The Federation of Canadian Artists' (FCA) presented their 2nd annual Painting on the Edge—a sustainable, juried competition featuring original paintings and drawings in any media, open to all living artists worldwide. The name, Painting on the Edge, is partly derived from the physical location of Vancouver on the West Coast and from the challenge issued to the artists to push their artistic limits and create extraordinary and unique images.

The FCA is a non-profit membership organization committed to the promotion and professional development of artists and services for art collectors. They are dedicated to raising artists' standards by encouraging participants to reach greater heights of achievement. The FCA opened what is believed to be the first completely artist sponsored gallery-workshop-studio in Canada. Painting on the Edge encourages participation from artists all over the world, not just the FCA's members. The FCA endeavours to reward artists for their hard work and the risks they take in creating their art.

The exhibition ran from August 24th - September 12th, 2004 at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island. A five panel jury with guest slide juror Carla O'Connor, (a signature member of many notable watercolour societies) chose 55 paintings from an impressive 777 entries! Susan Foster and Roslind Rorke, from the FCA, handed out awards during the opening reception and awards presentation that took place on August 26th. The 11 awards ranged from $250 to $1,500.

Opus is proud to sponsor this exhibition for the second year with three unique $1,000 fine art supply awards to three participating artists. The Opus awards are presented on an annual basis as they recognize and reward artists for taking on this artistic challenge while continuing our support of the FCA. Opus is committed to advancing the visual arts in the community and believes that events such as Painting on the Edge gives artists the opportunity to be stimulated and share their art with the public.

This year Neil Boyle of Courtenay, BC won the Opus Fine Art Framing Award for "Puntledge Pond", Heather Horton of Burlington, ON won the Opus Fine Art Paper and Painting Supports Award for "Little Head Study", and Mihaela Cosovanu of Vancouver, BC won the Opus Paint and Painting Mediums Award for "Cosmopolitan". Congratulations to the winners and all of the participants!

As a keen advocate of the visual arts, Opus is honoured to be a part of such an inspiring artistic event. We look forward to seeing the creative risks artists will be taking at the next Painting on the Edge exhibition! For more information on the FCA visit www.artists.ca or call the gallery at 604-681-8534.