INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / FEBRUARY 14, 1989

 

Selling pictures and winning
awards are not the only reasons
Sheri King makes art. She is
determined to use her special
skills to make a worthwhile con-
tribution during her life.

King, a 35-year-old Van-
couver artist, exhibits her
watercolours and prints
throughout B.C. and Canada
and her work can be found in
both private and corporate col-
lections. She recently won two
Awards of Excellence in two
separate international art com-
petitions based in New York.
Her proudest achievements,
though, are ones which help
groups and individuals.

After the oil spill hit Van-
couver Island, King produced a
black and white print entitled
Near to Death, depicting a bird
dripping with oil. She donated
several of these prints to the
Wildlife Rescue Association of
B.C. and the Northwest Wildlife
Preservation Society and she is
looking for other groups to
donate prints to. She has been
involved in other worthwhile
projects such as Polio Plus, art
therapy for Vancouver Mental
Health, an exhibit on rascism at
the Firehall Theatre, and an ex-
hibit by Greenpeace to raise
money for the oil spill clean-up
project.

King also uses the creative
process to help people explore

 

8

Self-Discovery

 

 

 

 
    

 

 

their subconscious and discover
what is inside themselves. She
teaches three one-day
workshops at Douglas College
which she hopes will be reward-
ing to people who are searching
for happiness and fulfillment in
their lives.

In the course, Discover Your-
self Through Art, King leads the
students through several exer-
cises which increase their
self-esteem. She says adults be-
come inhibited by social
pressures and self-consciousness.

King has a Bachelor of Educa-
tion and a Master of Education
from the University of British
Columbia, and she specialized
in art and communications.

"People have to learn what’s
going on inside themselves and
put it to positive use," she says.
"Since childhood, most people

 

get only negative input in their
lives. They stop looking at
themselves or they stop trying
new things."

She also wants people to
learn that art is not made just to
look at. "It’s a process of dis-
covery,” she says. "People can
not only find a more positive ap-
proach to art, but to problem
solving as well."

In the two courses Basic
Watercolour and Basic Draw-
ing, King stresses skill
development, but she’s more in-
terested in whether people are
expressive than if they can do
something well. By the end of
the Basic Watercolour class, stu-
dents will have an introduction
to colour theory, line, composi-
tion and mixing paint. In the

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