Acclaimed Jasper artist Libby Weir will have an exhibition featuring her work over the last year, which is mostly watercolour drawings of mountains, next weekend at the Old Bushfire Gallery commencing Friday, April 17.

The born-and-raised Jasperite is excited to be putting on another show and has decided to spice the gallery up by having a jazz quintet, wine and food tasting for the private opening of her show on the Friday.

“I think it’s really great because it’s bringing all the arts together,” Weir said, adding it’s a great chance for the Savik Panylyk Quintet, an Edmonton band, to get some exposure.

The Liquor Lodge and Chef Miguel Goncalves will be pairing a range of wines with a four course tasting for the event.

The main thrust of Weir’s show will be her watercolour drawings which depict the Rocky Mountains she grew up with and has now come back to after being away from Jasper for about 20 years.

“I called it New Visions, [it’s about] looking at mountains, which were always very important to me, but sort of a rediscovery of them and reconnection with them so it’s like coming back after 20 years all of a sudden, you have the memories but it’s a new experience,” Weir said.

However, the artist will also display some of her pottery work, which she started doing back in 2004 with her daughter.

Weir, who has a Master’s in Visual Art from the University of Alberta, said that painting and drawing has always been an escape for her, and landscapes and how they affect her or mankind in general is her primary subject matter.

“Inspirations through nature,” she said adding that “even when I was in school [it] was something that I could do that I was never threatened or was never taken away from me. I could sort of seek refuge in nature and go and just be myself. It was sort of a safe zone,” she said.

Weir said that she loved working with the clay in her pottery and hoped over time things would evolve into more sculptures.

There will be a dry opening to Weir’s exhibition on Saturday, April 18 which is open to the public. Anybody interested in the Friday night opening should contact Weir at 780-852-5506 or the Liquor Lodge at 780-852-2337 for more information.

Weir’s show will continue for the last weekend in April from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.