I am a print-maker, painter and sculptor from British Columbia Canada. I have lived in Toronto, Geneva, Montreal, Bowen Island and Vancouver, and am currently living in Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island, BC.
Qualicum Beach offers the right combination of inspiration and a slower pace that results in surprising and intriguing works – enigmatic, unconventional and unexpected. I have been inspired by the natural beauty of this large island and have turned to depicting its powerful landscapes in the form of prints. I am transforming these views using a cross-hatched drawing style that results in blurring the distinction between abstraction and realism.
The work is precise, yet has the impression of being roughly created by the human hand. The prints are an exercise in the manipulation of line, form, color, density and illusion.
In short, I am experimenting with using printmaking to manipulate landscapes to the point where the “real” is still recognizable but becomes subtly abstract.
“Art is a mercurial lover…” and “The artists can no more ignore their art than a character can change the story they appear in, or a Greek hero outwit the fates”.
David Mitchell
How it all began
All my life I have drawn or made art out of whatever was available. My father was a university professor so I drew on the stapled exam booklets that were always around the house. In school Art was always my best subject. but when I graduated from high school, a more secure and sensible career choice was expected. However, 3 years of working toward a teaching degree was all that was needed for the inner artist to start screaming in despair. Four blissful years of art school followed which was in turn followed by the birth of my first child. Then the reality of combining the responsibilities of adult life with the carefree & creative life of an artist hit home.
During art school I had also studied and performed in dance, so it seemed to make sense at the time to park the visual arts for a time and start a dance company with my sister. Dancing is like a drug with an endorphin high that makes all other highs seem pointless, but it is a sunset art form and a mid-thirties dancer is getting long in the tooth. A second pregnancy made it clear that it was time to return to the visual arts, and, as I was living in Toronto and there were lots of illustration opportunities, I turned my love of drawing into my next career. For the next ten years I produced editorial, advertising and publishing artworks.
As a then-single parent, illustration gigs were not sufficient to support a family of 3 so I went back to school and got a Masters degree in Planning from UBC and worked as a Resource Planner for government. To maintain my sanity, I drew in the adjacent park on lunch breaks and painted in the basement on weekends until my kids were sufficiently independent that I could return to making art part-time and then full-time.
While still holding down a day-job, I also created large sculptures for the public realm in concrete, wood and steel which I continued to do until about 2013. I indulged my love of painting until 2022, then became intrigued by the idea of making prints. They are more affordable artworks and the process has its own dynamic and lends itself to the cross-hatch drawing style that I mastered as an illustrator.
Going forward
I will likely continue making prints for the foreseeable future, while also producing paintings in a style that complements the prints. Creating landscapes as prints or paintings that blur the distinction between abstraction and realism will continue to provide an irresistible challenge. In addition I will be exploring digital media as a vehicle for creation and communication.