Artwork in progress during Strawberry Saturdays
… The Jungle Farm is happy to provide a market setting for local artisans and vendors to showcase their products at our General Store.
Last summer, a local artist created a collaborative tribute to The Jungle Farm, as one of the vendors during the Strawberry Saturdays market. Laurie Miller, who was in her second year of studying portraiture, and painted a portrait of Leona Staples during three Strawberry Saturdays. She also created a painting of a strawberry, and invited children who were at The Jungle Farm those days to ‘leave their mark’ on the art.
“I have become totally enthralled in portraits – portraits of people, pets and other possibilities,” said Laurie. “I’m doing abstract realism, which means it looks like the real image but uses fun colours. This type of art is already playful and colourful, and mark-making is part of the technique. Curlicues, squiggles and other fun marks is something kids love to do. This approach is new to me and I thought it would be an interesting project to share with people strolling through the farm those days! It’s more of an interactive thing than serious portraiture, and hopefully it will be fun for all of us.”
Laurie has been involved with The Jungle Farm for many years. She is part of the Vegetable Box program, and she has children similar in age to Blaine and Leona’s kids. “We have family connections, and our kids were involved in the Scouting program when Blaine was the Scout Leader. I am also part of the Innisfail Chamber and Blaine is President. Besides all that, we have gone to The Jungle Farm as a family to u-pick forever.”
Strawberry Saturdays are meant to showcase the talents of artists and producers from throughout the area. Different vendors will set up a small market outside The General Store each of the days. Anyone interested in participating as a vendor are encouraged to email Leona.
