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Spotlight - Hatch has a heart for visual art and is a strong promoter in region

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A lifelong passion – Just like Picasso

Art is in the eye of the beholder and Andrea Hatch has a special heart for visual arts that extends into the lives of people in the Stettler area and beyond.

“I believe in supporting local art and keeping the local art identity,” said Hatch, who has operated an art gallery downtown Stettler for six years after moving here eight years ago.

“That means I display and promote local artists whether they are 10 years old or 90 years.”

She has also assisted to help create displays for Stettler Public Library and other community events.

Visual art is defined as art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature such as painting, drawing, sculpture, graphic design, print making, photography, video, decorative art, textile arts, fashion design, interior design.

Art has been and is a way of life for Hatch, who for worked for a total of 16 years at Manitoba Museum, Newfoundland Museum, Newfoundland of Galleries Association before making Stettler her home.

“I have been doing art for so long and I have trained with and been influenced by some of the best artists and historians in Canada, worked and curated exhibits, taught classes in everything from art to art conversation,” said Hatch.

“No matter what I do, I keep coming back to art.”

“Art is like breathing,” she said.

Wherever a person looks, art is always around them.

“A person sees an average of 300 pieces of art in a day, everything from a street sight to a T-shirt design to a business log. Art is everywhere,” said Hatch.

As the heart of Alberta, Stettler could very well be the heart of art in Alberta.

“We have one of the strongest art regions in Alberta – probably the strongest outside Edmonton and Calgary,” said Hatch.

“In fact, our art walk is probably the largest annual art event in central Alberta.”

For the last three years, the Stettler Art Walk has attracted several artists from throughout central Alberta and other parts of the province as organizers continue to be enthused about the potential growth of the event.

Hatch encourages people to build on their ability to create art in their own flavour.

“People can draw, paint, do anything in art that they want to – it has no boundaries, no set style,” said Hatch.

“Lessons are a great way to get started and learn tricks and techniques.”

Art is great for the soul and the health of the creator and the audience, said Hatch quoting Pablo Picasso to explain her understanding of the passion “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

“Art is art when it makes you think, you like it or you hate it just by looking at it or it makes you question what is that and what were you thinking.”

“It has been seen to be beneficial in treating Alzheimer’s disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and is an accepted therapy in most hospitals dealing with everything from strokes to emotional trauma.”

People who do and create art, use different sides of their brain, she added.

Since before she started going to school, she has been gifted with visual art

“My favourite mediums of art are oils and encaustics,” said Hatch

Encaustic painting is also described as hot-wax painting which involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. Liquid or pastes is then applied to the surfaces – usually prepared wood though canvas and other materials are often used.

“When I was four years old, I won my first award for painting – finger-painting,” said Hatch.

“I wasn’t supposed to have my picture judged because it was a contest for six-to-eight-year-olds.”

“But the judged picked my painting and insisted, so I got the prize.”

As she continues to build her skills, she encourages people of all ages to use their creative ideas and vision to enhance the lives of themselves and all who see their art.