The Gallery at Queen’s Park presents: “Looking at Local Nature” by Eric Hotz Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: February 2-27, 2022

Gallery Hours: Wed – Sun, 10 am – 2 pm

Free Admission

Exhibition Statement:

My artwork is an exploration of local nature, its fauna, geographical features such as its lakes, volleys, and mountains, and the clouds, and skies that hang over them. My artwork focuses on the natural history that is within a 2-hour drive from my home in Maple Ridge, BC, which can include Richmond, Stanley Park all the way up to Manning Park, and everything in between. My goal is to explore my region through my artwork to allow people to feel and see the beauty that is within easy reach of everyone who lives in and around the Greater Vancouver Area.

When I was four-years old, my family moved to North Burnaby, just up the street from the Burnaby Lake Regional Park, a 770-acre urban park. This forested park, and the surrounding areas, became my childhood playground from dawn to dusk: places to explore, forts to build, and tree houses to construct. It was the perfect environment to nurture both my love of biolo­gy and to inspire my art.

Deer Lake is a special place in my heart because I lived near by. I have a lot of history in this area of Burnaby, including Burnaby Lake. It was here, when I was three years old, that my father tested his homemade rowboat, in 1963. There are home movies of my family taking turns rowing out, about, and back. We have this moment in our home movies, but I can remember that day like it was yesterday. This is one of the reasons I rendered several paintings of Deer Lake Trail. I frequently visit Deer Lake when I am in Burnaby, along with the Burnaby Art Gallery.

My goal with my art is to introduce people to the nature that is literally in their backyards. There is so much beauty within our immediate area and yet, most people do not know this. Take a 2-hour drive and you can be in an alpine paradise above the clouds view a landscape of mountains that seem to go on forever or you can be on an ocean front beach watching the tide go out and clouds rolling in. Our area is so unique that many people from all over the world come to see the Greater Vancouver Area.

I believe in biophilia – an innate tendency to seek connections with nature. I will often go out to explore the many outlying regional parks for their lakes, ponds, streams, forests, meadows, and mountains. There are many beautiful locations close to where I live waiting to be discovered that I can turn into paintings. There are several lifetimes worth of paintings waiting to be discovered and rendered.

The Gallery at Queen’s Park, operated by the Arts Council of New Westminster. The Gallery at Queen’s Park is a picturesque gallery in the Centennial Lodge, Queen’s Park. The Gallery features a wide range of visual arts by local and emerging artists in exhibitions that change monthly.

More info: https://artscouncilnewwest.org/galleryexhibit/