I am a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design University in Toronto. My previous career included magazine art direction, graphic design, and illustration. I appreciate the power and dynamics that graphic design and illustration bring to my techniques and styles of fine art watercolour and acrylic painting.
I really enjoy the camaraderie and creativity of belonging to various art groups, organizations and co-operatives. These venues have kept me growing and learning from fellow artists. I also love sharing what I know, so I offer fun watercolour workshops for all different levels of ability.
When I am painting with watercolours my choice of colour palette is purposely limited using the primary colours: a red, a blue and a yellow. Then I can create my other colours: the oranges, purples and greens. In doing so, there is an instant harmony in my paintings and a vibrancy that can be obtained in this way. I am attracted to strong colour intensity that I can achieve with the watercolour medium and it allows the end result to be a bright and crisp painting. In my studio I enjoy the freedom of creating large paintings and also the control of working in a miniature format. Creatively I combine multiple watercolour techniques on my diverse subjects. There are so many options and approaches I can take, it’s a joy! One constant tradition (in true watercolour fashion) is I never use any white paint. The only white seen in my paintings is always the actual white of the paper.
I have more recently started painting with acrylics and it has offered me an all new freedom in technique, subject matter and location. Many of my acrylic landscape paintings are a result of my ‘plein air’ (on location) painting trips to the far northern regions in Ontario. Sitting on that rugged shoreline while painting the surrounding breathtaking scenery is a dream come true. Painting abstracts is also a passion of mine enabling me to play with colour, form and patterning with wild abandon that the acrylics allow.