The Wonderful World of Art

How It Began…

A few years ago (13 to be exact) I moved into my new condo in the Lower Lonsdale area. The walls were bare and they needed some art.

Painting Pollination - early days

It had been my life-long dream to be an artist (from about the age of 6 when I first knew what an artist was) - well, I realized I couldn’t put it off any longer…

I’d created art throughout my school years, (and spent a year at an art school in Norway when I was 18), but then I got a little side-tracked (as one does when having children…), though I never gave up on my dream.

So when a new art studio opened up down the street from me with an artist mentorship program - I signed up!

At first I was a little nervous as it had been years since I’d done anything productive in the arts (outside of my home painting hobby), and I really felt like a beginner. Well, as soon as I began to paint again, I felt like I was nine years old and practically skipped home from my studio classes each week!

I never looked back.

195 Studios - Artists on Pemberton

After spending two years in the mentorship program and participating in my first show, it was time to move on to a new studio (first sharing with another artist, then eventually my own studio) at 195 Pemberton Studios in North Vancouver. Initially we were a small group of artists that moved into an old, empty office building, slowly transforming it into a vibrant art community with 25 artists and studios!

195 Studios - North Shore Art Crawl 2011

195 Studios - Group show at the ferry building Gallery

We had many shows in this building (and it was a lot of fun in the early days!), but times change and eventually the building was sold and bought by a new owner who was not so supportive of the arts. The atmosphere changed as artists came and went… and it was no longer what it once was. It was time to move.

Welch Street Studios

New Studio in the Making - Welch Street Studios

Fortuitously, it was at this time that another building down the road was bought (by a patron of the arts) who decided to turn the upstairs of the building into a new art community with eight studios. I was fortunate to be offered a space in this fabulous new building and moved into my new studio six years ago this May.

So here I am, part of a wonderful art collective of eight studios and working artists. We’re all different and have unique styles and expressions of our art, (coming and going from our studios at different times and days), but it’s always motivating and inspiring to be part of a community of like-minded and creative people that continue to motivate and inspire one another.

The Wonderful World of Art

Each spring, The North Shore Art Crawl celebrates the talent of local artists, when local studios, community and commercial galleries, and art schools, open their doors to the public to display their work and share their passion. This year, the 2021 Online North Shore Art Crawl is a month-long virtual event from March 12 - April 12, 2021. You are invited to scroll and swipe your way across the North Shore, exploring artist webpages showcasing creative processes, practices and exhibitions. This is a great opportunity for local visitors and remote browsers to meet the talented artists of the North Shore and enjoy the wonderful world of art online.

You can view our studio listing here, or visit us during one of our First Saturday Open Studio events. Welch Street Studios is open to the public on the first Saturday of every month from noon to 5 pm.

The Blueberry Forest - Part Two

The Blueberry Forest, 40" x 60", oil on canvas

My new painting is done! This magical forest is abundant with wild blueberries, deer and other little creatures... (perhaps you can see some in the painting?...) and so I'm calling it, The Blueberry Forest.

I made this painting shape by shape, colour by colour, working my way across the canvas and creating the complete image from the abstract.

The Blueberry Forest - details

“In every landscape should reside jewels of abstract art waiting to be discovered.”

— Melissa Brown

Dream Catcher

Dream Catcher, 48” x 60”, oil on canvas

A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods… Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage, and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons.

It was during this time that I began my forest series of paintings. My painting Dream Catcher is of the forest near my cottage in West Vancouver. While painting Dream Catcher, a little story began to form… and so I wrote it down. It’s called Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale.

You can read along in my blog here, or flip through the shortened version I created on Steller.

Dream Catcher is the first in a series of paintings that explore the forest as a place of fairy-tales, myth and magic. In stories and legends trees are symbols of wisdom, strength, endurance, protection, secret knowledge, life and fertility. In fairy tales the forest symbolises the unconscious and is a place of initiation. Entering the dark forest and the unknown, one confronts hidden aspects of the self in order to experience a re-birth and gain a new understanding and knowledge of life...

Read Dream Catcher a Fairy Tale on Steller

Read the full story on my blog

"In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."

Dream Catcher

• Wood canvas made from Birch wood sourced from sustainable Canadian forests
• UV set inks, meaning the print resists water
• Each wood print is made in Montreal, Canada
• Easy care, don’t touch the print if you don’t have to, but you can wipe it with a dry or damp cloth to remove dust
• Arrives ready to hang - 4 panel frame in back allows you to just pop the wood print on a small nail in the wall, no wires necessary

You can view all my wood prints in my online store here.

From Darkness to Light

Hope For The Flowers, 36” x 36”, oil on canvas

Along with my word for the year my symbol for the year is this painting, Hope for the Flowers. It reminds me of the quote:

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

— Desmond Tutu

In this painting I used primarily black, white and grey tones, adding just a few colours (yellow, blue, purple) to create this limited palette.

Out of the tangled darkness, the flowers rise up towards the light… giving hope and promise for a new day, a new year, and a confirmation of the eternal cycle of life…

Hope for the Flowers represents this time of year, (especially this year!) as we move from darkness to light…

The original painting is 36” x 36” and I’ve also created smaller prints on wood panel:

Hope For The Flowers, wood print

• Wood canvas made from Birch wood sourced from sustainable Canadian forests
• UV set inks, meaning the print resists water
• Each wood print is made in Montreal, Canada
• Easy care, don’t touch the print if you don’t have to, but you can wipe it with a dry or damp cloth to remove dust
• Arrives ready to hang - 4 panel frame in back allows you to just pop the wood print on a small nail in the wall, no wires necessary

You can view all my wood prints in my online store here.

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering ‘it will be happier’…”

— Alfred Tennyson

The Blueberry Forest - Part One

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

— A.A. Milne

This past year has been a huge challenge in patience and perseverance (among other things), so why not (I asked myself) start another big, intricate painting?

I don’t know why I do this to myself… But obviously I like a challenge.

I like to set big goals and I don’t like to give up.

(And big challenges create big rewards.)

The canvas I’m working on is 40” x 60” and I wanted to try something a little new… I wanted to make a painting in the same style as I did with Into the Mystic, but in full colour.

So, using one little abstract shape at a time, I'm slowly working my way up and across the canvas... to create the whole image of the forest.

It’s like doing a giant puzzle that I’m making up as I go along…

If you like to do puzzles, you can probably understand… It requires much patience but it’s also therapeutic.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

— Confucius

I put together a little video (speeded up!) on this work in progress…   

2021 and My Word For The Year

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was in me, an invincible summer.”

— Albert Camus

January Forest

It’s early January, 2021, and it looks like another typical winter month here in Vancouver… rain!

So off I go on my daily walk with my gumboots on…

I’ve finally had a few days of quiet (just me, my brush and I), and after a lovely walk sloshing through rain puddles and mud, I’ve decided on my Word For The Year!

For the past ten years or so I’ve come up with a word for the year ahead. It isn’t a resolution, but rather, more of an intention... Something to move towards, or something I want to bring into my life. The interesting thing is, there’s always something unexpected that comes from it. So I create my word with no expectations of outcome...

Last year my word for the year was Transformation. And a transformative year it has been! In fact, I feel like I’ve been in a cocoon all year… With two trips cancelled, and “stay home, stay apart, wear a mask”… there’s been no other option but to go through changes. Fortunately I have my studio… It’s been my sanctuary. My cocoon.

Right now the whole world is in major transformation, and who knows what will emerge?

But I’ve decided… When I emerge, it will be as a butterfly. So that’s my word for the year. Butterfly.

I love butterflies… to me they symbolize freedom, beauty, creativity (some of my essence words), and although butterflies are delicate, they are amazingly strong and can fly great distances. They’re also a symbol of hope.

Hope For The Flowers, 36” x 36”, oil on canvas

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all”

— Emily Dickinson

If you were to choose a word for this year, what would it be?…

A Studio Video Tour

A made a little video tour of my studio, sharing my art, projects and creative process...

I created this video as a recipient of the FANS (Fund for the Arts on the North Shore) 25th Anniversary Grant Program, At Home with NS Artists. A special thank you to FANS for their support.

Everywhere I see feathers...

One day feathers began to appear in my life. They dropped down from the sky to land on my path as I walked, floated gracefully past my window when I looked out, and appeared in the most unexpected places...

I started thinking of them as a sign… A message.

So when I was lost in thought, gazing out my window and a feather floated by… I paid special attention to what I was thinking about.

I began to see feathers everywhere… And sometimes they showed up in the most unusual places. Like the time I noticed a blue-green feather sticking out of a friend’s cap. I pulled it out… a pretty budgie feather! Where did that come from?!…

A friend told me once that when feathers appear they are messages from angels.

Perhaps. Angels do have wings...

To me they are a symbol that tells me ~ I’m on the right path.

Do you see feathers on your path?

Do you have a symbol that tells you, you’re on the right path?

Are you on the path to your dream?

Sometimes we need a little guidance along the way, so here are my…

Seven Tips to help you transition, from where you are now, to where you want to be:

Summer and enjoying what is...

We've had many sunny (and hot!) days this summer... And usually around this time of year, as the sunrise comes just a little later each day, and the nights get cooler... I find myself thinking about September and what changes it will bring.

But this year, I want summer to go on just a little bit longer... I'm not quite ready. I want to savour the sun, the sand and the sea... To linger in that lazy feeling of endless summer... I want to enjoy what is.

Because all too soon, change will be in the air. The busy-ness of back to work, back to school and the routines that they bring... And of course, the shorter, cooler (and wetter!) days.

“This morning, the sun endures past dawn. I realize that it is August: the summer’s last stand.”

— Sara Baume

NEW! I have wood prints now available in my online store.

Midsummer Forest Wood Print

• Wood canvas made from Birch wood sourced from sustainable Canadian forests
• UV set inks, meaning the print resists water
• Each wood print is made in Montreal, Canada
• Easy care, don’t touch the print if you don’t have to, but you can wipe it with a dry or damp cloth to remove dust
• Arrives ready to hang! 4 panel frame in back allows you to just pop the wood print on a small nail in the wall, no wires necessary

View all Wood Prints 

“August is the Sunday of summer...”

The Original Rose Dress

It was several years ago, in the summer of 2012, that I designed my first wearable art dress.

One day while creating my "essence art" (a personalized painting), I imagined wearing a print of my art and was inspired to make my painting into a dress. I wanted the dress to be the full size image… as if I had just stepped out of the painting…

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. ”

— Oscar Wilde

I began researching different ideas and looking for resources that could help make my vision a reality. Eventually I discovered a new crowd-sourced label that enabled me to do just that (read my interview with the Canadian Press about the project). And just like that, the Rose Dress and my new wearable art line of clothing was born!

The Original Rose Dress

“Create your own style... let it be unique for yourself and yet identifiable for others.”

— Anna Wintour

I no longer work with the original company (it’s now a 3D clothing company!), but my clothing has evolved and continues to grow and improve with better materials and processes. My designs have expanded to include clothing, scarves and accessories, as well as home decor products.

And it all started with the rose and a process I call ‘essence art’.

“The rose speaks of love silently, in a language known only to the heart.”

— author unknown

So as I continue to revisit my designs and update my wearable art and other products, I decided to re-create my quiz with the results representing the essence of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. For example, the Rose represents the essence of Summer (love and beauty).

Which one are you?… (Try it out!)