Caetani Splash: Return to Rome
Caetani Splash, Return to Rome, Live Auction
View the Live Auction artworks here online, or visit the Caetani Gallery on August 9, 11, 12 and 13 from 10 am to 4 pm when all auction items (live and silent) will be available for public viewing.
The Silent Auction is online, and now available for viewing, early bidding, and registration through Benefit Auctions at Caetani Splash Return to Rome.
*Registration is required for the Silent Auction, so visit Benefit Auctions at Caetani Splash Return to Rome before the August 14 event.
“Holding Hope” - Melissa Dinwoodie
Acrylic and Ink on Canvas 36” x 24” - FMV: $1,250
Melissa Dinwoodie is a visual artist living in the Okanagan Valley. Since graduating with her BFA from UBCO in 2001, Melissa has been practicing art in cities that include Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver. She specializes in acrylic & mixed media painting as well as illustration. Creating layers and depth with color and texture is the abstract ‘play’ that Melissa loves. Focusing on figurative and portrait art, she is fascinated with the connection between the viewer and the subject matter. Her belief is that art can be the communication between people that ignites conversations, relationships, education and growth.
“Still Life with Fly” - Wanda Lock
Oil on Canvas 24” x 30” - FMV: $400
Wanda Lock, born in Oliver and currently practicing art in Lake Country, BC, has made significant contributions to the art world. Her artistic journey, marked by themes of domesticity, nostalgia, and banality, began at Okanagan College and culminated in a studio major in painting from Emily Carr College of Art & Design in 1992. Lock's artistic practice extends across various mediums, including drawing, collage, and installation, exploring the emotional and historical nuances of domestic spaces. In addition to her artistic pursuits, Lock has been an active curator since 2015, holding the position at the Lake Country Art Gallery. Her curatorial work fosters meaningful connections between artists, artworks, and viewers.
“Night Bloom” - Destanne Norris
Acrylic on Canvas 30” x 36” - FMV: $2,970
Destanne Norris is a Canadian artist whose colourful landscape paintings explore the deep connections between nature, memory, and the metaphysical. Born in Armstrong, BC, she holds a BFA from the University of Victoria and an MFA by Research from the University of Tasmania, where she explored water as a metaphor for subjectivity and transformation. Destanne’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in private, corporate, and public collections including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Penticton Art Gallery. In 2020, she published Leah’s Gift: A Story About Reframing Loss and was the subject of the documentary Beneath the Painted Surface. She lives and paints in the Okanagan, drawing inspiration from earth, water, sky, and the cosmos.
“Walk on the Wild Side” - Julie Oakes
Oil on Canvas 44” x 33” - FMV: $2,200
In 1994, Julie Oakes opened Headbones Gallery in Vernon, which ran until 2001. She moved to New York in 1998 to complete a Masters degree in Visual Arts from New York University and a Masters in Social and Political Science from the New School for Social Research. In 2005 Oakes and her partner Richard Fogarty moved to Toronto, returning to Vernon in 2010 where they designed and built Headbones Gallery and her studio. Environmental protectionism, women’s rights, spiritualism, artistic activism and the benefits of cultural diversity have been threads throughout Oakes’ work. As a multidisciplinary visual artist, she uses painting, ceramics, glass, performance, installation and video.
“The Light Breaks the Form” - Gale Woodhouse
Acrylic Mixed Media 36” x 36” - FMV: $1,200
Gale Woodhouse was professionally trained in England as a teacher of Art and Design, and although reasonably content as an art teacher she entered Herefordshire College of Art and Design to fulfill her greatest desire–to become a potter. Many years making and creating domestic ware and sculptural forms in clay led to expanding her creative process to include working with paint, print, fibre and many other materials. Gale now works from her workshop overlooking Okanagan Lake in Vernon and divides her time between teaching arts and working on her creative studio practice.
Instagram: @galewoodhouse
“Don’t Let the Sky be the Limit” - aj Jaeger
Mixed Media 36” x 36” - FMV: $2,495
aj Jaeger is a German-born Canadian contemporary visionary artist whose heritage and extensive travels are deeply woven into her work. Her practice spans painting and sculpture, exploring rich colours and distinctive textures to tell meaningful, layered stories. aj earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia Okanagan in 2013 and has since exhibited art in private collections across Europe, the Bahamas, the United States, and Canada. aj served as Chairperson of the Board for the Caetani Cultural Centre Society and contributes to the local arts community through teaching mixed media and collage workshops, as well as curating and designing successful exhibitions.
“Naramata Bench” - Lana Schuster
Acrylic on Canvas 30” x 48” - FMV: $2,000
Lana Schuster's paintings express her experience of being immersed in the outdoors, while experiencing it anew in the process of painting. To abstract an image is to express the essence of it, all the while getting lost in and enjoying the process. Lana’s work is in national and international collections, and is also available at the Vernon Public Art Gallery, Nadine’s Fine Art, Masiero Pizza, as well as her home studio, where you are invited to view her works.
“Vini Vidi Verdi” - Neil Erickson
Acrylic 48” x 42” - FMV: $3,000
Neil Erickson has always been a participant in artistic activities from grade school to university to Vancouver School of Art. Taking up watercolour painting professionally and entering the commercial galleries in the Lower Mainland, he also built a float home with a studio where he held shows for 5 years. He is predominantly an autodidact. This painting falls into abstract expressionism, offloading emotion into what appears to be chaotic applications, where the subconscious controls and gives nuance to the results.
Instagram: @ericksonneil
“Midnight on the Water” - Doug Alcock
Forged Steel, Cast Glass 24” x 10” - FMV: $3,500
Over five decades as a maker, Doug Alcock has worked primarily with found,forged and fabricated steel, cast glass, wood, stone–anything that translates well into an assemblage- based sculpture practice. Cast glass, forged steel, fluid, solid, hot, cold, translucent, opaque–these elements share a history that has brought them together to play with light and darkness in constant change.
Instagram: @dougalcock
“Flight” - David Powter
Acrylic on Canvas 36” x 36” - FMV: $2,200
David Powter is a self-taught artist with a BSc Agriculture, and MDCM, completing an internship at St Paul’s Hospital in 1968-69. He started his artistic exploration in 2000 with wood carvings, then began painting on canvas when arthritis made carving difficult to manage. He loves texture in his work, painting for his own pleasure but always hoping others will enjoy the art.
“Autumn Road Trip” - Liz MacArthur
Acrylic 24” x 30” FMV: $1,100
Based in Vernon, Liz MacArthur is a visual artist known for capturing the region's natural beauty through colourful, expressive oil & acrylic paintings, pushing the boundaries of colour and form to express the emotional essence of a place. Deeply inspired by the vibrant local landscapes and cityscapes, Liz's work reflects a strong connection to nature and a deep appreciation for the unique character of the Okanagan Valley. Her distinctive style has earned her awards and recognition throughout the region, including People's Choice Award at the Annual Fall for Art Show in 2024. Liz is a member of the Okanagan Artists of Canada, and Federation of Canadian Artists.
“The Golden Hour” - Kara Barkved
Mixed Media 36” x 48” - FMV: $2,500
Kara Barkved is an established international selling artist, born in Montreal but calling BC home since 1969. She has studied art, art therapy and psychology, and has been involved in the arts and visual arts all of her life, graduating from the University of Victoria in 1983 with a BFA and an MA in 1991. Kara is a versatile artist working in different mediums whose main interest is in Abstract Art. Her paintings evolve out of spontaneous marks that mingle with her imagination and the influence from the world around her. Her current work is available at Arte Funktional, Nadine's Fine Arts Vernon BC, and the Federation Gallery of Vancouver BC.
“Float” - Shawn Serfas
Acrylic on Canvas/Panel 16” x 16” x 5” - FMV: $3,500
Shawn Serfas is an Associate Professor and the Department Head of Creative Studies at the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) where he has been a faculty member since 2004. His artistic practice includes contemporary painting, drawing, and printmaking, with a focus on relational abstraction, environmental aesthetics, and the tension between abstraction and representation. His work often explores themes of landscape, religion, and scientific inquiry, integrating interdisciplinary approaches and collaborative research.
“Along the Ancient Cedar Trails” - Ann Wilsie
Oil on Canvas 36” x 48” - FMV: $3,750
Ann Willsie has participated in and helped organize many plein air events throughout Canada. Being primarily a landscape painter, Willsie’s style of painting is loose and impressionistic, characterized by thick oil paint, harmonious colour, and visible brushstrokes, mostly depicting the splendour of the natural landscape including panoramic marshland vistas, larger than life florals, and portraits of distinctive and unique trees. Her work is shown in galleries in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., and held in collections around the world. A Signature Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Associate Member of the Oil Painters of America, and winner of numerous awards in various FCA shows and Plein Air Festivals, Ann spends most of her time working and teaching at her studio in Lake Country, BC.
“Reimagined Perspective” - Natasha Harvey
Mixed Media 35” x 48” - FMV: $2,500
Natasha Harvey is a painter, printmaker and art educator. She currently works and resides on the unceded ancestral territory of the Syilx Okanagan people, having graduated from the University of British Columbia Okanagan with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, completing her Education degree at the University of British Columbia, and her Master of Fine Arts at the UBC Okanagan. Natasha began painting landscapes at the age of five with her grandmother, and her artwork consists of a series of collaged landscape paintings and linocut prints exploring our relationship with the natural environment. Her art serves as a bridge that shifts our perspective of the land from commodity to kin.
“Falling Into You” - Gabrielle Strong
Oil on Canvas 36” x 48” - FMV: $3,150
A graduate of Emily Carr University, Gabrielle’s practice is split between painting, ceramics and public art. She has exhibited her paintings solo at Ashdale Gallery, Gallery Vertigo and at the Peachland Art Gallery, and her artwork has recently been acquired by the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation to be included in their prestigious collection. Her paintings, inspired by the beauty of big, monochromatic moody skies and relying on the ephemeral quality of memories, evoking the impression of a place rather than a literal representation, are represented by Ashdale Gallery and PXP Contemporary.
“Light of Optimism” - Heidi Thompson
Acrylic on Canvas 48” x 60” - FMV: $4,500
Heidi Thompson is a Canadian artist known for her vibrant, light-filled abstract paintings. Born in Vernon, British Columbia, she studied photography at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich and later trained in painting at art academies in Germany and Hungary. After returning to Canada in 1982, she built a diverse creative career as a photographer, publisher, teacher, and painter. Deeply influenced by her lifelong meditation practice and a love of nature, Thompson creates paintings that capture energy, light, and rhythm. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in private and public collections, including those of the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia and the Dupont and Dell families.
Live Painting - to be completed during the event - Jordan Perkins
Jordan Perkins is a self-taught artist based in Coldstream, BC. Jordan has been creating art since 2015 and is known for his bold, large-scale pieces that serve as captivating centrepieces within any space. His focus primarily revolves around the creation of animal and people portraits. Immersed in a world of colour, he constantly pushes the boundaries of his creativity where spilled paint becomes the stepping stones to his artistic zenith.
See HERE for Silent Auction information, registration, and bidding.