Eri Ishii

Eri Ishii & Jane Wolsak
Dec 3 – 23, 2033
Eri & Jane

Opening Reception: Saturday, Dec 3rd; 2-4pm.

Ian Tan Gallery
2655 Granville Street
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
V6H 3H2
t: 604.738.1077
e: info@iantangallery.com

Eri & Jane showcases works of two Vancouver artists, Eri Ishii and Jane Wolsak. Working from the same studio for decades, these two artists look at each other’s work, provide critique and support, and encourage each other to pursue their vision. The show is to celebrate their friendship as they explore nature’s colours, patterns, and evocative power of landscape through two different mediums: Jane’s drawings and Eri’s paintings.

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Eri Ishii moved to Canada to pursue painting. Since then, she has established herself as an artist and an educator while exhibiting widely across Canada and internationally. Her work stems from her love of oil paint, as its buttery texture and depth of colours provide an ideal medium to explore the visual language of painting. Eri has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Canada and internationally including Halde Galerie in Switzerland, Taiwan National Art Education Museum in Taiwan and Canvas Gallery in Toronto. Her work has been featured in various media outlets including CBC Radio, the Vancouver Sun, Globe & Mail, and the Province.

Jane was born in England, and attended St. Martins School of Art in London, followed by a teaching certificate at London University. She taught high school art in England and in Canada, and has worked in various fields of the arts, including teaching, illustrating, and working for the media in courtroom drawing. She works in series, usually from life, setting up her subjects in the studio, but in this group of work she has used her photographs as reference. The details and the patterns are what interested her, feeling that colour here would be a distraction. She has been showing her work since 1989 in several galleries, including Gallery Jones in Vancouver, Winchester Galleries in Victoria, Wall Space in Ottawa and Art Interiors in Toronto.

Culture Crawl is back!  After a few years of doing a special kind of Crawl, we are back ready to welcome you back in my studio.  This year, I will be showing new works ranging from garden paintings to figurative and still life pieces.  I might even have “Crawl special” (you just have to come and find out what it is).

If that’s not enough to entice you, I will be doing a painting demo on Sat, Nov 19 at 11 am.  Doing a live demo is nerve wrecking and I hope you will be there to cheer me on!

I am also delighted to invite you to my two-person exhibit “Eri & Jane” at Ian Tan Gallery in December.  Jane and I have been friends and supported each other in and outside of the studio for decades.  The show is to celebrate our friendship as we explore the nature’s colours, patterns, and emotive power of landscape through two different mediums: Jane’s drawings and my paintings.

The show opens on Sat, December 3 and runs till December 23.  I will be in the gallery on December 3, 2 -4 pm.

Hope to see you at either (or both) of these events!

Eri Ishii

Come join me for a fun workshop at Create! Art Festival in beautiful Strathcona Park.  Organized by Eastside Arts Society, the events hosts dozens of workshops and public art projects by local artists.  I will be teaching three workshops.

For more info, visit createartsfestival.ca.

Vancouver Gardens

Ian Tan Gallery
2342 Granville St, Vancouver, BC
(604) 738-1077
iantangallery.com

December 4 2021 – January 29, 2022

In a new series of paintings entitled “Vancouver Gardens”, Eri Ishii makes a homage to her adopted home, Vancouver. Each painting was based on scenes from local gardens and parks, and is carefully constructed over time with layers of lush oil paint to explore their beauty and strength. The paintings were created without a preliminary drawing or underpainting, allowing the artist to create a soft and open surface that invites viewers to step into the work.

I’m thrilled to announce that I was interviewed by Sheryl Mackay of CBC radio North by Northwest.  It was a wonderful experience as Sheryl is so warm and approachable.  I felt like I was talking to a friend.  To add to the thrill, I got to meet her in person as she came by to Ian Tan Gallery right after the interview and I happened to be there!  All in all, it was a five star day.

My story was covered in the November issue of Nikkei Voice, the national Japanese Canadian newspaper in Toronto.

Click here to read the article.

Welcome to the special edition of Eastside Culture Crawl!

This year, I will be opening my studio virtually during the above Crawl dates followed by private in-person visits after the Crawl.  Private visits will be spaced out over a period of time to ensure everyone’s safety.

Virtual StudioVisit
November 2 – 9, 12 – 15 & 19 – 22

To schedule an in-person studio visit, click here.

To view the new works I have in the studio, click here.

For more info about virtual Crawl, click here.

Look forward to hearing from you!

My painting “Chapel” got through the first round of jurying at Jackson’s Painting Competition in UK this year.  445 works were selected from 5634 submissions.

Chapel
30″ x 32″
Oil on canvas

Visit Ian Tan Gallery to see the piece in person!

I’ll be showing my new floral paintings at Ian Tan Gallery.  The show starts on Sat, August 8 and runs till Sat, August 15.  I’ll be in the gallery on August 8, 2 till 4 pm.  Please come by!

Ian Tan Gallery is located at 2342 Granville St., Vancouver, BC.  Phone: 604 738-1077.

The Eastside Culture Crawl Society (ECCS) hosted Displacement Forum to bring attention to the fact that the stock of available studio space is rapidly shrinking in Vancouver.  According to the report that ECCS published this year, we have lost 400,000 square feet of studio space in the last ten years.  I was invited to speak on the panel as I co-founded 901 Artists Cooperative twelve years ago after running a campaign to try to save the studio space at 901 Main.

For more info about this issue, visit articles on Vancouver Sun , Globe and Mail, and Canadian Art.