Dr. Sedigheh Nouri didn’t start off painting on paper.

“I started as a child, painting all over the walls,” says Nouri with a smile. “Even then, I loved painting.”

A collection of Nouri’s work, entitled Fantastic Botanic, will show in the main gallery at the Port Moody Arts Centre (2425 St. Johns Street) from Oct. 2 to 26.

Recognized by Iran’s Minister of Art and Education in 1999 as one of the country’s “most significant women,” Nouri is considered an Iranian national icon. A graduate from Tehran University’s decorative faculty with a BFA specializing in fabric design, Nouri earned her master’s degree in art and culture affairs administration at the Farabi University. Currently teaching painting for the West Vancouver Cultural Council, Nouri’s oil and watercolour paintings have shown in galleries from Vienna and Berne to Tehran and Boston.

For Nouri painting is an emotional act that connects her in both a physical and spiritual way with her subject matter.

“I am a naturalist,” says Nouri, as she stares at a painting of a group of colourful flowers blossoming on the perimeter of a lake. Nouri says the piece is one of many she sketched on a “nature journey” before returning home to paint in the colours.

“I love flowers, water. nature and all of the seasons.” explains Nouri. “It’s about creation and life and it’s about passion.

“The best time for me is when I am painting. I don’t understand anything but what I am painting.”

Fantastic Botanic will display a vibrant collection of nature-inspired oil and watercolour paintings from Nouri’s passionate hand.

Alongside Nouri’s work, the Arts Centre will present three other exhibits: The Art of Woodturning, featuring pieces crafted by Des Wilson and Don Hoskins; On The Way Home, a series of oil pastels by Gigi Hoeller; and a showcase featuring some of The Alcuin Society’s Annual Awards for Excellence in Canadian Book Design prize winners.

Both retirees turned artists, Wilson from the faculty of Douglas College two years ago and Hoskins from chemical engineering 25 years ago, the two celebrated artists will show their work as woodturners. Guided by the natural shape of the wood they are working with, woodturners reveal the internal structures of logs, timber and firewood to produce “distinctly serendipitous” pieces of art.

Seeking to bring out the beauty in the everyday things that surround us, Gigi Hoeller concentrates her considerable artistic talents painting a wide range of subjects including gardens, architecture, fruits, flowers, vegetables and images from her travels.

“There is so much beauty in everyday life; the trick is to be able to see it,” says Hoeller, in an artist statement.

“Can you see the beauty in the simple things that surround us, even on the drive home from a mundane day of work? It is there, we just have to recognize it.”

Hoeller has participated in numerous shows, including solo exhibitions at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver and the Tidemark Theatre in Campbell River, as well as at the Mima Gallery on Denman Island.

Hoeller was also commissioned to design 12 postage stamps for the Marshall Islands.

Formed by Geoffrey Spencer in 1965, The Alcuin Society is the only national organization that holds a competition for excellence in Canadian book design.

Last year a total of 35 winning book-designs were selected, some of which will represent Canada at the annual international exhibits and competition at the Frankfurt and Leipzig Fairs held in Germany. The show represents a sampling of those designs.

On Thursday, Oct. 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. Nouri, Wilson, Hoskins, Hoeller, and Alcuin Society chairman Howard Greaves will be on hand at the exhibits’ opening reception to chat, answer questions and press the flesh.

The reception will include appetizers, a cash wine bar and music from Port Moody jazzers the Emris Duo. Admission is free.

bwalkinshaw@tricitynews.com