Donna Konstantin has only been a member of the Coquitlam Art Club for about a year.
But the Burnaby resident is already making waves with her paintings of West Coast landscapes, animals and international scenes.
Her acrylic image of an autumnal pathway in Slovenia, titled “Into the Woods,” is the feature painting for the club’s fall show and sale, which runs at the Dogwood Pavilion in Coquitlam on Nov. 23 and 24.
There, she’ll have between 15 and 20 original pieces to display, along with several other artists from the 45-member group that meets at the 50+ centre on Wednesday afternoons.
The fall exhibit and sale “is a good way to meet the artists and to shop for Christmas,” Konstantin told the Tri-City News on Monday, Nov. 18, noting some members will also offer demonstrations and workshops.
“It’s a good way to learn something new.”
Konstantin, who emigrated from the former Yugoslavia about 30 years ago, has always been keen on the creative fields despite earning a degree in engineering.
As an adult, she took external courses to improve her craft — sometimes through the Burnaby Artists Guild and online tutorials.
In 2022, she became a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, a charity started in 1941 by professional artists including the Group of Seven's Lawren Harris, Arthur Lismer and A.Y. Jackson.
With her two daughters now grown, Konstantin said she’s got more time to devote to painting and take part in studies with the Coquitlam Art Club.
While most of her paintings are realistic “with a lot of emotion and room for interpretation,” she said, Konstantin has recently started to branch out with abstract images, too.
Meanwhile, besides the Coquitlam Art Club’s shows, there will be other visual arts shows and sales at Dogwood this weekend, including from the facility’s photography, lapidary and woodworking groups.
The Coquitlam Art Club’s fall presentation is in the Centennial Room at Dogwood Pavilion (1655 Winslow Ave., Coquitlam) on Saturday, Nov. 23 and 24, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free. There will also be prize draws for attendees.
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