Pat Hildebrandt and Sam Watters are proud to call Quesnel home.
The artists have various pieces, from photographs to paintings with oil, watercolour, and acrylics on display at the Quesnel Art Gallery’s latest show “Eclectic.
“As the name suggests, it’s an eclectic, which means a little bit of everything from all different sources,” Hildebrandt said.
She had lived in Quesnel for many years before moving away and finally returning about a year and a half ago.
“Old chickens come home to roost,” Hildebrandt said with a laugh.
Watters, meanwhile, packed up her belongings and dogs three years ago after her husband passed in Ontario.
After making the move to Quesnel, she said she immediately joined the Quesnel Art Gallery.
“Then just recently, I was asked to go join the board of the Quesnel and District Community Arts Council, and I’m going to be the Artwalk coordinator for Quesnel this year, so I’m really excited,” Watters said, noting she had put art on the back burner after becoming a mom.
“I’m actually making it into my life again.”
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Both women find inspiration for their art in the environment around them. Hildebrandt lives in a mobile home where she does most of her art at her kitchen table.
While she was always interested in art as a child, she credits the photography club in Abbotsford for refining her passion.
“I think it’s a hobby you can do in your old age, and many people start when they’re elderly and find they have a real knack for it and maybe have never tried it before,” Hildebrandt said.
“There are all kinds of ways to learn online these days.”
Watters, who lives by the Richbar Nursery overlooking the Fraser River, has launched her own brand “My House Is An Old Cabin” and sells some of her art under Cariboo Cabin.
She also works at Big Country Printers.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Watters said, noting some of the animals in her backyard she has painted.
“I can’t look out my window without smiling, and I think every night I have had a different sunset to look at.”
Watters and Hildebrandt’s art will be on display at the Quesnel Art Gallery until Friday, May 6.
Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: rebecca.dyok@quesnelobserver.com
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