Alberta Culture Days 2023

My name is Amber Scarlett and I have lived here in Strathmore, AB for most of my life. I have always been a creative and artistic person.

Since I was little, I can’t remember a time that I didn’t have a pencil or crayon in my hand, even my name is a colour. 

Over the past few years I have learned a variety of mediums and styles. I have played with cake decorating, wood carving, architecture, and of course drawing and painting to name a few. I have participated in a few events and competitions over the years including various places in the Annual Chestermere Country Fair, school achievements, Alberta Liquor Bag Contest, and more.

Recently, I have been attending some markets and shows to display and sell my artwork. My dream is to become a full time artist through my art pieces, commissions, and social media platforms. I am also an art instructor at Wheatland Society of Arts where I teach all age groups different artistic styles.

Instagram: ascarlett.art

Facebook: Amber Scarlett

Emmeline Keeling is a local artist who is heavily involved with the arts in Strathmore, Alberta. She has been pursuing art for over 10 years and has primarily been self taught until recently when she began attending the Alberta University of the Arts. Her art has also been featured in local galleries around Strathmore. Inspiration for her art is mainly drawn from life experiences, nature, and the people around her. 

In addition to her art experience, Emmeline has had the wonderful opportunity to have illustrated 3 children’s books with the 4th book currently in progress. She hopes to continue to illustrate children’s books in addition to working at the Wheatland Society of Arts in town. 

Emmeline is thrilled for her artwork to be on display at the library and hopes that everyone will enjoy it! 

You can reach Emmeline at emmelinekeeling@gmail.com for commissions and private art events. 

Francine Cunningham is an award-winning writer, artist, and educator who spends her summer days writing on the prairies and her winter months teaching in the north. Francine is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta but grew up in Calgary, Edmonton, and 100 Mile House, BC. Francine is also Metis and has settler family roots stretching from as far away as Ireland and Belgium. She currently resides in Alberta but previously spent over a decade calling Vancouver her home.

Her debut book of poems On/Me (Caitlin Press) was nominated for The BC and Yukon Book Prize, The Indigenous Voices Award, and The Vancouver Book Award. Her debut book of short stories God Isn’t Here Today (Invisible Publishing) is out now and is a book of speculative fiction and horror and was longlisted for The Inaugural Carol Shield’s Prize for Fiction and is a finalist for the 2023 Indigenous Voices Award. Her first children’s book What If Bedtime Didn’t Exist (Annick Press) will be out in 2024. Francine also writes for television with credits including the teen reality show THAT’S AWSM! among others and was a recipient of a Telus StoryHive grant. Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry have also appeared in The Best Canadian Short Stories, The Best Canadian Non-Fiction, in Grain Magazine as the 2018 Short Prose Award winner, on The Malahat Review’s Far Horizon’s Prose shortlist, and on the 2022 CBC Poetry Prize longlist among others.

You can find out more about her at www.francinecunningham.ca

A long-time resident of Alberta, Gail Ann was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec and has lived in four provinces. She has travelled from coast to coast as well as to the Territories in this vast beautiful country.

Gail Ann grew up in an artistic family surrounded by people who instilled in her a great appreciation for her natural surroundings. She has that inherent need to express herself through art. Having embarked on her artistic journey by exploring many crafts and art forms, she eventually began teaching groups and individuals along the way. She took up the brush and oils over thirty years ago and hasn't been able to put them down since. She has been commissioned to do numerous scenes of peoples' favourite memories, including vacation spots, hometown scenes, as well as pet portraits. She works mainly with oils or acrylics but has produced many works in watercolour, mixed media, and ink; she always loves to exploring and experiment.

Her works are found in private collections across the country as well as abroad.

While her preferred subjects are birds of prey and Canadian and exotic wildlife, she also finds her inspiration in the landscapes she has seen in her travels.

A member of the Chestermere Fine Art Guild and Wheatland Society of Arts, Gail Ann is also currently showing some of her art at The Vault in Strathmore.

You can contact Gail Ann at ga.bourgois@shaw.ca. 

Govrox has been recognized as an artist since the mid-nineties in Alberta. Born in New Brunswick, and grew up in Labrador and Quebec, Govrox discovered art at a very early age in school. Alongside a master engraver/sculptor, she learned many techniques of his craft to carry on and develop into some amazing work.

Here are a few of Govrox's highlights as an artist:

1995 - the Calgary Herald featured her jewelry on the front page of the fashion section. She later moved on to creating beauty with real flowers, incorporating her wall paintings with both paint and flowers which now adorn the walls of many homeowners.

2006 - Govrox was interviewed by CBC for a show called "ZigZag" about polyglass art.

2015 - Govrox was awarded a provincial gold medal in arts, and first and second place in Arts and Photography for the Southern Alberta regions.

2018 - Govrox exhibited internationally in New York for the Artbox Project.

2019 - Govrox again exhibited internationally for the Artbox Project in Zurich as part of the Swissart Expo.

When Govrox is not teaching at her Personal Success Program, she spends her time figuring out and implementing different approaches to traditional and modern art techniques. She has been featured locally throughout the years. Govrox is always creating show-stoppers everywhere she displays. She is currently preparing for another show in Zurich, Switzerland for the Artbox. She will also be introducing her incredible geodes that are stunning geologists. 

You can reach Govrox at bujolddianne@gmail.com

Website: www.govrox.com 

Instagram: gauvreaubujold

Gudrun was born and raised in Salzbury, Austria, and she resided as a young adult in Graz, Austria, where she attended the local school for Art Professions, attending classes in design, colour theory, composition, art history, decorative painting, studio, and other general courses.

Gudrun grew up in an artistic family.  As a child, Gudrun learned to draw and paint at their grandmother's knee.  Later, in her adult life, Gudrun studied historic and modern artists and their work, spending several years copying master pieces such as paintings by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Duerer, Rembrandt, Segantini, etc.  She also copied younger artists like Picasso, Renoir, Monet, Modigliani, Bonnard, Degas, and Klee.

After Immigration to Canada and having rasied her family, Gudrun entered the art market in the Lethbridge area.  Within the last 9 years, she participated in many art shows and won awards for Intermediate, and then for Advanced, Master, and recently Signature artist in the Alberta wide competitions of the ACACA.  

Gudrun's paintings can be seen in Graz, Austria, and several locations in the USA such as New York City, Dallas, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Bountiful, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., and also Vancouver and Toronto in Canada.  Gudrun is well known locally and has patrons in the towns she lived and in Strathmore, where she lives now. 

I’m a lifelong Albertan who prefers towns to cities, cats to dogs, books to sports, and tea to coffee. My first camera was a No. 2 Brownie given to me at age five by my grandmother. This was a mistake as the film and processing costs resulting from this new obsession nearly drove her into bankruptcy over the next two years. Forty-nine years later, I still own my first camera along with a large collection of antique film cameras and 35mm SLRs.

You can usually find me wandering about the walking trails in Strathmore, Alberta, with at least one camera in hand (but usually more). I’m always on the prowl for the next image and the local waterfowl wish I would just bugger off. Only a very small sampling of my photography is available on my website: www.mccormickphotography.com.

I am a graduate of the New York Institute of Photography and an artist member of The Vault Cultural Collective in Strathmore, Alberta.

Flickr Portfolio (fine-art work)
Instagram (just-for-fun snaps)