With Love Collective and Made. Cafe in Swift Current was bustling with local art enthusiasts and community members to meet the artist of a new exhibit being displayed.

The event took place from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon and featured Diane Larouche Ellard, the mastermind behind the collection, Our Prairie.

Ellard, a painter and encaustic mixed media artist, received her BFA in 1987 and grew up in Biggar, more recently moving to Saskatoon.

"Most of my stuff celebrates the prairies because I love the prairies and I don't think that it's elevated enough as a landscape form," she said.

Ellard noted that she uses acrylics, oil paints, and encaustic, a unique and older form of art media made on panel using heat and wax.

"I only started doing encaustic in 2020, I did a mentorship with a fairly well-known encaustic artist just to know how to do it," added Ellard.

A couple of notable pieces in her currently featured collection include Once a Giant and Spring on the Prairie. 

Laureen Marchand, curator and owner at Grasslands Gallery Online, was delighted to curate another Saskatchewan exhibition as part of an ongoing series.

"I think it's wonderful," said Marchand. "This is such a lively, vibrant place with great coffee and it's nice to have the art, all the people, and Diane here."

Anyone interested in Ellard's artwork can stop by With Love Collective while the exhibit is up or head to Grasslands Gallery Online website.