Have a heart

For Valentine’s Day, Sheila Victor is offering you her heart. Luckily, she has several of them.

The Ottawa native’s art is on display for a solo exhibit at Urbanscape Gallery, located in The Junction at 2959 Dundas Street W.

And the minimalist, angular, but far from sterile space allows Victor’s “Vibrant Hearts” and her other contemporary works to shine.

One particular piece -- dubbed Brassy Clouds -- really stands out; both against the chalk white walls, and from the other horizon paintings.

An acrylic-coated-with-resin-hardener in an otherwise oil-on-canvas world, I’m convinced its deep consumptive browns and opaque goldish hues alone would have caught my attention.

But the pathologically glossy finish bonafies Brassy Clouds as a work Victor apparently wasn’t afraid to “permanently frame.”

And with a palette depth combined with a surface so reflective you can see Rusted Metal X’s and O’s, a grouping on the opposite wall, one I wouldn’t hesitate to buy -- and if I had $1,000 kicking around.

Though Brassy Clouds is on the low-end, monetarily, of the skyline-esque paintings -- the most expensive, From Darkness Comes Light, carrying a price tag of $4,000 -- the frugal art enthusiast can pick up a small oil-on-canvas heart for $90.

And if you’re strung out on red after seeing it in every drugstore, card shop and ad for the last month, the works are available in nine different colors, from dark blue to lime.

The juxtaposition of hearts and storms may very well reflect the world view from Victor’s lens. A commercial actor and makeup artist by trade, “she believes that life is full of turbulence and we spend our time seeking an unobtainable ‘balance,’” according to a postcard featuring From Darkness Comes Light.

“Her evocative art is an attempt to find a small piece of balance in her life.”

Victor’s work will be on display at Urbanscape until February 23.