September 24 – October 18, 2026
Gibsons Public Art Gallery
A visual symphony that captures the hidden rhythms and emotional depths of our Coastal woodlands
This coming September 2026, the Gibsons Public Art Gallery will showcase Woodland Rhythms – an exhibition featuring the work of Sunshine Coast artists Sandy Kay and Kathy McKnight.
Woodland Rhythms will invite viewers to experience the forests through the perspectives of the artists who share a profound connection to the coastal forests that define the Sunshine Coast landscape.
Their intention for the exhibition is to evoke an immersive experience of the forest that each artist interprets through their own unique visual language . . . to invite the viewer to slow down, breathe deeply and feel the movement of light, to “hear” the lyricism and rhythmic flow of the paintings.
Kay and McKnight both work in oil and cold wax, applied in as many as 30 layers or more of work. Together they weave a rich tapestry of perception, where the boundary between visual art, musical expression, and natural landscape dissolves into a singular, evocative experience.
The exhibition extends beyond the canvas with live music that echoes the paintings’ inherent musicality, while artist demonstrations will offer insights into their intricate creative process. Visitors will be invited to explore the forest in a multi-sensory, transformative way.
Woodland Rhythms will be on exhibit at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery from September 24 to October 18, 2026. Musical performances, artist demonstrations, and guest talks will take place during the exhibition.
Sandy Kay
Sandy Kay’s artistic career has developed on many levels. Before becoming a full-time painter, she worked as a graphic and greeting card designer, a theatre – set – costume designer and a publisher. With her diverse experience, Sandy has also taught many art workshops and classes and she continues to do this today while creating new works from her new studio in Halfmoon Bay, BC.
Sandy has studied extensively, attending classes at the Chicago Art Institute, East Carolina University and Miami Dade College and has studied directly under master artists whose works she’s admired. She is also an avid reader and experimenter and considers her painting abilities to be mostly self-acquired.
Born in California, Sandy grew up on the East Coast of the U.S. and lived in the Florida Keys most of her adult life before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband in 1999. Sandy has always had her own studio/gallery – one of which was in Gallery Row on Granville Island in Vancouver. She recently relocated to Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast of BC.
Sandy Kay’s paintings are very emotion-based, working in both classic and contemporary styles, from the abstract to photo-realism. While her work spans a broad range of subjects and styles, the commonality can be found in their stories. Sandy strives to create a feeling rather than a picture, to evoke a deeper emotional response from the viewer.
Sandy’s paintings have sold internationally to countries like England, Germany, Dubai, the U.S. and Canada. They are included in many Corporate Collections and the permanent collections of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour in Toronto and Mount Royal University in Calgary.
Kathy McKnight
Canadian artist, Kathy McKnight, has spent her life surrounded by the forested mountains and the stunning Salish Sea in British Columbia, Canada. Kathy expanded her “home” territory so that she now shares her time between the Sunshine Coast of BC and Northern California.
It was Kathy’s lifelong immersion in landscape photography that led her to painting. Through painting, she found a visual language that was slower and deeper and allowed her to communicate a connection with nature that she had first experienced with her photography.
Kathy’s principal style is abstract impressionism using oil often mixed with cold wax medium. She develops her paintings with multiple layers utilizing the translucency of the oil & wax mixture. This style of painting brings complexity and depth to the work with visual and physical textures that are reminiscent of the forms and light she sees in the natural world.
Her practice includes working in nature through direct painting and photography, which inspires her abstract work in her studio. The emotional and spiritual interplay Kathy experiences between the natural world and her art practice is a constant and essential part of her creative journey.
Kathy’s work has been part of numerous juried shows from which she has received multiple awards including “Juror’s Choice” in May 2025 at the San Francisco Women Artists Gallery. In April and May 2025, Kathy was the guest artist at the Sebastopol Gallery in Sebastopol, California.