in cement entitled "Convergence" was designed by Ritchie to be part of the 2006 Works Design and Art Festival and was later purchased by Christenson Developments. Ice and snow competitions have garnered him and his team awards in recent years. His work can be found in private and public collections throughout the province.
In recent years, Ritchie Velthuis has been fortunate to share his expertise with others and teaches figurative sculpture and various other ceramic courses in art centres and schools throughout Edmonton.
The creation of art is essential in my life, like food, water and air. I am told I began to draw at the age of two; however I truly came into my own as an artist until 2001. It was the gift of a piece of soapstone that started my journey into the world of sculpture.
It was in stone and wood that I found my artistic voice, taking something organic and giving it new life is at the heart of my sculptures. There is a point in my creative process when the rock or the tree transforms into the piece my mind had imagined; that moment is like falling in love, where nothing else exists. That is the very essence of my work. That is the reason I sculpt.
It is my hope that my work evokes an emotional response, urging the viewer to reach out and touch what I have created.
