She sure gets around! Or at least her artwork does! Dianne Bersea is owner of Manzanita Muse Studio with Jodi Forster (click on their website listing at right). Her work can be viewed at Tumbleweed Gallery this week. See poster below for details.  She is also featured in the Fabriano Watercolour Invitational International Exhibition, Fabriano, Italy from June 12 – July 6, 2014 with her piece “Rock Fish Coast, 21 x 29”, watercolour (pictured) If you can’t make it to Italy, be sure to visit Tumbleweed Gallery to view her glowing colours.

Here’s what the Tumbleweed Gallery website says about Dianne’s work:

“Dianne works in a variety of media, including watercolor, acrylic, pen & ink, pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor crayons. Dianne brings to all her work the knowledge and discipline of careers in graphic design; fine art; natural history illustration, and; exhibit design for Canada’s national parks. She is also an accomplished watercolor painter known for her bold colours and strong images that have been described by a viewer as providing a “magic window.”  

“As an artist I become part of the landscape, a silent witness to its mood and beauty. All my work is a direct response to the act of living, working, breathing my inspiration. I love spending hours in quiet communion with nature — drawing, watercolour sketching, becoming attuned to the smallest sound or movement. “Although I often take photographs as reference, I find that photography rarely captures what my eye and heart sees. Sometimes my best work is done from the simplest plein air sketches. These provide inspiration for studio explorations where I can bring rich colors, natural designs and imagination into play. There is always a fine balance between intuition and technical manipulation in the finished work.

”I’m enjoying this new-to-me Okanagan landscape, both spiritual and physical, natural and human-made. My work is evolving as I explore this Valley’s natural and built environment. I see my work becoming more focused on smaller scale images with a portrait approach to nature’s animate subjects, utilizing a variety of media with a warmer, more complex palette.”

Dianne has been a professional artist for more than 35 years with creative beginnings in the wild places of Canada’s western province — from a riverside log cabin to a lighthouse station on the blustery outer coast of Vancouver Island. Dianne currently lives on a ranch near Okanagan Falls. Dianne brings to all her work the knowledge and discipline of careers in graphic design; fine art; natural history illustration, and: exhibit design for Canada’s national parks. She is an accomplished watercolour & acrylic painter known for her strong images of coastal and interior landscapes, and the landscape’s precious inhabitants.

Local Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists Exhibition

at

Shatford Centre/Okanagan School of the Arts

“Colour & Harmony” June 25 – July 30, 2014 The Artists of the South Okanagan-Similkameen are pleased to announce the opening of their latest exhibition. In collaboration with Shatford Centre, and timed to complement the activities of the summer music school running at Okanagan School of the Arts, the show will be in place from June 25 to July 30.

Located at Shatford Centre in Penticton, “Colour & Harmony” can be viewed Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Artisans, artists, and food vendors are encouraged to register their booth for Oliver’s Music / Art Market in the Park on any Thursday evenings from June 21 – September 4, 4:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Oliver Community Park. Come once, or come all summer. A joint collaboration of the Oliver Community Arts Council and Oliver Parks and Recreation. We want to grow this into the best sunset festival in the valley! Come grow the event with us! Register here: Oliver Art Market Vendor Form and return to the Oliver Parks and Recreation office.

We’re not the only art market out there, so here are a couple of ideas if you want to hit some other venues in the South Okanagan:

The Penticton and District Arts Council runs Art under the Trees on the 100 block of Main Street on Saturdays from 8:30 – 1 p.m. until the Labour Day weekend.  A comprehensive registration package is available here: Art Under the Trees Penticton Application  More info is available at Leir House:  250-492-7997 or  artisan220 @ hotmail.com.

On Saturday August 30, See Ya Later Ranch hosts the Dog Days of Summer event at the ranch in aid of the BCSPCA. They invite local artists and businesses to showcase their products and services in return for a $25 donation to the SPCA. The $25 donation is payable directly to the SPCA and in return you would be allocated tented space, table and chair. After August 1, the donation is $30, so book sooner rather than later!  See Ya Later promotes the event via websites, social media, print advertising and through the winery, and attracts an audience of approximately 200 – 300 people to this event. For more information, click here for a registration form: Dog Days at See Ya Later Ranch Registration Form

The hilarious, wacky and unpredictable antics of the Little Sisters of Hoboken will be returning this fall when the South Okanagan Amateur Players (SOAP) present Dan Goggin’s musical Nunset Boulevard.

SOAP presented the original Nunsense musical in 1998. Nunset Boulevard is the sixth in the series, although each stands on its own in terms of plot. This time, the five singing nuns are heading to Tinseltown. They are thrilled at the prospect of performing at the Hollywood Bowl until they discover they are booked into the Hollywood Bowl-A-Rama, not the famous “Bowl!” But when they hear that a big-time producer is auditioning people for a new movie musical about the life of Dolores Hart, the famous movie star who became a nun, their spirits soar! Could this be their big break?

Veteran SOAP director Ray Turner, who directed the original Nunsense in 1998, returns to direct a brand new cast. SOSS music teacher Lisa Ante will be the musical director.

The production will run the last two weekends of November but auditions are being held now to allow the selected cast members to become familiar with their roles and songs.

The cast consists of:

Rev. Mother Mary Regina is an Irish nun — a Sophie Tucker type. She was born into a circus family of tightrope walkers and was a tightrope walker herself. She entered the convent honouring a promise she made to the Lord when she saved her parents from drowning. Vocally, she needs to be a belter. (i.e. a powerful voice)

Sister Mary Hubert is the Mistress of Novices. She was born in New Jersey and wanted to be a nun all her life. She is constantly getting Reverend Mother out of predicaments and feels she should really be Mother Superior. She is something like a Drill Instructor, claiming her methods are “gentle but firm”. She needs to be a strong singer as she does the big gospel finale.

Sister Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn, New York. She is tough as nails but has a sentimental side. The students love her because she “speaks their language” She spent part of her childhood in reform school and later had to decide between the convent and show business. With this show she might just be able to have it all. Vocally, she needs to have a wide range and be a strong belter with a good head voice for ballads.

Sister Mary Amnesia is an endearing nun, a Goldie Hawn-Gracie Allen type) who can’t remember who she is because a crucifix felon her head. She is constantly causing problems through her naïve take on life. She has a puppet named Sister Mary Annette who is very risqué. Vocally, she needs to be a legitimate soprano but with a workable belt range.

Sister Mary Leo is a dancer and wants to dedicate her life to God as the first nun ballerina. Reverend Mother insists on the traditional habit and will not let her wear a tutu. This is a course of endless frustration for her. She is young and has a lot to learn. She needs to be a good singer, leaning toward legit and less belting.

Auditions will be held on Monday, June 9 in the boardroom above the Osoyoos Art Gallery on Main Street in Osoyoos and on Wednesday, June 11 in the studio building of the Quail’s Nest Arts Centre in Oliver. Both begin at 7 pm. Those interested in auditioning are asked to be bring two selections to sing, one acapella and one accompanied. They will also be asked to do a reading from the play.

More information can be obtained by e-mailing soap @ telus.net or visiting www.soplayers.ca