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Six artists combine strengths for shows

Squamish's Big Rock Artists Collective show at the North Shore Art Crawl
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Teamwork Squamish's Big Rock Artists Collective Andrea Hoff, Toby Jaxon, Susan Remnant, Fran Solar, Zoe Evamy, and Maciek Walentowicz (left to right). PHOTO submitted

There is strength in numbers and Big Rock Artists Collective in Squamish is a new way for six artists to combine their work and reach the wider world.

"We started talking about the collective quite a few years ago. We formed early last year and decided we'd all show together at the North Shore Art Crawl," says acrylic painter Toby Jaxon.

"When we talked about creating the collective, we decided we wanted to have a variety of art."

Big Rock includes Jaxon, watercolour landscape painter Zoe Evamy, metal weaver Fran Solar, ceramicist Andrea Hoff, jewelry maker Susan Remnant, and sculptor Maciek Walentowicz.

They are returning to the North Shore Art Crawl this coming weekend, Saturday, March 4 and Sunday March 5. The Art Crawl is organized by the North Vancouver Community Arts Council.

"We're all friends and enthusiastic members of the arts and culture community. We respect each other's creativity and as people," Jaxon says.

"This show will be mostly new works. I've got some graphic landscapes that are more impressionistic. They are playful and more flowy than what I usually do. They're a new direction for me."

It was a show at the Britannia Mining Museum, south of Squamish, that sealed the deal of creating the collective.

"We have plans to show more together. The crawl is great because it is easy to organize this," she says. "We have looked into studio space and into forming an artist cooperative, as in a space to sell."

The North Shore Art Crawl will this year show the works of over 280 artists based at 73 studios, galleries and businesses in North and West Vancouver.

In Whistler, the work of Evamy and Solar — a three-time consecutive winner of the U.S. Niche Award — are available at Mountain Galleries at the Fairmont, while Remnant's jewelry can be seen at the Audain Art Gallery gift shop.

Hoff, Walentowicz and Jaxon's work are currently available through the group's Facebook page.

As part of the North Shore Art Crawl, the work of Big Rock Artists Collective can be seen at BC Partners in Planning at #103, 2420 Marine Drive in West Vancouver. Opening hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hoff, Jaxon, Solar and Evamy will also be holding demonstrations of their art over the weekend.

For more information, visit www.nvartscouncil.ca/profiles/big-rock-artist-collective.