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Artist opens twin shows at Lacombe’s Gallery on Main

Two different shows by the same artist are on at Lacombe’s Gallery on Main.Darcy Leopold Polny creates bright, loose pastel drawings under his middle name, Leopold, and paints intricately detailed acrylic paintings under the name Darcy Polny.
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Darcy Leopold Polny

Two different shows by the same artist are on at Lacombe’s Gallery on Main.

Darcy Leopold Polny creates bright, loose pastel drawings under his middle name, Leopold, and paints intricately detailed acrylic paintings under the name Darcy Polny.

Both sides of his artistry will be on display at the gallery from the show’s opening on Saturday throughout the month of July.

Polny paints with acrylics to realistically capture rural heritage and settings. The farm equipment and landscapes that sustained rural families over the last century is paralleled with the human attachment to land and lifestyle. His paintings seem to carry the message that while old machinery stops, life carries on.

As Leopold, the artist uses an expressionistic approach to pastels. Rather than using a highly realistic style, he allows “my natural energy to explode in pure colour and imagery,” creating bold statements through the simple pattern of shape and movement, stimulating the eye with colour, texture and light.

Polny was born in Athabasca and lives in Edmonton, graduating from the Alberta College of Art in 1976. While he owns a commercial graphic design firm, Polny enjoys the freedom of creating his own fine art paintings and pastels, which have been displayed in galleries in Edmonton, Jasper, Banff and Naramata.

The artist will also be signing and personalizing copies of his children’s activity book, Jelly Bean Jake, at the gallery from 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday. The show’s opening reception runs that evening to 9 p.m. For more information, call 403-782-3402.