It happens once a year: artists living in and around Diamond Valley open their studio doors to the public for two days to celebrate Alberta Culture Days. It’s the Most Beautiful Art Tour in Alberta. Julia Reimer came up with the idea in 2013, and since then, thousands of people from all over Western Canada have attended. “You welcome people into your studio space and talk to them about the techniques or the processes; it’s a way richer experience,” she said. “They might look at a painting and go, ‘Wow, that’s a beautiful painting,’ but then once they understand the technique of it, it just opens a whole new world for them.” Reimer says the Diamond Valley area is a hotbed for artists who specialize in a variety of techniques and support each other’s talents. “There’s people that work primarily in oil painting, other people that do mostly watercolours, then there’s a ceramicist, we’re glass blowers and then there’s Leighton Art Centre and Bluerock Gallery—they have it all,” she said. Rachael Smith is taking part in her first art tour. She’s a ceramic artist who’s been practising her craft for more than two years, and she has been working overtime getting ready for the event on Sept. 18 and 19. “I haven’t slept very much,” she said. “I’ve been working really, really hard. I did two glazed fires in the last four days, and pottery people would be like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot.’ I’ve been fast-tracking a lot of stuff; I made about 50 pieces in the last three weeks.” Smith says her studio is called “Rachee Pots” and she’s excited to welcome visitors into her space. “I’m just so thrilled to be able to share the magic of mud with people and get to show them that anybody can do it,” she said. “It’s not that you have to be a 30-year veteran.” Smith says she can’t wait to share her love of art with other art lovers on the tour. “I really like the act of functional art—something you can pick up out of your cupboard in the morning, you can have your cup of coffee and you look at it and say, ‘Oh my goodness, this is so beautiful. I remember the time I got this, I remember where I was, I remember the person who sold it to me,’” she said. “And you can see the heart of the person who made it in the vessel.” Bluerock Gallery is one of the stops on the tour. It showcases the work of 175 artists, mostly from Alberta. “It’s definitely a celebration of community and art and people who make it but also enjoy it and collect it,” said gallery co-ordinator Michaela Butler. “Just celebrating the beauty the makers make themselves, but also the lovely landscape we live in.” Butler says the tour results in sales, and that’s something every artist can appreciate. “What’s nice is mostly artists are here in Diamond Valley, with the exception of the art centre, which is closer to Calgary and Millarville,” she said. “You can start on this side of town and then make your way over to the Turner Valley side.” Reimer and Tyler Rock run the Firebrand Glass Studio, and they always enjoy watching visitors witness their craft for the first time. “We’re working with molten glass, and it is beautiful,” she said. “It just glows, and I think people are really captivated by that, but then they’re also really captivated by the story of how the piece came to be—the technique, but also the ideas behind it. So many of those ideas are about the beauty of this landscape.” Like all the other artists on the tour, Reimer and Rock have been hard at work increasing their inventory for potential customers. “This time of the year, we try to make things that are harvest- or fall-season-themed,” she said. “So that’s pumpkins, and it’s something we only make this time of year, so it’s kind of a special thing. It’s nice for us because we only make them one time a year, and it’s something really fun to make actually.” You can learn more about the Most Beautiful Art Tour in Alberta online at https://themostbeautifularttourinalberta.com/.
