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Artistic expression

Robert Genn demonstrates strength, pattern, character with brush and pen WHAT: Artists? Reception WHO: Robert and Sara Genn WHERE: adele-campbell Fine Arts Gallery WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.

Robert Genn demonstrates strength, pattern, character with brush and pen

WHAT: Artists? Reception

WHO: Robert and Sara Genn

WHERE: adele-campbell Fine Arts Gallery

WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 1, 5-9 p.m.

It?s not often that you find an established artist whose talents overflow into multiple forms of expression. Painter, author, teacher, Robert Genn, truly has a gift for communication. An unexpected source of inspiration, his talents touch people world-wide.

Born in Victoria, Genn formally studied art at the University of British Columbia and the Art Centre School in Los Angeles. He has gone on to become one of Canada?s most recognizable artists, with his works sought by collectors around the globe. His paintings of West Coast settings are particularly well-known for their harmonic colour and patterns that capture the essence of the moment.

"One of my hobbies is going back to spots where Phillips painted, or Emily Carr, and trying to find the exact locations and eke something new out of it," says Genn of his West Coast landscapes and subjects.

But his work is by no means limited to British Columbia. Genn has captured the world on his canvass while travelling by land and sea. One of his favourite projects was sailing about 1,000 miles on the Mackenzie River with artist daughter, Sara ? who will also be showing at the adele-campbell gallery. The Genns built a painting station right into the bow of the boat so they could paint while moored or moving.

"I read Mackenzie?s journal about sailing on the river and I thought I?d like to repeat it and paint it," Genn says. "I read a line in a magazine, an old copy of The Beaver , where Jackson had stood on the beach at Fort Providence and looked down the river and said ?This place is unpaintable.? That line got my excitement. And we certainly found a lot of subjects ? although a hell of a lot of them are sky, pending storms and that sort of thing."

Several of those pieces are included in Robert and Sara Genn?s exhibition this Saturday at the adele-campbell gallery.

However, Genn has also come to the forefront for his talents, not only with a brush, but with a pen. The manner in which he shares his thoughts behind his art, and life in general, has garnered the loyalty of tens of thousands of readers. Genn has published several works. His autobiography, In Praise of Painting, is one of the most insightful looks into the trials and triumphs of a young Canadian artist.

But it?s his how-to book, Painters Keys, published four years ago, that prompted the majority of attention. The book is not a manual on how to paint, but on how to take control over your life and business as an artist. It offers attitudes and motivations which have continued to grow into a much bigger project.

"I?ve been writing a bit my whole life, but I actually wrote that book in order to stop doing seminars. I could just hand people a book of what I thought. In about July of ?99, I had at least 20 e-mails from people that had written to me about the book. So I wrote them back. We were in Spain at the time, Sara and her fiancée and our whole family, so I wrote them all the same letter, but we set it up so it said Dear Joe, Dear Harry, Dear Peter. These people wrote back and said ?If you?re going to send something out again, please send one to me, and also send one to this person or that person.? Now we have about 35,000 people world-wide reading that twice-weekly newsletter."

Speaking from his White Rock studio, Genn is genuinely unassuming and even sounds surprised by the impact of his newsletters (www.painterskey.com). Topics range from practical hints and ideas for artists about such things as colour experimentation, re-working a painting, and dealing with dealers. But perhaps what has spurred the popularity of these one page letters are the passages that those of us who are not artistically inclined can relate to.

Take this opening excerpt from the newsletter titled The Big Picture: "In life, in art, a major problem is failing to see the big picture. Individual parts may be just fine but the overall doesn't get off the ground. Together with your individual sensitivity and your own vision, what you're looking for is strength, pattern and character."

Or this small piece of encouragement about intuition: "In a bathtub ? or in any meditative state ? pose a problem or a project and let it swim around. This gives your Intuition a chance to come up with a workable or even brilliant vision. Whether she arises from previous experience or not ? she will provide your best wisdom."

Like his paintings, Genn?s writing is fluid, almost soothing. It is thought provoking without being pushy. It invokes a peaceful, uplifted feeling. Even if your understanding of art is limited, Genn?s writing is irresistible. You?ll quickly find yourself adding your address to his list.

"I just get a big kick out of it. I haven?t found any way to make money out of it," he laughs. "But it?s a grand way to feed back to the artistic community."

Dreamway is Genn?s short story based on a chance meeting with a total stranger. It?s a breath-taking glimpse into one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, the soul. While walking in Vancouver, Genn happened to fall in beside what most would describe as a "bag lady." The oddly-dressed woman was muttering to herself, sometimes in shouts, sometimes in whispers. Genn quickly pulled out his mini recorder, which he regularly carries, to make quick notes of his own thoughts.

"She half-looked at me for a second and continued walking. She knew I was walking with her, but she never looked at me again," explains Genn. "I couldn?t catch everything she said, but I immediately related to where she was coming from. So I took her thoughts and added my own to them. It?s a derivative of several philosophies."

Numbered 1-276, Dreamway is written in point form. Plotless, the book wanders through simple yet profound snippets.

"23 While moving on the dreamway, we pass masters, and catch up with other masters, and learn leaderlessness? 38 Soft and gentle music can be heard above the jackhammers on the dreamway? 112 Children in the dreamway are closely studied for lessons they give," writes Genn.

"People have written the most touching letters to me, saying ?I read it on a bus heading into the city, and when I looked around at my fellow passengers I thought more of them and they looked more beautiful than they did before.? Anything that has that kind of effect on people is worth while," he adds.