Kelowna artist excited for ‘change’

KELOWNA – The Canadian Mint’s 2014 silver collector’s series, O’ Canada, will feature the work of Kelowna artist Kendra Dixson.

Although Dixson works mostly in watercolor, she found out in May of last year that the Mint was interested in commissioning her to design a coin for their upcoming series.

"When I first heard the message, I didn’t think it was real,” she says. “I listened to it a few more times and decided it sounded real.”

Dixson, who has been painting for 15 years, made contact with the Mint and was told she had only two weeks to come up with a concept.

“They had a pretty specific idea of what they wanted,” she says. “They wanted one for the $10 coin and one for the $25 coin, both with a skier skiing with powdery trees and mountains.”

She submitted five paintings and found out within a couple of weeks that her work would be featured on not one, but two coins.

Dixson admits to being worried that the subtleties of watercolor would not translate to the engraving process, but says she could not be happier with the end result.

“They look absolutely amazing,” she says. “I can't believe the detail they were able to achieve." 

Both coins feature a skier cutting through the trees against a mountain backdrop on one side and a likeness of Queen Elizabeth II on the other. One of the coins is ½ oz selling for $39.95 and the other a full troy oz selling for $89.95.

The coins became available at the start of this month and can be purchased online here.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca, call (250) 718-0428.