DESTANNE NORRIS
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DESTANNE NORRIS
Norris was awarded a BFA (Honours) Degree in Painting and Drawing from the University of Victoria in British Columbia in 1987 and a Master of Fine Art Degree by Research at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia in 2009.
The natural environment is the source of Norris’ inspiration and explorations. Her work is based on her direct experience where investigation, memory and imagination are amalgamated into her visual language. Norris paints and draws intuitively, allowing the subject to dictate the methodology and style. An overarching theme in her landscape painting is the mirroring of ‘inscape and landscape’.
Norris’ paintings have been exhibited in Public, University and Artist-Run galleries in Canada, Australia and Germany. Her paintings have been to many national and international private collectors and found in corporate and public collections.
Norris had a visceral connection between existence and spirituality inspired by loss that is expressed in her book, Leah’s Gift: A Story about Reframing Loss - which features images of artworks - published in 2020. In addition, a documentary film, Beneath the Painted Surface, about her art-life created released in 2020 by independent filmmaker Brian Taylor of En Queue Film is available to be watched on You Tube.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
2009 MFA Degree, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia
Thesis: painted pools: a lens into subjectivity
1987 BFA (Honours) Degree, (Painting and Drawing), University of Victoria, BC
Professional Development Courses and Workshops
2019 Toni Onley Artists’ Project 2019 for Professional and Emerging Artists,
Diana Thorneycroft and Peter von Tiesenhausen, Wells, BC
2019 Pleinair Magazine’s 8th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo, San
Francisco, CA, USA
2013 Direct Expressive Painting in Acrylic Workshop, Rick Cepella, Lake
Country Art Gallery, Lake Country, BC
2007 Strategies for Teaching Art, Professional Development Workshop,
Gallery Vertigo and the British Columbia Arts Council, Vernon, BC
1998 Brian Ayteo Workshop, River Rock Studio, Cochrane, AB
1997 Art by the Lake, David Alexander, Georgian College, Barrie, ON
1997 Canadian Society of Watercolour Painters, Doris McCarthy, Jasper, AB
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Dream Time, Hidden Garden Gallery, New Denver, BC
2021 The Wellsian Series, Member Exhibition, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, BC
2018 Stellar: Grounded in the Dark Night Sky, Jasper Yellowhead Museum &
Archives, Jasper, AB
2017 Stellar, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon, BC
2011 Selected Works from the Embodied Pool Series, Kalamalka Vertigo,
Okanagan College Kalamalka Campus, Vernon, BC
2008 Selected Paintings and Projected Images – painted pools: a lens
into subjectivity, fina Gallery, University of British Columbia
Okanagan, Kelowna, BC
2005 painted pools: a lens into subjectivity, MFA Graduation
Exhibition, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart, Australia
2004 The Feeling of What Happens, Entrepot Gallery, Hobart, Australia
2002 Recent Paintings, The Gallery at JPL, Jasper, AB
2001 The Rockies Larger than Life, The Gallery at JPL, Jasper, AB
2000 New Landscape Paintings, The Gallery at JPL, Jasper, AB
2000 Alberta Passages, Kensington Fine Art Gallery, Calgary, AB
1996 Leah’s Gift, Sunrise Gallery, Jasper, AB
Two – Four Artist Exhibitions
2018 Running with The Ball: Jane Everett, Destanne Norris, Reg Kienast &
Amber Powell, The Drawers - Headbones Gallery, Vernon, BC
2014 Sotto Voce: Wanda Lock & Destanne Norris, Lake Country Art
Gallery, Lake Country, BC2011 Ebb & Flow ~ Equilibrium: Brent Bukowski, Judy DesBrisay & Destanne
Norris, Penticton Art Gallery, Penticton, BC
Group Exhibitions
2022 I Am Here: Home Movies and Everyday Masterpieces, Art Gallery of
Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
2022 The Sunflower Wayfinder Project: Seed by Seed, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon,
BC
2022 I Am Here: Home Movies and Everyday Masterpieces, Art Gallery of
Ontario, Toronto, Ontario
2022 The Sunflower Wayfinder Project: Seed by Seed, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon,
BC
2021 You are not Alone: An International Mail Art Exhibition, Berlin, Germany
2021 Portraits of Resilience, online exhibition, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto,
Ontario
2021 On the Edge, (Online) Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver, BC
2021 Or, SOS, Headbones Gallery, Vernon, BC
2021 Art of Water V, presented by James May Gallery online through Artsy
2021 Voice and Land, Lake Country Art Gallery, Lake Country, BC
2020 Dust to Dust: Artists exploring death and transition, Salmon Arm Art
Centre, Salmon Arm, BC
2020 Not This, Not That, Members’ Exhibition, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, BC
2020 You are not Alone: An International Mail Art Exhibition, Penticton Art
Gallery, Penticton, BC
2019 OkanAWEgan, Headbones Gallery, Vernon, BC
2018 CORrE, Headbones Gallery, Vernon, BC
2007-2021 Summer & Winter Exhibition, Gallery Odin, Silver Star Mt., BC
2016 Expressions of Death: Personal Journeys, Alternator Centre for
Contemporary Art, Kelowna, BC
2010 Marking Identity, Kelowna Art Gallery Members’ Exhibition, Kelowna
Art Gallery, Kelowna, BC
2010 10: The Tenth Annual North Okanagan Artists Alternative’s Open
Members’ Exhibition, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, BC
2010 Autumn Art Expo, VISAC Art Gallery, Trail, BC
2009 ROW: Reflections on water, Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art
and History, Nelson, BC
2007 Green, Juried Members’ Exhibition, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, B
2006 Nucleus, Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, BC
2004 CAST Annual Members’ Exhibition, Hobart, Australia
2004 Propinquity and Distance, Carnegie Gallery, Hobart, Australia
2002 Converging Landscapes, Leighton Foundation, Calgary, AB
2001 Members’ Exhibition, SA Public Art Gallery, Salmon Arm, BC
2000 In the Artist’s Eye: Mount Alberta, Jasper Museum, Jasper, AB
1999 Reflections of Jasper National Park, Jasper Museum, Jasper, AB
1998 Members’ Exhibition, SA Public Art Gallery, Salmon Arm, BC
1995 Wildlife, Landscapes and Wildflowers, Jasper Museum, Jasper, AB
Travelling Exhibition
2001-2003 Blooming Prairie, Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition
Juried Exhibition from the Alberta Society of Artists
Produced by the Edmonton Art Gallery
Paintings in Collections
Acrobat Results Marketing Inc.
Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Allan Brooks Nature Centre
Alpine Village
Bennett Jones LLP
Caetani Cultural Centre
Canadian Farm Credit Corporation
Consulate General, Japan
Dexter Realty
Fairmont Banff Springs
Finning Canada
Jasper Inn
Parks Canada, Jasper National Park
Penticton Art Gallery
Sherritt Greene LLP
Simpson’s Num-Ti-Lodge
Whistler Hotel
Private Collections in Canada, USA, Asia, Australia, Europe
Artist in Residence Programs
2016 Mountain Galleries, Artist-in-Residence, Banff, AB
2015 Fresh! AiR, Artist-in-Residence, Caetani Cultural Centre and Allan Brooks
Nature Centre, Vernon, BC
2010 Mountain Galleries, Artist-in-Residence, Whistler, BC
2002 Simpson’s Num-Ti-Lodge Artist-in-Residence, AB
2001 The Leighton Foundation: Visiting Artists Program, Rocky Mountain
Ranch, AB
2001 Brewsters’ Artist-in-Residence, Columbia Icefields, AB
1999 Brewsters’ Artist-in-Residence, Columbia Icefields, AB
1998 Gushul Studio Artist-in-Residence, (University of Lethbridge), Blairmore, AB
Artist Presentations
2021 The Creative Flow of Self Trust, Penticton Art Gallery, Penticton, BC
2021 Life, Healing, Nature & Art – An Artists Journey, Online, Federation of
Canadian Artists, Vernon, BC
2021 Leah’s Gift Online Author Talk, Okanagan Regional Library, Kelowna, BC
2018 Portal to Imagination: an artist’s journey, Jasper-Yellowhead Museum &
Archives, Jasper, AB
2018 Portal to Imagination: a passage to creativity, Vernon Women in
Business, Vernon, BC
2018 Leah’s Gift: a story of hope, faith and love, Storytelling Tuesdays,
Balance Well-Being Centre Inc., Kelowna, BC
2017 Stellar, Public Artist Presentation, Vernon Public Art Gallery, Vernon, BC
2017 An Artist’s Journey to the Jasper Dark Sky Festival and the Stars,
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Kelowna Chapter, Kelowna, BC
2017 Experiences (& more) as a Guest Artist at the Jasper Dark Sky Festival,
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Vernon Chapter, Vernon, BC
2016 Life, Healing & Art, Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, Kelowna, BC
2016 Creative Flow of Self Trust: An Artist’s Journey, OPUS, Kelowna, BC
2015 Whether from the Centre, Allan Brooks Nature Centre, Vernon, BC
2014 Sotto Voce: Artist Walk & Talk, Lake Country Art Gallery, Lake
Country, BC
2012 Creative Flow of Self Trust: An Artist’s Journey, Okanagan Artists of
Canada, Vernon Community Art Centre, Vernon, BC
2011 Life, Nature, Art & Healing, Public Artist Presentation, Lake Country Art
Gallery, Lake Country, BC
2011 Life, Nature, Art & Healing, Public Artist Presentation, Gallery Vertigo,
Vernon, BC
2010 Life, Nature, Art & Healing, Guest Artist Presentation, Second year
Studio Theory, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC
2010 Life, Nature, Art & Healing, Public Artist Presentation, VISAC Art Gallery,
Trail, BC
2002 Leah’s Gift, Artist Presentation, Psychology Students University of
Alberta continuing education course, Jasper, AB
1997 Leah’s Gift, Artist Presentation, After-Eight Club, Edmonton, AB
Awards and Grants
2019 Bernie Cattani Scholarship, South Okanagan Community Foundation, BC
2004 Graduate Research Support Scheme, University of Tasmania, Australia
1997 Arts Jasper Scholarship, AB
1993 Arts Jasper Scholarship, AB
1986 Victoria Arts Council Bursary, BC
1986 Academic Scholarship, University of Victoria, BC
1985 Academic Scholarship, University of Victoria, BC
1985 M.H. Mooney Fine Arts Bursary, University of Victoria, BC
1984 Credit Union Foundation Bursary, University of Victoria, BC
1981 Academic/Athletic Scholarship, Selkirk College, BC
1980 Athletic Scholarship, University of British Columbia, BC
Publications as Author
- Destanne Norris. ‘Transformed’. Sageing with Creative Spirit, Grace & Gratitude, Number 35, Winter 2021. Available online www.sageing.ca
- Destanne Norris. Leah’s Gift: A Story about Reframing Loss. Balboa Press, 2020
- Destanne Norris. ‘Portal to Imagination’. OutdoorPainter.com March 2020. Available online www.outdoorpainter.com
- Destanne Norris. ‘Portal to Imagination: a passage to creativity’. Sageing with Creative Spirit, Grace & Gratitude, Number 26, Summer 2018. Available online www.sageing.ca
Citings in Publications and Catalogs
- ‘Auction highlights needs for grief services’, Jennifer Smith, Vernon Morning Star, 04/11/21
- ‘Or, SOS’ (curatorial statement in exhibition catalogue), Julie Oakes, Headbones Gallery 2021
· ‘CORrE’ (curatorial statement in exhibition catalogue), Julie Oakes,Headbones Gallery, 2018
- ‘Stellar: Grounded in the Dark Night Sky’, (exhibition catalogue), Mountain Galleries and Jasper Yellowhead Museum & Archives, 2018
- ‘Stellar’, (curatorial statement in catalogue), Lubos Culen, Vernon Public Art Gallery, 2017
- ‘Grounded in the Dark Night Sky’ (Stellar catalogue essay), Katie Brennan, Vernon Public Art Gallery, 2017
- 'Narrative paintings of the vast cosmos', Parker Crook, Vernon Morning Star, 28/07/17
- 'Painter seeks answers in space', Emily Corrie, Okanagan Advertiser, 03/08/17
- ‘INSIDE to OUTSIDE: art as an act of claiming’ (catalogue essay), Katie Brennan, Curator, Sotto Voce The Lake Country Art Gallery, 2014
- ‘Presentation focuses on healing through art’, Morning Star Staff, The Morning Star, 26/01/11
- ‘Reflect on water at Touchstones’, Anna Heywood-Jones, Express, 09/09/09
- ‘Row: Reflections on water’ (curatorial statement), Deborah Thompson, Touchstones Nelson Museum of Art and History, 2009
- Visual artist’s exhibition features six-foot square pieces’, Christine
- ‘Artist takes a dive in her painted pool: Life continues to flow for Norris’, Kristin Froneman, The Morning Star, 31/01/07
- ‘Propinquity and Distance: Self-portraiture in Contemporary Painting Practice’ (catalogue essay), Mary Pridmore, Carnegie Gallery, 200
- ‘Propinquity and Distance’, Joerg Andersch, The Saturday Mercury, 27/11/04
- ‘Artists dominate and dazzle’, John Briggs, The Saturday Mercury, 20/05/04
- ‘The feeling of what happens’, Joerg Andersch, The Saturday Mercury, 28/08/04
- ‘Local artist headed down under’, Quintin Winks, The Jasper Booster, 11/12/02
- ‘In the Artist’s Eye: Mount Alberta’ (catalogue essay), Wendy Wacko, Jasper Museum, 1999
- ‘Galleries: Best Bets’, Calgary Herald Entertainment Guide, 04/05/00
- ‘Calendar girls market unique reflections of Jasper’, Nick Lees, The Edmonton Journal, 07/03/99
- ‘Leah’s gift a tribute’, Heather Berezowski, The Jasper Booster, 06/12/96