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Paint-In celebrates thriving artistic community

One-hundred and sixty artists will line Fort Street stretching to Dallas road for the TD Art Gallery Paint-In.
Paint In 2015 Promo 1
Artists and art gallery staff

A Fairfield painter is getting the chance to showcase his work at one of the city’s largest outdoor events, one that first inspired him to pick up a paintbrush years ago.

Jonathan Gleed initially moved to Victoria a decade ago and one of his first stops was the TD Art Gallery Paint-In, an art exhibit that brings together well-known and emerging artists from across the province and allows them to showcase their work.

“I attended and thought ‘wow, this would be such a great thing to be a part of’. It’s one of the things that inspired me to be an artist. It really influenced my career path,” he said.

After seeing 14 blocks of artists demonstrating their craft, it inspired Gleed to take up a new art form — painting with acrylics.

Over the past seven years, Gleed has dedicated himself to creating paintings that capture what’s beautiful and interesting in every day modern life.

“I’m inspired by those tiny little minute glimpses of things that we tend to forget about or overlook the minute we see it — the sun hitting a puddle, the reflection of a car and things like that,” described the former video production business owner and writer.

“I like visual stimulization. I like the immediate gratification of painting. Even though it’s very time consuming, you see the results right before your eyes. It’s very tangible, what you’re creating and observing in front of you and it’s very satisfying.”

This is the fourth year that Gleed and his work will be showcased at the 28th annual Paint-In this weekend, along with 160 local sculptors, carvers, potters, printmakers and performers.

“It’s such a great event because it’s so mutually beneficial to the artist and the public in the sense that an artist spends so much time in isolation and the public isn’t exposed to that kind of environment. They tend not to go into galleries and things like that,” said Gleed.

Ian Piears, event coordinator with the art gallery, said the outdoor exhibit highlights Victoria’s thriving artistic community.

“[The event] is so Victoria in a way. Moss Street is this beautiful street that we all go to see the blossoms and as you walk down you’ve got the view of the mountain. We just have such a thriving artistic community and you get to enjoy all the things that Victoria has to offer,” said Piears, adding that they expect to see between 32-35,000 people.

“We’re very proud to be one of the signature events in the summer.”

The TD Art Gallery Paint-In will be held on Saturday (July 18) from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and stretching along Fort Street to Dallas Road. There will also be imagination stations, food and beverage vendors, live music from Groove Kitchen, a bouncy castle and an open house at the art gallery.