Local abstract artists are making a “connection” though colour and complementary styles at the Trianon Gallery for one of two new exhibitions opening this weekend. It is running concurrently with  Kristin Krein and Courtney Faulkner’s “Capriquarius.”

 Aaron Hagan, Michelle Coté, Sheila Shaw and Chelsea Wilson are collaborating  on their exhibition “Colour & Connection” which runs Jan. 28 to March 11.

 John Saville at the Trianon was happy to host the exhibit.

 Of all the sales, 25 per cent will be donated to the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen.

“All of these artists’s styles  complement each other, so I decided to organize a show,” said Aaron Hagan, who always wanted to put on a show with  Sheila Shaw in particular, noting his and Shaw’s art share a similar mark making technique, or how the artists applies the paint to their works.

Three new exhibits at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG) take a different peek at portraiture.

 In the upstairs gallery, Lethbridge based artist Dagmar Dahle’s “Tangle” features mixed media gouache paintings.

“She was in a residency in Paris and started doodling as a way to ease mental burnout,” observed Jeremy Franchuk, Southern Alberta Art Gallery communications co-ordinator.

“ “Tangle’ combines 14 years of work,” he said.

She  is also creating a large scale work on one wall from Jan. 7 to Feb. 4 so you will have the opportunity to talk with her about her work,” Franchuk continued.

The group exhibition ‘ The Faceless Familiar,” featuring the works of Barry Doupé , Nick Sikkuark, U of L educated artist  Kasia Sosnowski, Alison Yip and Capilano based artist Elizabeth Zvonar, turns the idea of portraiture on it’s head.

“ They all reflect  portraits and body parts,” Franchuk said, there are surreal paintings,  sculpture, ceramics and multi-media works in the exhibit.

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“ Kasia  Sosnowski works in ceramics. They reflect the fragility of the human body through the fragility of ceramics,” Franchuk said.

November is too early to think about Christmas shopping. But  if you want to get it over with then why not shop local and support  your neighbourhood artisans and businesses rather than some faceless corporation selling you rubbish from overseas.

 The tenth annual Christmas at Casa continues today, Saturday, Nov. 19 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on both floors of Casa.

“ it’s unreal  that this is our tenth year,” noted  the allied Arts Council Communications manager Kelaine Devine.

“ It’s been steady, said  Devine, watching the last flood of early  Christmas  shoppers close off  the first night on Friday.

“ It feels like a family. You see a group of people here you only see once a year, and after  it’s show and tell  because everyone is so excited to show you what they bought,” she enthused, adding they are at full capacity again.

 pre-Covid  Christmas at Casa attracted over 4,000 people  coming though the doors of the two day event.

“ We have 100 artists this year,” she continued, noting  there is beadwork, leatherwork, pottery, painters and woodturners. Local guilds including the Textiles Surface Guild, the Lethbridge  Handicraft Guild of Weavers, the Lethbridge Society of Glass Artisans and Lethbridge Artists club are also participating.