Biography
Early Influences……..
Art and music have played an integral part of my identity since childhood. I studied classical piano, and stemming from this foundation, I am self-taught in folk guitar, an instrument I enjoy to this day.
When I was ten years old, my devoted elementary school teacher, Mrs. Mackintosh, introduced me to calligraphy, a disciplined art which I continued to pursue and develop from that time for almost thirty years. My high school art teacher, Leonard Sherman, opened my eyes to art history and to colour. During my undergraduate studies at McGill University in the 1970’s, Gentile Tondino RCA showed me the fundamentals of drawing and encouraged my interest in painting. To these mentors, I am most grateful.
I was fascinated with pottery making on the wheel for a brief period, after which time I shared my knowledge of techniques in tie-dying, macrame, leather work, mask making and soapstone sculpture with underprivileged adolescents.
Today……..
My active engagement in painting took hold in my mid forties. Although the twenty years succeeding this time were stagnant in my painting productivity, they were not wasted. Those years of incubating creativity and of constant observation brought me to the present, when the dormant roots for my passion for painting have again sprouted. I have received guidance, encouragement and discipline from Joanna Bayles, Amy Lee, Leslie Coppold RCA and Rita Briansky.
Experiences of summer seasons in the Laurentians northwest of Montreal have been a constant source of motivation and passion behind my canvases. Stemming from these favourable memories comes my feeling of freedom when being outdoors. Frequently, trees and water are present in my compositions. I appreciate nature in its chaos and constant state of motion. Yet, there is an air of tranquility in many of my canvases. Nature, therefore, in its seasonal dress, constitutes the principle theme and inspiration behind many of my canvases. The interpretation of light through the use of colour variations, as well as my quick, carefree and individually dabbed brush strokes, delineate my perspective of nature. Painting ‘en pleine aire’ is always preferred.
I am drawn to natural, sensual curves. Still life compositions include the roundness of fruits, the lingering sway of lines and fullness of spaces that distinguish a bowl, plate or a delicate porcelain coffee pot. The burst of colour stemming from a vased arrangement of flowers and the richness of its foliage are what propel my desire to capture these images with paint application. My canvases which depict interior spaces are meant to draw the viewer into the room, to find a relaxing place to rest the eye and to feel a sense of welcome.
The quick pace at which I work makes the use of acrylic a perfect medium. I believe in the evolutionary process, and trust the challenges that confront me with each fresh canvas.
For many years as a preschool teacher I witnessed my precious students discovering their ability to control the act of creation, the joy of applying paint to paper for the first time, a mesmerizing sensory experience in which I myself still keep indulging. In doing so, I continuously derive deep satisfacion each and every time.
Art Statement
I have had a love affair with the Laurentian mountain region for as long as I could remember. For over fifty years I have called this area ‘home’, even though Montreal has predominantly been my ‘home base’. Although the vibrancy of the city has permanently marked my heart with its charm, culture and energy, it is the recurring seasonal changes of the Laurentians that have become embedded in my personal sense of belonging and of identity.
My accumulated explorations and memories are the sparks for my creative output. I have experienced the Laurentians with all my senses and, too, over many seasons. My paintings are the outcome of this simmering and potent recipe for my creative expression.
Mother Nature shows herself with an abundance of details to an infinite degree. It is the artist's prerogative to include as much or as little of those details in a composition. I choose to be highly selective, and in doing so, areas of form and colour are simplified in my paintings. Colour blocks, as opposed to linear markings, divide up the canvas space. My aim is not to mimic nature but to capture the essence of the day, and its organic beauty.
In my repertoire of work, patterns of nature are often repeated, scenes often revisited, yet I create a unique relationship with my immediate surroundings that are clearly reborn in each canvas. The attention I give to negative space on the canvas surface demonstrates that I am spacially an equal opportunity painter :) , by realizing how the definition of a specific area can shed importance on another. What keeps the viewer’s interest are my balanced compositions. Segments of colour, with both overlapping and adjacent hues that compliment each other, please the eye. Or, perhaps it is merely my adoration of nature that comes through with a pure sense of clarity.
My interiors and still life compositions offer the viewer an intimate peek at what I find most pleasing from life’s precious segments. Painted less frequently than my landscapes, they nevertheless capture the same freshness as shown in my depiction of the outdoors. I capture form through my seemingly intuitive sense of colour. (In fact, I have spent a great deal of time reading about and thinking about colour theory and light.) The objects and spaces created on canvas are representations of what I have personally known. I cannot paint what I have not known, or do not know well.
My portraits expose character, without intent to create a perfect likeness of the model. Yet, each canvas portrays an image of a unique individual. For me, each one exposes the personal connection between the sitter and the artist. You will find a sweetness, a mystery, the depth of a pondering mind, or perhaps an adventurous spirit in the overall expression. Let your eye linger, and find that each canvas speaks its own language to the viewer.
Uncomplicated in subject, well-balanced, layered, light-filled, and painted with enthusiasm and passion, my compostions are created with both drive and joy. That, in addition with knowledge and skill, give the viewer a colour story to delight and to befriend the soul. I dare question whether it is a passion for nature, for the Laurentians, or for painting that calls to me. Then again, why must I choose between the three? They all are, in combination, the driving force behind my work.