Jean McFarland thought it was time to do something for herself, and took up painting.
Her interest was peaked in the 1990s but life got in the way.
McFarland is a breast cancer survivor raising her two granddaughters and she's organizing a group art show.
Betty's Exhibitionists is the first exhibit by a group of 16 students who have studied with nationally renowned artist Betty Kovacic.
The show is set to open tonight at 6 p.m. at Art Space and will be on display Saturday and Sunday from 10 am. to 4 p.m. Kovacic will be at the opening to support her students.
"I am very excited to see my students come together to exhibit their work as a group," said Kovacic. "I think the artwork students have created during my classes is amazing. It expresses each person's individuality and is the focus of interest in their own creative experience. I don't have workshops where people come in and all do the same thing. I facilitate and try to help each individual in terms of technical and creative information with their concepts and ideas. Freedom in art is crucial."
McFarland said she started taking lessons in earnest about four years ago.
"I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer three years ago and I was painting all the time I was going through chemotherapy. It was such a nice way to not think about my health, not think about the next treatment, the surgery, whether I was going to live or die. It was very supportive."
McFarland creates her art using acrylic and water colour.
"I'm liking texture that comes with the acrylic," she added. "You can do almost anything you want to with it, you can make your work look three dimensional, which is, of course, different from water colour. Now I'm learning more and more."
She really wanted to do portraiture.
"Betty doesn't do structured lessons," said McFarland, a retired nurse. "You go to her art classes and you think of what you'd like to do and then she mentors. There could be six of us in class and we're all doing something different. We end up learning from each other and we see what others are doing and so it's not the formal - this is how you paint, this is how you draw - kind of class and it's never been that way. I didn't think I would like that because I wanted to follow the steps but now it's wonderful. It's always about our ideas."
McFarland said she and her husband, Doug, moved to Prince George six years ago because it's a nice size, you can be anywhere in 15 minutes and Doug loves to hunt.
"I raise my grandchildren now and I've had them with me for five years and it's been quite a journey," said McFarland.
As part of the show, McFarland will exhibit four, five foot by 30 inch portraits of herself, her husband, Doug, as well as her two granddaughters, Jessica, 12 and Samantha, 13.
"I'm so glad that we found a place to show our art," said McFarland. "There are some very talented artists in our group and I always learn something from them. We are all very different people. We come to our classes and work on our art and Betty is always there but it's always our idea and I think that's a real talent as a mentor rather than a teacher. I know she's a teacher but certainly not the old-fashioned kind."
Betty's Exhibitionists will be at Art Space, above Books & Co., 1685 Third Avenue, tonight from 6 to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
