The Artym Gallery is pleased to present painter Cameron Bird and sculptor Sandy Graves this Friday, July 18th and Saturday, July 19th. Both artists will be in attendance on Friday evening from the opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m., as well as doing a talk on Saturday morning. A bronze sculptor, Sandy will talk about the techniques and processes involved in her work from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Cameron Bird will speak from 11:30 a.m. to noon about painting location and inspiration.

Owner Connie Artym-Bradatsch grew up in an artistic family; her father, Walter Artym, sculpted contemporary work in bronze, so she was very excited to discover the work of Sandy Graves. While on a trip with husband Grey Bradatsch, they stumbled upon these unique bronze sculptures of horses and wildlife that were graceful and light; they cast shadows that seemed to multiply and dance on the wall. They were immediately taken with the pieces, but the artist was from Colorado and did not show in Canada. Connie got in touch with Sandy Graves and, for the last year and a half, the Artym has been the exclusive representative of her work in Canada.

Because she is from Colorado, Sandy creates her sculptures of animals that are found in this area; she captures trout swimming in the current, otters playing, deer leaping, elk bugling, and moose being, well, moose.

Cameron Bird was an ambitious young painter with a vision — Connie started representing his work when he was only in his 20s, and the growth in his work and artistic career since then has been exponential. He is well known for his distinctive landscape paintings, which capture the strength and power of the Canadian wilderness. This show will include these landscape paintings, but will also include new and different works that Cameron has been creating lately. These vibrant works make use of bright colour and Cameron’s signature strong brush strokes to capture animals, buildings, and even people.

Join Cameron Bird, Sandy Graves and everyone at the Artym Gallery this weekend. The opening reception will be Friday evening with both artists in attendance with their newest work from 5 to 8 p.m. You can also see their new work on Saturday — stop by after the Invermere farmer’s market and enjoy a quick artist’s talk. As always, if you can’t make it into the gallery, you can see everything online at artymgallery.com.