To Downtown Kelowna, With Love

This series is a love letter to my favourite places in Downtown Kelowna. With the city undergoing a massive revitalization, I feel compelled now more than ever to capture images of these hidden gems and create art that reflects and honours the sometimes over looked parts of the city that may soon disappear. Kelowna is world renowned for it’s beautiful lake views, wineries, and desert trails; this series is not about those places. Spanning from Cambridge Avenue in the North End, all through downtown along Abbott Street to West Avenue and in all odd corners in between; this series honours the alley ways, driveways, wartime homes, gardens and rubble of Kelowna’s oldest neighbourhoods. On a casual stroll with a keen eye and an open mind you can discover all kinds of quirky, beautiful gems and treasures. Working with acrylic and gouache, I have re-created these special places in a colourful and nostalgic way. It’s about getting outside and exploring your neighbourhood and finding beauty in your surroundings. Be it a peace sign spray painted on a garden shed, cobalt blue tiled steps of a wartime home recently demolished, sunflowers planted next to a dumpster, or thrift store finds strategically placed in a curbside garden. As we tear down these quaint little houses and start building modernist castles and towering fish bowls I want us to embrace our past and show everyone that there can be beauty anywhere. I encourage you to look at these paintings, then hit the streets and do your own exploring. Fall in love with Kelowna before we rip it up and start again.