Sydney Van Tine, an 18-year-old high school student in Burns Lake, is doing some cool projects with her painting skills.
Van Tine, who works at Woods N’ Water, is in the process of restoring an old freezer for her employer. “Our store owner Paul Hilliard bought a really old and rusted up freezer to store bait, and we came up with the idea that I paint an aquarium design on it,” Van Tine told Lakes District News.
I started with sanding it down, and then I started painting it. I’m really happy with how it turned out, I just have some small details to add before it’s finished,” she continued.
“I knew she’d be able to do a great job when I first got the freezer because she’s so talented. I’m very impressed with the work she’s done, it looks fantastic,” said Hilliard.
In addition to the freezer, Van Tine is also selling her hand painted paintings out of Woods N’ Water. All the proceeds from her work will go towards her college tuition for when she attends University of Alberta this fall.
“I’ve always been interested in art, and I started painting two years ago,” Van Tine said. “In the beginning of March, I started selling the paintings for profit with everything going towards paying for school.”
Van Tine says that her style consists of a lot of landscapes, and her inspiration comes from the beautiful images that can be found in Burns Lake and surrounding areas, including Tweedsmuir Park.
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“A lot of my inspiration comes from Tweedsmuir Park. It’s just so beautiful out there and the imagery is perfect for paintings. My grandfather and father were the previous owners of the Pondosy Bay Wilderness Resort Campsite, so a lot of the inspiration comes from pictures taken out there. It’s nice because a lot of local people know the area, so when they see my paintings it catches their eye and they say ‘I know where that is’,” she said.
Van Tine currently has three paintings for sale, with several copies of each to sell. So far, she’s sold 28 of the 32 paintings she has, though a new shipment of paintings is on the way. “The first shipment went very quickly, so I ordered another one which should be arriving any day,” said Van Tine.
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To purchase the paintings and support Van Tine’s academic endeavors, a stand is up with a display at Woods N’ Water.
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Eddie Huband
Multimedia Reporter
eddie.huband@ldnews.net
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