New beginnings

The art of Joanne Sawatzky

I grew up in Vancouver and graduated from UBC with a Special Education Teaching Degree.  Now retired, after teaching for 30 years, I have time to to explore my passion for art.

I am very grateful to my friend and mentor Ken West who has influenced my artistic expression.

2021 needs to be a year of new beginnings.  We need the inspiration to find it and make it a reality.  Joanne's work is the light we need on our lives.

Her presentation of Vancouver as a beautiful and engaging city of nature is astounding.  From the otherwise mundane subject of a private home to the splendor of Burrard Inlet, the vibrancy of her work will usher in a sense of hope from a person starting a new chapter in her own life.

"Lakeside Park"
24" x 30"

This was an unusually a quiet day at this Whistler park, the water was calm allowing for beautiful reflections.

The yellow canoes were so bright and cheerful.  I just had to paint this scene.

"The West End"
24" x 36"

"Arriving at the Maritime Museum"
30" x 40"

I love water reflections.  They can be very whimsical with their undulating shapes and colours.  The reflections in this painting are made by a False Creek Ferry coming into dock near the Maritime Museum.  The Ferries shuttle people back and forth across the harbour.  I love these boats; I think they resemble bathtub toys.

In this painting I made the reflection the focus and left much of the ferry out.

"UBC Golf Course"
24" x 30"

I am not a golfer.

I was delighted when many of the city golf courses opened their grounds up for walkers and their dogs in the early days of Covid.

No wonder people love golf so much, the courses are amazingly beautiful.  Being spring the shadows were long, adding drama to the scene.  

"Arriving at the Aquatic Centre"
30" x 30"

Another ferry painting.

This one is just about to dock downtown by the Aquatic Centre.  Again, I am playing with reflections.

Here I have included the actual boat in this piece.  It was so much fun to paint, almost as much fun as riding in one of these little ferries.

"2400 Court Motel"
24" x 30"

This place is iconic.  At one time motels were a common sight along Kingsway in Vancouver.

With the pressures of redevelopment, it really is amazing that this place still exists today.  Currently it is owned by the city so it is hard to know what its future will be.  This motel has been used many times for filming.

Vancouver is changing at such a rapid pace I find I can get a bit nostalgic about the loss of places that are very Vancouver to me.

"Jericho"
24" x 30"

Jericho Beach is one of my favorite places to walk the dog.  I am always so taken with the beauty of this place.

In this particular painting I tried to depict the vivid colours of the day.  The freighters add a colourful and dramatic contrast to the natural beauty of Jericho.

"Home"
22" x 28"

My daughter grew up in this house and recently she asked if I would do a painting of our old family home for her.

When she was a teenager, we did an extensive renovation, so it now looks very different.

In our daughter's mind, the original little white house is the one she grew up in and the one she loves the best.

This is my painting of our old home.

"The Balmoral Hotel"

40" x 30"

This might seem like a strange subject to paint.

A while ago I was downtown taking images of the Ovaltine Cafe for a painting I was planning and the clock sign of the Balmoral Hotel caught my eye.  It seemed to express a certain grandness or sense of importance, especially given the age of this hotel.

This is a stark contrast to what the hotel represents today, poverty, decay and neglect.  It was important for me to represent the hotel with all its contradictions.

The grand sign is decaying, and the rooms appear as if they are crammed full.  This grand 1912 hotel, once used by commercial businessmen and wealthy travellers, was now a rundown SRO building.

"The Only Sea Foods"
24" x 36"

This is another piece of disappearing Vancouver history.  It was never a fancy place and apparently changed little over the years it existed.

This restaurant opened in 1912 and was operated in the same location till its closure in 1992.  I love the old neon signs, however there are very few of these left around Vancouver anymore.  This sign was removed and put into the neon museum one week after I took a photo of it.

Lucky timing for me!

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