Sylvan Lake artist Carolyn Jerrard has her piece 'An Ode to Spring' featured at the Velvet Olive Lounge in Red Deer.
Jerrard is an abstract artist whose work focuses on colour and movement on the canvas.
"With my work, I try to take the everyday nature around us and enhance it on canvas to capture its beauty," Jerrard said.
For 'An Ode to Spring' Jerrard brought together multiple pieces from three of her collections that she has done including, 'Wonderlands,' 'Wildflyers,' and 'Her Majesty.'
"Each of these collections shares a common theme in taking its inspiration from the world of Mother Nature. The pieces dive into the beauty of birds, our landscape, and the flowers, pushing them into the surreal realm by enhancing colour, texture, and movement," she said.
For Jerrard, the experience of having her work featured at the Velvet Olive Lounge for the first time is exciting.
"The Velvet Olive Lounge is a very nice venue. My husband and I go there often and it has a very cozy and welcoming atmosphere. I was thrilled to be able to have my art there," Jerrard said.
Jerrard has been working as a professional artist since 2013 and is one of the board members of the Sylvan Lake Art Society.
Since moving to Sylvan Lake two and a half years ago from Calgary it has been like starting all over again, Jerrard said.
"Back in Calgary, I had a really big client base, and then coming to a new community, nobody knows who you are. It's really hard to start over again, so I feel like this year has been my year of finally starting to get my name out there."
There are a ton more local artists in Sylvan Lake than people realize, she added.
"You go into many places and the art they have is very generic and to me, it's like you have a whole community of artists. People can really lift up the art industry in Sylvan Lake by getting more involved."
Recently, aside from doing custom work and commissions, Jerrard has also started doing framing.
"With the framing, I create wood frames for anybody's art."
The piece 'An Ode to Spring,' will remain at the Velvet Olive Lounge until June 30.
To find out more about Jerrard, and her work, people who are interested can go to her website, www.cjcustomart.com, or find her on Instagram, @cjcistomart.