Recent works of Marj Foran

Local artist Marj Foran echoes the landscapes around her in abstract oil pastels that provide a compelling blend of bold lines and colours. Come out and celebrate Foran’s latest show, opening at the Arts Station May 29.

Foran’s relationship with visual arts started at an early age in her native New Zealand, where as a child she would make paper dolls. She would eventually venture out to art school and become a high school art teacher. What she really wanted to do, however, was study life through the visual and pursue art on her own terms.

After moving to Fernie in the early 1960s she was able to do just that, inspired by the rugged landscapes, the flora and fauna and the mining history all around her. Often working on multiple pieces, Foran says that it takes her five or six years to create a show of work that she feels is representative of the things she is exploring on canvas. Despite the amount of work, you get the sense from her work and Foran herself that she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I find I really need to do art. It keeps me on an even keel,” Foran explains.

Indeed, Foran never really sought a career and rarely shows her work outside Fernie. Even then, this is only her fourth show in town, with the last one in 2003.