14 days, 11 hours, 18 minutes, 06 seconds. That is the current countdown to Somewhere Between Almost and Barely, an art exhibit at thisopenspace which features at least ten young artists. 18 year old Harriet Sales is one of the ten and right now she is finessing details and choosing last pieces.

“I’m actually really nervous,” says Sales. “I’ve never had so many people see my work before, so it’s nerve-wracking and exciting all at the same time.”

At 18, Sales is actively exploring different art approaches. “I am branching out and experimenting with new styles and mediums, which is a lot of fun.”

Right now, Sales feels that her signature style is Pop Art. “It’ s my favourite kind to do. I find the precise black lines and bold colours satisfying. I also love being able to add words in my pieces. Text and Pop Art can go hand in hand, so it’s perfect.”

Harriet is particularly grateful to artist Dorothy Zhang, the mastermind behind Somewhere Between Almost and Barely. “I went to high school with her and we have a lot of the same creative interests. I love that Dorothy is organizing the show, because she is part of the creative youth today. She really gets what it’s all about.”

The dynamic young Zhang already has her own well-developed artist’s website.

http://www.dorothysingzhang.com

“Dorothy is doing an amazing job advertising the show, so there’s lots of people coming, which is awesome.” Harriet does not yet know the rest of the presenting young artists. “I can’t wait to meet them at the show! It’s going to be great to have a community of young artists come together to support an important cause.”

The cause is Starts with One. The non-profit ‘will be using the funds to provide fully subsidized fine arts and academic programs to the youth of Mom to Mom Child Poverty Initiative and KidSafe Vancouver.’

Meanwhile, Harriet Sales is making sure she has all her pieces ready to go. “I have six pieces in the show. Five of them are together as a series called A Modern Romance and the other one is separate. The series being displayed is a Pop Art series of Veronica from the Archie comics.”

We see an example of Sales’ take on Veronica in our header photo. “I like these ones, because the words that I added in are painted to look like a received iMessage. All of the messages are real texts that I received from my friends about boys.”

“The other piece being displayed is different from the art I normally do. It’s a very simplistic watercolour of a girl in a shower and the water is piercing through her body. It’s actually the first watercolour painting I’ve ever done, so it was fun to figure it all out and do something new.”

You can see the work of Sales, Zhang and the rest of these young artists on April 9th and 10th at 434 Columbia Street.

Written by Elizabeth Newton
www.creatorsvancouver.com

* Artwork by Harriet Sales