Poplar Grove

www.poplargrove.ca

Poplar Grove began in 1993 as the quintessential garage winery. The original owner, Ian Sutherland, was inspired by the Naramata Bench’s ability to produce exceptional fruit and decided to dedicate the entire eight acre property to premium grape production. It was this initial decision that helped Poplar Grove’s present goal: to produce world-class wines from their family-owned estate grown fruit.

LORAINE STEPHANSON

Loraine Stephanson’s enduring interest in painting and art history led to her MFA degree from the University of Alberta. She has been awarded a Canada Council grant and was a recipient of the University of Alberta Prize in Art and Design. Loraine was a selected participant at several professional workshops including the Triangle Artist Workshops in New York and the University of Saskatchewan’s Emma Lake Workshops.
Based on landscape and still life subjects, Loraine Stephanson’s paintings are deliberately distilled versions of directly observed form. They reach for the unexplainable aspect of a selected subject which encourages the observer to look longer and deeper. She strives to retain the freshness of her small scale outdoor works while using them as the basis for larger studio works. Her experience is that plein air painting transcends the usual experience of looking at a given landscape. Changing light and weather force her to work quickly. She enjoys the added contextual benefits of nature’s sounds and motion; listening to birds, insects and the wind, and seeing movement in trees, clouds and water. Seventy-five of Loraine Stephanson’s Plein air paintings were featured in an exhibition at the Summerland Art Gallery in 2007.

KINDRIE GROVE

Kindrie is an Alberta-born artist, author and illustrator. Her works express her reverence for animals, wild and domestic, as powerful and magnificent creatures. Formal training at the Alberta College of Art and Design has led to her successful career as a professional artist.

Kindrie is the author/illustrator of A Field Guide to Horses (Lone Pine Publishing), and is best known for her extraordinarily large, original oil paintings. Studies of wildlife in natural habitats throughout North America and southern Africa have informed Kindrie’s extensive portfolio. Her work is currently featured in galleries across Canada and Europe, and in numerous international private and corporate collections.

Kindrie has been teaching others to paint and draw for over five years and enjoys the process of seeing budding artists learn new skills that will enable them to reach new levels in their artistic endeavors. She offers a variety of courses, classes and workshops as well as an online interactive art instruction forum available through this web site. Kindrie has plans to open an Art institute in the future, with a focus on healing through creative self-expression.
She lives with her husband, Michael, and young son, Kellen, in the Okanagan Valley of BC.

ROBERT JENKINS

I was born in Vernon, grew up in BC (Vancouver, Trail, North Vancouver).  From my earliest memories, I always had a pencil or other drawing implement in my hand, and was involved in making things and understanding how they work.  I pursued a scientific career, graduating from UBC with a bachelor’s degree in Math and Physics, and the University of Calgary, with a Ph.D. in Cosmic Ray Physics.  From there I went to the University of New Hampshire, as a research associate in the Space Science department, and finally, to the Communications Research Center in Ottawa, where I had a career in the researching and development of radio communications. 
During that time, my art flourished in fits and starts: while a summer student at a research lab in Banff, I did a lot of landscape painting, then while in New Hampshire, I became exposed to the New York school of minimalist painting, and moved in that direction, showing my art in local galleries.  I continued in minimal painting  after moving to Ottawa, showing at a commercial gallery as well as in local shows.
With a young family and career to take care of, my art became dormant for some time, until I retired and moved back to BC to settle in Westbank.  My love of the wilderness led me into hiking, then drawing along the path using pen and sketchpad.  It has since grown into painting, mostly pastel (a medium which I find very satisfying for its drawing as well as painting possibilities), and showing the work both publicly and commercially.    More recently I have begun to move toward integrating my art and love of nature with the scientific impulse to discover and understand, in paintings and constructs that explore the perceptual basis of experience. 
Recent shows and works shown: juried members shows, Gallery Vertigo (Vernon), Legacy 2010 (Penticton Art Gallery), Art Ark (Kelowna), Okanagan College Vernon, The Alternator Gallery (Kelowna), Artwalk (Lake Country), Kelowna and Penticton Art Galleries members shows.  My work may also be seen on my website robertjenkinsart.com.

RON STACY

After a 25 year career as a sign-painter And graphic artist, Stacy and his wife, Marcia sold their business and moved to Victoria.
There he was surrounded by the native artform, and was able to learn about the culture and the artform disciplines with a first nations mentor and gradually, he began to portray his impressions and conceptions in paintings. Stacy’s unique interpretations of the northwest coast native mythology attracted the attention of collectors across Canada and various other countries like Japan, where he has a painting hanging in the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo. 
In 1998 Ron decided to take a break from the world of galleries to further develop his skills. For 12 years he taught acrylic painting through art colleges and art supply stores. His students enjoyed his teaching style immensely. Ron self-published a book called “The Secret World of Colour”.
Stacy was heavily involved with the Island Illustrators’ Society, was instrumental in starting the Sidney Fine Art Show, and worked hundreds of hours on the Arts and Cultural Highway with Karl Schutz of Chemainus. He has participated in many fine art shows, winning awards and accolades.
Now, settled in Summerland, he is enjoying teaching art, painting and writing for “Ravenkind”, a future book, as well as painting still life and the absolutely beautiful Okanagan landscape.