The most exciting thing to happen in Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast, about ten minutes after Sechelt, just off the Sunshine Coast Highway, on North Leaning Tree Road at 8000 Birch Way is the new art gallery called The Gigi Butterfly Art Gallery, filled with bright and happy paintings.
I hand painted the sign you see on the side of the highway, I did this in desperation when a professional sign painter told me it would take three weeks paint a sign for me. I was aghast, and reluctantly and with great hesitation painted my own sign.
After having the sign on the highway for three weeks, I received a phone call from the highways department, who received a phone call from the Ministry of Transportation who received a phone call from the Sunshine Coast Regional District. (wow, that was a mouthful) They told me that if I didn’t remove my illegal sign, they would remove it for me. Gasp! All that work for nothing?
I am in the process of trying to get an “A” Artisan sign which the highways department will put up on my behalf. It’s a long and slow process; hopefully the sign will go up on the highway some time this summer…
I still put my illegal sign on the highway on the weekends because I know the highways department isn’t working and they won’t take it away. tsk tsk. I know, I’m bad, but a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do!
The gallery is filled with paintings of my bright and colourful flowers on one side and framed paintings of my mixed media landscapes, garden scapes, home portraits and architecture on the other side. I also have some new exciting pieces which are not on my website yet, (you might be able to see if you look really closely at the photos). If you come to the gallery, you can even see some of my old old artwork: Evolution.
The paintings are forever changing, I’m constantly doing art shows and putting paintings up in other locations around Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast. So you’ll just have to come by and see what’s going on here.
Please note: If you’re following the “Purple Banner Tour” the map is slightly wrong, and I’m located on the other side of the highway on the Purple Banner Map. (The North side, the side with the mountains not the ocean)
If you come in a bad mood, you will hopefully leave in a good mood. It’s not easy being cranky around this much happy colour!