I come from a family with strong artistic ability, but I'm the only one who has taken it out of the hobby realm. I trained as a Medical laboratory technician, and have not been formally trained in art. As a teenager, and with my Father's input, I worked on drawings at home. These efforts, I entered in junior competitions and often won a placement. While at university, I tried my hand at murals, and learned how to scale things up and down in size. I really did not view myself as a painter because I did not think I knew how to use colour. I was frustrated that my pictures would not match what was in my head; so I did not pursue art as a career choice.
After my marriage, my husband encouraged me to take a painting class being offered. I was interested this time because I had since seen work by Robert Bateman. His style was along the lines of what I had always seen in my head, and admired. Anyway, after being told to mute my colours; what I came up with surprised both my husband and myself, and I have continued, with my husband's support, ever since. I have since taken workshops with John Seerey-Lester, Carl Brenders, Allan Hunt, Robert Bateman, Daniel Smith, and Terry Isaac; all of whom are both great painters and great teachers.
I am often called on to teach workshops, and art project classes. My work has been in shows across the United States and Canada in such places as New York, Ottawa, Lloydminster, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver; as well as being in a yearlong Cross Canada show with Canadian Wildlife Habitat; and I was also the artist in residence in February 1999 for the Barr Colony Heritage Center and "Education through Art Society" My work is in collections across Canada, The States and overseas.
I have now been painting seriously since 1990; fitting it around our Family Grain farm. I like to work in oil, acrylic and gouache, which have the strong colors I prefer to use. I find they work well for painting Nature and Landscapes, my favorite subjects to paint.
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