2021 Art Crawl welcomes newcomers and regulars – Coast Reporter

The 2021 Sunshine Coast Art Crawl is going to have plenty on offer next weekend, with many popular venues coming back for this, the Crawl’s 12th year, and dozens of new artists joining in.

Among the first-timers is Elin Jonsson at venue #80 in Roberts Creek, across the street from the Gumboot Café.

Jonsson works as a video-game producer by day and has painted in her private time for several years. For the past 12 months, she has been delving into a new theme, HSP, or highly sensitive persons. Works exploring that subject will be displayed in the separate studio behind the small home Jonsson shares with her husband, actor Artine Browne.

Jonsson includes herself among the 15 to 20 per cent of the population that can be described as HSP, a trait identified in a 1991 book by clinical research psychologist Dr. Elaine Aron.

“These people often are very creative. There are a lot of musicians and artists that have a more sensitive nervous system,” Jonsson explained. “A lot of good stuff comes with this trait but it’s also like having a side of you that takes in everything, so you’re also overwhelmed more easily.”

Jonsson has filled a stack of sketchbooks to express aspects of HSP using cartoon-like cat figures, which she has digitally coloured before enlarging, printing, and framing. Jonsson said she hopes eventually to add text and create a book with these series of works.

Among the returning Art Crawl veterans is stone carver George Pratt, who’s been part of the Coast Art Crawl since it began in 2010 (although he did sit out the COVID-challenged 2020 Crawl). Pratt’s property near Secret Cove is venue #148.

You get a taste of Pratt’s work from the sculptures he’s set along the twisting driveway up to his home on Wood Bay Heights Road. Pratt, 82, has a lot to show, having shaped granite, marble, and various other types of rock since 1971. His pieces can range in size from a few kilos in weight to a few thousand.

Pratt has works on public display across the country, including the Terry Fox memorial in Port Coquitlam, and as far away as China where one of his sundials sits in a square in the city of Guangzhou. Among his local installations is the stone sundial in front of the Sechelt Library.

Pratt said he’s happy to welcome Art Crawlers into his home and loves showing his work.

“I’m actually pretty popular [at Art Crawl]. It’s a good ego trip for me,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve had as many as 200 people come on through. And many of them go away with a nice little sculpture under their arm. So, I do well.”

Pratt’s enthusiasm has not been dampened by health issues that have arisen recently, including “a nasty cancer,” which led to radiation treatment that damaged nerves and disfigured his face. “I’m OK with it,” he said.

Pratt has also dabbled over the years in painting watercolours and recently has been exploring digital art, some fine examples of which he will also display for visitors this year.

Sunshine Coast Art Crawl runs from Friday, Oct. 22 to Sunday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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