Who am I as an artist?

I am passionate about portraiture, inspired by the challenge of translating an individual’s unique expression, and the intimacy this creates for both the artist and the viewer. Painting allows for a detailed observation of other people that we are not normally afforded. In today’s world, inundated with information and images, I see painting as a form of “slow food” for the eyes. With my work, I want to catch your attention for a moment and show you what I see—something you may not have noticed otherwise.

Born in BC, I have travelled for much of my life, living in Europe for many years, and sailing through three oceans for a couple more. I have worked as a teacher, a secretary and a coordinator for women and environment for an international NGO, amongst other things. I am now firmly based in Greater Vancouver, have raised my family and begun my artistic career here. 

My artistic training is as eclectic as my life experience and includes two years as a Fine Arts student at UBC, courses at the local art school Emily Carr, frequent workshops, classes and demonstrations with local and international artists, and countless wide-eyed hours in art museums all over the world. In 2012, I moved from simply drawing to painting in watercolour and then in 2016, I took up oil painting under the mentorship of Dene Croft, past president of the Canadian Federation of Artists. In addition to many workshops and sessional classes in watercolour and oil painting with local artists over the past years, I have also taken several intensive workshops with master portrait artists in North America and Europe. 

Although I have worked in both watercolour and in oil and occasionally acrylic, am currently devoting most of my time to oil painting. I love the "magic" that watercolour provides, the element of the unexpected and the uncontrolled, but oil allows me to take my time and struggle for mastery, playing with rich colours and layers. I am primarily a realist painter, most interested in the human form; even my landscapes usually contain figures, often children. I most often paint from photographs, always my own (except when working on a commission). Sometimes I will drawing from snapshots from my own life and travels, which allows me to explore my personal memories and prompts me to look at my present surroundings with a more careful eye. Other times I have a specific concept in mind for which I set up a model in a particular pose or outfit to convey the message I wish to share with my viewer. I also participate in life drawing/painting sessions weekly to keep my observation muscles in shape.  And periodically I have the honour of carrying out private commissions for people of their loved ones or animal companions, meaningful work that I appreciate deeply as it allows me to share in another person's experience.