A Coombs art gallery will soon get national exposure with the coming release of a TV series featuring its artists and their work.
Coastal Carvings Fine Art Gallery and its artists are the subject of a documentary series for APTN that has been filming since January. The program will trace the creation of art pieces, from the search for the right material, through the artistic process up to completion. The gallery artists do a lot of multimedia work, anything from wood to glass, iron and stone.
Jeremy Humpherville, artist and gallery owner, said the idea was initially floated five or six years ago. He was discussing a project with a client, whose brother has a connection to the film world and was impressed with the custom projects — and even more impressed when he saw the gallery.
Jeremy and his brother, Jerett Humpherville, were not keen on the idea and said no at first.
“Instantly my mind went to reality TV and I said that’s going to kill the gallery because we’re not about being silly, we’re not about fake drama,” said Jeremy.
The idea came up several times over the next few years and the concept landed on no-scripted lines, no recreations — just following the artists like a fly on the wall.
Jeremy and Jerett were happy with a demo put together after a few days of test filming and agreed to take part. A phone call in the fall let them know filming would begin in January.
READ MORE: Parksville Museum reveals summer concert lineup
The series is planned to be 13 episodes, each approximately 30 minutes long, according to director Darren Niblock, with Rogue River Films. He and the crew members relocated from Alberta to the Island to film the series.
“We’re basically just following them as artists, kind of the life of an artist, what it’s like here on the West Coast,” said Niblock. “It’s not only the two main artists there, Jeremy and Jerett Humpherville, but also a lot of different ones that they’re doing collaborations with.”
Also appearing in the series are Jeremy and Darlene’s daughter, Thea Humpherville, as well as Levi Purjue, Lorne Hussey, Lisa Shepherd and Christopher Smith
“It was very respectful. Respectful of the art, all of our artists,” said Jeremy. He added it took some time to get used to the film crew, but after a while they forget they are being filmed.
“Since January we’ve had people with us, and they follow us like a fly on the wall. And our clients have been very supportive,” he said. “We believe this is the truth. We’re not trying to sell them something we’re not and we don’t want to sensationalize.”
The series follows the artists through the different stages in their process.
“Part of being an artist is they need to source their materials, so it’s finding good wood. Searching the right kind of wood that they want to use to be able to carve, and sometimes that’s a real search,” said Niblock. “Sometimes it’s going and finding jade or specific shells that they’re going to use in their carvings.”
Niblock said the first season is about 75 per cent done filming. There will also be plenty of editing to do, as the crew has an enormous amount of footage to sift through, to trace different pieces from start to finish.
“It is part of telling a story and I realized that. That you have to have a start a middle and an end,” said Jeremy. “You can’t just have, oh here’s an idea, here’s a finished piece. The story is that wood’s journey to that piece, or that paint’s journey to the canvas.”
Jeremy and his wife Darlene moved to the area 19 years ago after getting married. Jeremy grew up on Haida Gwaii and Darlene is from the Lower Mainland originally.
They set up their gallery across the street from its current home (No. 6 - 2340 Alberni Hwy), but relocated to their present location approximately 11 years ago when a cement barrier was put up that blocked the view of the old location.
“We jumped in with both feet, with one month’s rent in our pocket,” he said. “I look back on it now and I was thinking, as person who’s now been here for 19 years working, to make that decision to jump in, I don’t know if I could do that now at my age because I’d think too much about it.”
The gallery will host a show from July 7 to July 9. It will feature art by Purjue, who will unveil new originals as well as performing new music. The show will also feature many local artists and carving and painting will be happening on-site.
The program is expected to broadcast on APTN early in 2024.
Sign up for our free Newsletter and follow us on X.
