"Beginning" Painting

BIO
I was born in St. John's and raised along the shores of a lake in Newfoundland, where water shaped my earliest memories. Swimming from a young age, I developed a deep connection to its rhythm, stillness, and emotional depth—an influence that continues to surface in my work.

I began my studies in engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland before realizing my path was visual rather than structural. I went on to study Visual Communications at Alberta College of Art and Design (now Alberta University of the Arts).

Following years in advertising and corporate graphic design, where I developed brand identities for major Canadian corporations, I was surprised to find myself returning to painting.

My figurative work explores inner experience, memory, and emotional presence. My work has been accepted into a number of national and international juried shows and won many awards including Third Prize Winner for “International Artist” Magazine, People & Figures. My work has been featured in several publications and I have pieces in private and public collections across the United States, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Azerbaijan and Paraguay.

Artist Statement
I've dealt with a great deal of adversity over the years and even now, at times I feel as though I exist in a strange state somewhere between life and death. For me, everything changed in an instant, yet my life continues. Today, I find myself living an entirely new existence in what seems like in an entirely new universe. Encouraged to paint by a dear friend and mentor who has always admired my creative abilities, this new reality has become the backdrop for my art. My first painting, called “Soaring”, is a close-up of a figure swimming in water with her back to the viewer, taken entirely out of context, and painted in such a way that we really don't know where she's going or how she's getting there. She could be flying; she could be dying. And this is what my art as well as my existence is about–whether to fly or die. I choose to fly.

My portrait sketches represent my lighter, humorous, more whimsical and spontaneous side. I create them mainly at night after a long day of painting, having left the studio and relaxing around the house. They just make me laugh, and the reason for their being is no more complicated than that.