Meadowlark Festival 2001

What Habitat?!
2001 Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance Festival Theme Painting

Laila was commissioned in early 2001 to produce the Meadowlark Festival poster for the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance May 11th to 31st 2001 Festival and Income Development event. Laila chose to take a whimsical tone with a deeper meaning in her painting. The result was a very successful poster and also a PowerPoint slide presentation that Laila delivered at the wrap-up Festival Banquet. The painting, 36" x 30" acrylic on canvas, featured Laila's by-then trademark Birdwatchers and several of the South Okanagan Similkameen endangered species: Monarch Butterfly, Painted Turtle, Night Snake, and Fairy Slipper. And of course the Meadowlark!
WHAT HABITAT?! © 2001 and 2012 36" x 30" Acrylic on Canvas © Laila M. Campbell
LAILA's ARTIST STATEMENT FOR THE FESTIVAL: “I was pleased to create my painting “What Habitat?!” as the theme work for the 2001 Meadowlark Festival. I realised that the Festival is not only about the Meadowlark in the south Okanagan, but also about all the endangered and beautiful species that live in our special habitat. Wanda Watcher is one of the characters that continue to appear in these whimsical bird watcher works. The powerful attraction I feel for the Okanagan landscape is expressed in the strong colors and flowing lines. Dancers sometimes appear in a celebration of life. Contemplative figures reflect on the fragility and beauty of the habitat surrounding us. I feel that in many of my works I am trying to catch a fleeting moment, a pause, a reflection, a discovery of joy and wonder”.
LOOKING BACK © 2001 30" x 24" Acrylic on Canvas ©Laila M. Campbell Page last updated February 5th 2012 © Laila M. Campbell All Rights Reserved