Biography

When I was little, I used to always ask for nature calendars or day planners illustrated with scenic views around Canada and the world, all beautiful to my eye. The world was so full of colours and textures.  

I was obsessed!  

At the grocery store, I’d see those “Canadian Rockies” calendars or national geographic books and knew I had to find a way to get them (even though I didn’t need more calendars or magazines!) I’m not an organized person by nature but I’d carefully cut the pictures out from the bindings and grab the tape, or pins (my poor parents) and I’d cover every inch of my walls with them. I could crank up my music in my room and stare into a new world. I’d close my eyes and I’d be there! The vivid colours and feelings; the wind, the smell of the wet earth, or the clouds would float past me like feathers in a hurry.  

I could feel every part of the image in my mind, and even though I’ve never been to many of these places I felt I had been on many journeys. 

My mother and father moved us often for dad’s work, and that was fine with me, as long as my pictures came with me. I had packing them down to a fine art (pun intended). Moving meant I got to live in some of the places I visited in my mind. The first 6 years of my life I lived on Northern Vancouver Island, then a move to the Canadian Rockies for 4 years. Elkford was my calendars.  

I was living my dreams – the images created in my mind!  

Next, we moved to the Fraser valley which had unique beauty, lush and rich with farms and older coastal mountains. From there we went to the stunning Okanagan valley. There I spent my time eating the most amazing fruits, swimming like a fish, and discovered … I liked to paint! 

I’ve always been “artsy”.  

I dabbled in acrylic painting for a while in late high school and early college. Even painted a nude self-portrait of myself, maybe … when I’m famous you’ll see it! Life got busy, paints were packed away and my canvases moved around with me collecting dust. Until I met my husband, I hadn’t touched my paints in years, but he had a hobby room with great lighting and big drawers that I could fill with supplies.  Now on Vancouver Island again I decided to bust out my brushes and paint an arbutus tree, they fascinated me, and I needed to try and paint that bark. My paints were a little crusty and my skills were rusty but smoothing paint across the canvas felt so right and my head was now bursting with thoughts of my old walls with all the beautiful places I’d “been” to.  

I am a self-taught Canadian acrylic artist and during the pandemic, I found extra time to nurture my skills and desire to translate what was in my head and heart into paintings. I realized slowing down and doing something I loved was really really good and important to me. I hope that my paintings can take you to some of the places I’ve been to, and I hope you experience the same joy and excitement I do look into them and getting lost.