What's the artist have to say today? Here's my blog!

                                                                  

How did I begin my art journey and create my Manitoulin Island fine art studio? Funny story…I had never painted before 2019 (except high school art class when I was more interested in boys than art-). I had dabbled in charcoal and pencil 20 years ago and loved the feeling of being creative even though the results were marginal at best-).   

 

Then we went to an RV park in Texas for the winter in 2018…I was so excited to take a basic drawing class to try and rediscover my creativity. While there, a gentleman who was working on a beautiful oil painting asked if he could give me feedback (uh…no thanks). After he persisted, I finally agreed…and he told me I was artistically constipated, needed to drink a bottle of wine and cut loose to do what I was created to do. Oh. My. Goodness. 

 

He went on to invite me to his oil painting class the next winter and wanted to see anything I drew in the meantime. Turned out he was a retired art professor at a US college and professional respected artist in his own right. So, in 2019 I picked up a brush and began a new journey. And what a journey it has been…I am so grateful to Steve Bendykowski and Frank Fazakas at the Fun n Sun art group in Texas. They have taught me, encouraged me, and been so incredibly patient and giving…and every painting I do carries a little piece of them.

I am so grateful to live on Manitoulin Island with all its nature and spectacular scenery. These days, I’m drawn to beaches and skies...and landscapes... especially lighthouses, beaches and boats, and old churches. I paint what grabs me emotionally… it may be the colours or shape or composition of the subject. 

 

Yet, my results seem to take on a life of their own and may not look anything like what I envisioned when I started. Actually, I am kind of offended if my painting looks like the photo I am working from.  I’m still at the stage of learning how to represent the object in shape and colour…though not necessarily accurately, because that doesn’t feel important to me. 

 

As a result, I paint what seems to flow out of me. With every painting, I begin with “I wonder what would happen if I…”, then go with whatever happens next! I feel like I’m just discovering colour and I can't get enough of it. So, my work tends to be very vibrant and colourful. My painting is emotional, and if it evokes emotion in you, then I am grateful.