More than a hundred guests went to the opening gala of the seventh annual BUZZ exhibit at the Jasper Art Gallery on Friday (Jan. 17).
Much of the “buzz” was around how the public art show, hosted by the Jasper Artists Guild, gave local artists the chance to work through their feelings and explore the impact of the Jasper wildfire under the theme “Creative Fire.”
“I lived here for 20 years, so honestly, Jasper is my heart and a place that I love to paint and always feel inspired by,” said Karly Ireland, who contributed art to the exhibit while also providing a live painting demo at the gala.
Having moved to Valemount, B.C. more than a year ago, Ireland saw many of her friends forced to evacuate Jasper and go to her new hometown.
“It was definitely a pretty tough summer on everybody, but I was happy to be able to help my friends who needed to evacuate and find a place to land,” she said.
Although it took a while for Ireland to pick up the brush again after such an intense period, painting allowed her to process her feelings about the disaster.
“It's a really good process for everybody or anyone that's grieving – even if you're not artistic – to pick up a brush or a pencil or find whatever medium moves you and create when you're feeling sad,” she said. “That really helps you move on and push through those feelings.”
Her paintings of a moose and a bear that she contributed symbolize how wildlife would return and flourish.
Jacqueline Inez, who works for Mountain Galleries at Jasper Park Lodge, submitted an abstract piece called “From the Ashes,” which depicts a powerful movement of flames and utilizes warm colours. She created it while staying with family in Ontario during the evacuation.
“I wanted to have a lot of energy behind it, so it looks not just like a fire but almost kind of like an explosion,” she said, noting the white flowers growing out of the flames symbolized new beginnings and emphasized the regenerative aspect of the wildfire.
In addition to contributing a painting, Inez supervised “Make a Mark” where gala guests could leave a mark on a canvas. She will later paint an abstract on top inspired by the underpainting.
“They're doing the lines, they're doing the colours, they're giving me something to start off with,” Inez said. “I want complete creative freedom for anybody who contributes, so it's fun to see what people come up with.”
Alison Commet, who works at Jasper Park Lodge, had two pieces, one of a raven and another of a blue heron. This is her first art show.
“I'm an artist in the area that has a disability that involves a lot of fainting and falling, and the reason that I paint birds is because they don't do that for the most part,” she said. “Instead of falling, they tend to soar glide, and they are also very dynamic and interesting animals.”
When the evacuation was first ordered, Commet was in Edmonton at the time. She bounced around for several weeks before she was able to return.
Her father-in-law had given her acrylics and supplies during the evacuation, and upon returning, her first painting was of a bald eagle against a photo that had been taken on the Icefields Parkway where the fire had hit.
“Not anywhere near my best work, but it was a very good way to get a lot of emotion out, and from then, I just kept painting a lot of birds that just symbolize recovery and change and regrowth and hope and that sort of thing,” Commet said.
Mayor Richard Ireland, who attended the opening gala, described BUZZ as “a wonderful community expression” and even more so this year.
“Without doubt, creativity and recovery are inextricably linked,” Ireland said in remarks during the opening ceremony. “We need creative people to get through to the recovery that we will have.”
The BUZZ 2025 Exhibit will be at the Jasper Art Gallery until March 1.
