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Welcome
I am an artist living in Hudson, Quebec. The focus of my artwork is plein air landscape painting. Nature is forever providing me with inspiration; creative expression is my passion.Artist's Statement
For me, the greatest pleasure in creating art is being able to express my deep appreciation of nature and beauty spontaneously and "in the moment". Whenever I can (depending on the season and weather conditions), I paint landscapes, "en plein air" and find inspiration in the shapes, colours and light values that nature displays. I also enjoy painting portraits and figures from the live model, and still-life arrangements, finding inspiration in the beauty and variety of the human face and form, as well as from flowers and simple everyday objects. I paint intuitively, typically with no or minimal prior sketching for landscape or still-life paintings. My paintings are described as painterly, rich in colour, and impressionistic.Biography
I have always had a passion for art and from a young age onward, have experienced much joy in drawing and painting. I can still vividly recall my excitement at discovering finger-painting in kindergarten, at creating a work of art from a blank page. Even my kindergarten teacher noted on my first report card that “her artwork is exceptionally good”! My education took me in a different direction, into scientific research and completion of a doctorate degree in pharmacology at the University of Toronto. Yet even during my graduate school years, I found an outlet for artistic expression by attending a weekly art class at the Ontario College of Art. There I first met Chinkok Tan who became a much appreciated mentor and whose simple method of using shape and light value to create watercolour paintings opened up the door for me to plein air painting. I haven’t gone back “inside” since, drawing my inspiration largely from the world outside. These days, I continue to balance a scientific career with new explorations in art. For many years I’ve been painting with pastels, a medium that offers limitless possibilities for artistic expression and interpretation of nature in “alla prima” or direct painting, my preferred approach to painting.
In recent years, I’ve been also working in oils and am enjoying the mixing of colours and textural qualities of this time-honoured medium. Whenever I can (depending on the season and weather conditions), I paint landscapes, “en plein air” and find inspiration in the shapes, colours and light values that nature displays. I also enjoy painting portraits and figures from the live model, and still-life arrangements, finding inspiration in the beauty and variety of the human face and form, as well as from flowers and simple everyday objects.
I paint intuitively, typically with no or minimal prior sketching for landscape or still-life paintings. My paintings are described as painterly, rich in colour, and impressionistic. For me, the greatest pleasure in creating art is being able to express my deep appreciation of nature and beauty spontaneously and “in the moment”.
Art Education
- 1985 –1987: Studied watercolour painting with Chinkok Tan at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto.
- Plein air landscape painting workshops with Chinkok Tan in New Brunswick (1988 – 2013).
- Studied portraiture with Gerald Smith in Ottawa (1990, 1996) and Max Stiebel in Montreal (2001 – 2003).
- Pastel workshops with Michael Chesley Johnson, Margaret Dyer, Albert Handell, Bill Hosner, Jack Pardue, Ann Rochefort and Claude Texier (2003 – 2013).
- Oil painting with Helmut Langeder (2012-2014).
Associations
- AHA (Artistes Hudson Artists) www.artisteshudsonartists.com
- BAA (Baltic Artists Association of Montreal) www.balticartistsmtl.ca
- EKKT (Society of Estonian Artists in Toronto) www.ekkt.org
- PSEC (Pastel Society of Eastern Canada) www.pastelsec.com