Current Art Exhibition

Tanner Finlay was born in Red Deer and has lived in the Stettler area his whole life, in particular a farm near the village of Botha. Tanner first started to draw at an early age, filling several sketch books, and was heavily influenced by the cartoon medium, with emphasis on Disney cartoons. His early drawings were in pencil and pencil crayon. He also started to draw in pen for a time.Tanner has always enjoyed drawing and painting in very fine, very tiny detail, as you will see in his pieces displayed here. He attended several schools around the Stettler area. His first guided teachings in art started in junior high, and Tanner relished the art classes taught in high school. He received a certificate in the Transitional Vocational Program at Red Deer College after high school.

Tanner has developmental disabilities which put him in a modified classroom setting throughout high school. Despite this, Tanner was able to attend regular art classes as well as participate in the afterschool art club. The art classes in high school introduced Tanner to several different mediums, including painting with oils and acrylics, sculpture, pottery, and water colour pencil . It was here that Tanner embraced painting. He has taken some instruction from his sister, Dawn Saunders Dahl with acrylics and water colours, one summer he also attended her painting classes during Red Deer Colleges’ summer series.

Today Tanner's paintings are influenced by fashion and nature, he often takes photos with either his phone or his professional camera to keep for ideas and reference in his art. He is currently a member of a local painting club called the Church Mice and is also a member of the local writing club, where he is writing his own fantasy novel. Tanner's full-time employment has him raising chickens and selling eggs off of the farm.  

Almost all of the paintings on display were painted during COVID-19 pandemic and are acrylic on canvas.