Carla Joseph was the winning warrior when Prince George's painters met on the field of Art Battle.
The annual speed-painting tournament was held this past weekend at Hub Space. Nine of the city's most noted painters went head to head in rounds of three each, with the top trio facing off in the winner-take-all final.
This was the second time in two years that Joseph was out fighting on the Art Battle canvas. She didn't win in 2015 but felt the experience set her up for success this year.
"Last year I wasn't even sure what paints to use," she said. "This year I was much better prepared. I did six practice rounds at home, my daughter would join me, we would do 20 minute paintings and see what it was like. I knew I wanted to do owls, so I tried a couple of owl images (plus others) to see how fast 20 minutes would go by. I've always been a fast painter, though."
She was a fast painter for reasons some might consider sad and many artists consider all too familiar. She was confined by circumstance to paint at home, and the only place to do that was the kitchen. Getting her paint supplies out of the way of the next serving of breakfast or lunch was something that gnawed at her schedule, and it made her speedier.
Now, however, she is the current artist-in-residence at Studio 2880, thanks to the Community Arts Council's annual offering of one studio to a specially selected artist. This year, Joseph was that artist and her victory makes it three out of four times that Prince George's Art Battle winner was the sitting artist-in-residence.
"I'm really happy to see that we are making good choices in our artists-in-residence," said Lisa Redpath, project co-ordinator for the Community Arts Council that operates both Studio 2880 and the Prince George Art Battle event (plus many other seminal arts programs in this region). "When we make our choices, we are specifically looking for artists with proven talent, a sense of adventure and creativity, and artists who are up for a challenge. That is what Art Battle embodies."
In the four-year history Prince George has with Art Battle - a national program based in Toronto that expanded first to southern B.C. then to P.G. in 2013 - the artist representing this city has always made the provincial finals and in the case of Corey Hardeman, won the B.C. title and represented the province at the national paint-off held that year in Maple Leaf Gardens.
Joseph said being the CAC's artist-in-residence, and having those prior P.G. peers go on to such success, were indeed factors in her own performance.
"I feel like that mattered to me. I tried harder," she said. "I kept telling myself that I've come so far in my art, people are starting to know me, so I wanted to try my best. And it's what I need to get out there more and not be so shy. I felt really shy last year, but this year people told me I looked calm. I was zoning everybody out as I painted."
While the painters were zoning people out, the people were zoning in. CAC board member Marnie Hamagami was an eager audience member, and said this event is fast becoming one of the most popular social occasions for this city.
"I think it was a very urbane evening - sophisticated but accessible," Hamagami said. "It was easy to believe you were somewhere else in the world, like you'd taken a cultural vacation but stayed in your own town."
Hamagami ended up buying one of the paintings - each artist's work from that night was put up for auction with the artist and the CAC splitting the proceeds. Hamagami took home an original piece by Jennifer Pighin who stepped in at the last minute to cover for Shae Morin who was unexpectedly unavailable.
The competitors this year were, in addition to Joseph and Pighin: defending champion Christina Harmer Watts, Erin Stagg, Lisa Marie Tosoff, Michael Rees, Perry Melenka, Trevor Stanley, and Mandy Paavola.
"Every time I talk to the national organizers, I find myself thanking them yet again for inventing this event," Redpath said. "It has been a game-changer. People across Canada see art and artists differently, now, as a result of Art Battle, and that is really true here in Prince George where we see our artists do such amazing work in the heat of that moment, in all that pressure, and then do the same thing at the provincial level and Corey even at the national level, so it has been a showcase for Prince George and our art."
Joseph has to wait now until the summer when the provincials are held in Vancouver. She has plenty of art to create in the meantime, and some of it will be done with a stopwatch.
"I can learn new techniques, I'll go down with my picture already done in my head, and I'll be better practiced," she vowed.
Her thrice-weekly (minimum) trips to the studio should help. Her mind has been locked on the act of making art and doing it begets better quality, better sales and exhibition opportunities, and more trips to the studio.
There have been three location changes in four years for Art Battle. Redpath is hopeful they have found a permanent home in Hub Space, the downtown business centre where open-concept offices, high ceilings, corner location and wraparound interior balcony seemed to be ideal for the tense but effervescent mood that Art Battle fosters.
"It was so fun, but nerve-wracking," Joseph described. "I loved the big open room, and the top balcony where people can look down. I thought it was a great location."
Joseph's immediate attention switches now to Studio Fair where she will have paintings on sale at the giant Civic Centre arts showcase, another annual event by the CAC. It happens on Nov. 4-6 and this is the 40th anniversary edition.
