Chilliwack artist shares how sketches evolve into ‘explosion of colour’ in solo show

Dan Daulby presents ‘Little Bits and Assorted Carnage’ at Chilliwack Cultural Centre

Chilliwack artist shares how sketches evolve into ‘explosion of colour’ in solo show Published 12:30 pm Thursday, July 16, 2026 Small sketches will be on displayed alongside large-scale paintings at one Chilliwack artist’s solo show. Dan Daulby presents Little Bits and Assorted Carnage at the Odlum Brown Art Gallery in the Chilliwack Cultural Centre from July 15 to Aug. 16. It includes decades of drawings, paintings and prints.

The “little bits” portion of the title represents the numerous sketches which evolved into the “assorted carnage” pieces that are his larger paintings of warriors, crusaders, and fallen samurai. “The exhibition focuses on small-scale works, including sketches and doodles that act less like preparatory studies and more like unruly catalysts,” he said. This exhibition marks the first time Daulby has placed his sketches so insistently at the centre.

“Here, the sketch becomes a volatile starting point–an invitation to detours, disruptions, and unexpected outcomes. Moving from black-and-white drawings to paintings that erupt in colour, the work privileges process over resolution, tracing ideas as they unravel, regroup, and occasionally spiral into new territory.” The Métis artist describes his show as “an explosion of colour,” and said many of his cartoon-like and abstract pieces have satire and humour painted into them.

Daulby has picked through about 40 years of work and selected pieces from various series like robots, sinners and saints, ronin (fallen Japanese samurai), crusaders, warriors, masks, black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings, and horses. The latter work was inspired by the eight million horses, mules and donkeys who died during the First World War, he said. “It’s a series I did in dedication to a very helpful companion to humankind that has been much overlooked at times,” Daulby said.

“Nobody built a monument to that until much later. When I read that, it struck me. I love horses.”

The horse series includes realistic, abstract and warriors on horseback. Daulby has thousands of sketches on scrap paper, parking stubs, napkins, and buried sketchbooks. Some sat for years before he would pull them out to “see if anything sings to me,” he said.

“Many finished images bear only a passing resemblance to their origins,” Daulby said. “Some ideas resolve quickly; others linger for years, resurfacing when a forgotten scribble, visual gag, or stubborn fragment demands attention.” Those sketches form the backbone of his ongoing inquiry into identity, perception, and spiritual inheritance.

Drawing from Celtic and Native American ancestry, Daulby’s approach remains “intuitive, contemplative, and laced with humour.” Little Bits and Assorted Carnage, a solo show by Chilliwack artist Dan Daulby, is on display at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre until Aug. 16. The opening reception is set for Saturday, July 18 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Gallery hours are 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday. Admission is free.