Art Fx is a year-long series on Huntsville Doppler featuring Huntsville-area visual artists. This month has been generously sponsored by Artists of the Limberlost.
Photography and painting go hand in hand, says Norma Van Alstine.
“Photographing nature is one of my passionate hobbies. Living in Muskoka and within close proximity to Algonquin Provincial Park provides me with opportunities to photograph wildlife and landscapes,” she writes. “More recently, I have been blessed to check my ‘bucket list’ by participating in retreats in Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills to photograph the beautiful wild horses that roam free.”
Norma’s wild horse adventure and photographs have been featured in the April/May 2021 issue of Our Canada and Reader’s Digest International in the July 2021 issue.
Norma Van Alstine photographed Alberta’s wild horses in 2019, including this black stallion band (left). She later painted “Samson” (right). (Images courtesy of Norma Van Alstine.)
“As anyone photographing wildlife knows, having respect for the animals is the priority, and having patience is key,” she notes. “To get that perfect shot, you sometimes have to endure freezing cold and heat and humidity, tired and aching limbs, and tolerate pesky mosquitoes and black flies. In the end, the shot is usually worth the effort. I have found that sometimes the best shot is by being at the right place at the right time.”
Three years ago, Norma decided to pursue another passion: she started this new adventure by taking lessons from the amazing artist, Janine Marson. “This opened up a whole other world for me. I love being able to paint a representation of what I have photographed. I have a lot of reference material that I can draw upon through my photography.”
This year, Norma has been painting a series representative of Algonquin Park. My Artistic Algonquin Journey will be part of a co-exhibition in the Algonquin Room gallery at the Algonquin Park Visitor Centre from September 3–29, 2021.
A Canada Jay male (left) and female by Norma Van Alstine. (Images courtesy of Norma Van Alstine.)
Find Norma on Facebook here.
See more local art in Doppler’s Art Fx series here.
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Patti Parker says
Norma’s photography is stunning! I always enjoy her wildlife images on her facebook posts. I had no idea she could paint too….and so well! Such a talented woman!