Couple compiles love-filled art exhibit

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This article was published 20/05/2021 (1819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KILLARNEY — In what turned out to be a one-day event, artists Jill and Reg Sawatzky opened their art exhibition May 8.

The hosting Heritage Home for the Arts closed to the public the following day due to strengthened health restrictions from the province.

When arts administrator Jane Ireland first proposed the exhibit, Jill said they were hesitant because they’d never done anything like it before.

“I never dreamed something of mine would be hanging in a place like this,” Reg said — a sentiment shared by his wife.

Everything came together wonderfully, Ireland said, adding she has watched the two progress in their artistic abilities the past few years.

Jill is an educator by trade and was enlisted to conduct art lessons for the Killarney Turtle Mountain Arts Council.

“I thought she needed to share her work, not only with her own community but maybe others as well,” Ireland said.

Jill creates pencil and charcoal drawings as well as oil paintings, while Reg specializes in photography.

Reg, Ireland said, “finds the most incredible things to photograph, and he has a way of showing people what it is to live in rural Manitoba, and what an amazing, beautiful place it is to live in.”

Between both of their work, Ireland said, “You can tell they love living here.”

Because the gallery closed the day after the exhibit’s opening, Ireland has extended the exhibit a second month to the end of June. She is also setting up an online exhibit at killarneyarts.com.

The exhibit, which chronicles primarily Killarney-area scenes the couple has come across the past few years, takes up the home’s main floor.

Originally from Manitoba, the couple relocated to B.C. in 1989. They shifted back to their home province upon retiring 11 years ago, selecting Killarney as their new home.

British Columbia has its unique points of beauty, but Jill said the Prairie skies and unique smells of the Killarney area are also uniquely beautiful.

Reg, for his part, has taken to photographing the skies.

Upon picking up a camera, he said your eye changes and you begin noticing the beauty in things that might otherwise go unnoticed.

“You look at the world in such a more beautiful way,” Jill said in agreement — something the couple found themselves needing more of in recent years.

It wasn’t until approximately three years ago they took up their respective artistic endeavours, sparked by health issues that confined Jill to the couch. In need of something to do, they gravitated toward art, which wasn’t too great a stretch for the two.

While teaching in Williams Lake, B.C., Jill headed the school’s theatre program and Reg helped build sets.

Theirs is a relationship of mutual support, which joins their love of art in explaining their debut exhibit’s name — “Blessing Buried in the Broken Pieces.”

Art, Jill said, helped heal components of their lives she considers broken.

Like everything else in their lives, they did it together. Jill often relies on Reg’s photographs for her artwork, and Reg creates frames for many of their pieces. It only makes sense the exhibit includes both of their works.

“We’ve gone through lots of stuff together, so what we felt is that we’re very much Christians, we just felt it was a journey God took us on, and in many ways, it was healing,” Jill said.

The couple’s inability to have children hangs heavy on her heart, which she has highlighted through both religious imagery and one drawing, in particular, featuring a girl walking away with a horse.

The girl is someone the couple met in Killarney who took a particular shine to them and would visit frequently.

She has since moved away, and Jill said they both miss her.

“We love them and then they leave,” she said — a sentiment she recognizes most people feel at some point in their lives.

Love is a common theme in their work, which permeates all of their pieces, none of which dwell on the negatives of life.

For his part, Reg has taken to photographing abandoned farmyards and landscapes he finds beautiful.

“I like old stuff,” he said. “I just notice things from the road.”

While he obtains permission from landowners to visit properties, he said he always ends up collecting a story to accompany whatever photograph he takes, which makes it even more special.

Photography, drawing and painting are all activities the couple has been able to continue throughout the pandemic, and they show no signs of slowing down.

They’re mediums of expression, and they have a lot to say together.

“If I had to choose anyone to spend all my time with, it’d be Reg,” Jill said. “We were broken, but you get through that and you fight it through, and you’re better.”

Their shared art, she said, is all about love.

“That’s what I want to show,” she said. “I love family, I love those values, I love children, I love animals, I love couples in love.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

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