Two local artists have their works being featured in an unusual location: on doorways in the back alleys of Regina. Images by fibre artist Jaynie Himsl and acrylic painter Sharon Olson are on semi-permanent display on the alley doors as part of a Regina Downtown Business Improvement District project to revivify the downtown area in the Queen City.

The project covers downtown alley doors and traffic control boxes with art.

Himsl said having their works selected to be part of the project was a matter of submitting an application including a photograph of the original piece. 

“They have a set number of doors and traffic control boxes that they were looking for artwork to adorn,” she explained. “So, you submit your images, I think it's the third year they've been doing it, and Sharon Olson and myself from Weyburn were very fortunate to have our work selected.”

Olson is becoming known throughout the southeast for her aerial landscapes, which are actually the artist’s interpretations of Google Earth images.

“I use Google Earth to find intriguing shapes, especially of rivers,” she explained. “[In] May 2018, my nephew and I canoed from Outlook to Saskatoon fulfilling a dream of mine to see the South Saskatchewan River up close and not only by satellite. We had a wonderful time.”

Using acrylic on canvas, she first draws the lines to make the shapes, then tapes the lines, pours on gesso and manipulates it to create texture. When that is mostly dry, she peels off the tape to find her shapes and, imagining the colours she wants when she’s finished, she chooses complementary colours to under-paint the texture.

“The last step is to paint it as I see the Google Earth image using my imagination, seeing the depths and shallows of the river,” she added.

Olson’s paintings were chosen for an OSAC tour of Uncommon Landscapes, which even made a stop here in Weyburn last summer.

She said she puts her art out there for the feedback.

“Sometimes I think artists can get lost in our own little studio, so it’s good to see what other people think,” she shared. “I want to know if I’m on a good path, if people like what I do.”

The alley door and traffic control box art was unveiled last week during a reception, with reproductions of each piece on 12x18 foam core board for attendees to see.

The images were printed onto plastic shrink-wrap material. Himsl said only time will tell how permanent the reproductions are.

“As permanent as a photo on a back alley door can be, they stipulate that hopefully it's going to last for many years, but who knows what happens in alleys, so it's a chance you take,” she said. “It’s just an image, so it's not the original that's there.”

She added a walking tour is being planned for August.

Read more on the back alley artists HERE. 

Find Sharon Olson online HERE. 

Fine Jaynie Himsl online HERE.

Sharon Olson's piece, 'Waterway for Thousands of Years' was reproduced onto this door in a Regina back alley (photo courtesy of Sharon Olson).

Sharon Olson with her reproduction from the reception held last week (photo courtesy of Sharon Olson).