Charley Hampton has always been a storyteller. While developing fundamental drawing skills to enhance his creative expression, he turned his attention to ‘urban sketching’ as a broad topic and began to focus on old or abandoned buildings as specific subjects. The exhibit “This Old House” is the result.

“There is a wealth of creative opportunities to bring old structures to the canvas and to show them in an interesting and respectful light,” states Charley. Within that context, his current body of work, that of illustrating old buildings, represents a broad opportunity to create images that are visually pleasing and have unlimited possibilities for stories. His exhibit encourages the viewer to imagine what it might have been like to live in such an environment.

This collection of botanical and beauty prints reflects on the history of art, nature, and the power of the gaze we bring to the collision of the two. As we become more aware of how we affect the environment while seeking to represent an increasingly unnatural world to each other, it appears that we have always had this tendency – we may be more capable of doing things that directly impact our world, but art says we’ve always been dreaming about being gods.

Lisa Nagy is a North Okanagan artist who works in acrylic, alcohol inks, spray paint, gelli printing and textile dyeing.