My journey to art started when I was young. My earliest memory of creating art was when I was 8 years old living in Newfoundland, Canada. We lived in a house that backed onto the ocean. I remember taking my paints down to the beach and painting animals on the large rock faces.
My uncle, who lived with us at the time was creating art. He was really good at figure drawing. He had oversized sketchbooks filled with drawings of beautiful women in charcoal. My father is also an artist. He likes to paint landscapes and seascapes. When I was a young teen I remember going to the art supply store with him and we bought acrylic painting books and we painted landscapes together. I was always more fascinated by wildlife paintings because I LOVED animals. I idolized Robert Bateman. I almost went to one of his signings once when I was 15, but the lineup was too long.
Throughout high school I took several visual arts classes and learned a lot of the basics. I had an excellent teacher who encouraged us to follow our passions. Towards the end of high school I became interested in Japanimation (anime). After Sailor Moon came out I realised a few of my former favourite cartoons were anime, such as Fables of the Green Forest and Astroboy. I started drawing anime and exploring different media like markers and ink. But after high school I started working in factories and lost touch with my creative side.
Fast forward about 10 years and I meet my current husband. After a few more years we have our son and we are a very busy family. Working and playing and one day my life changed forever. I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
After losing my job shortly before getting cancer, I was left hopeless and confused about what I would do now. I remember it was my birthday, exactly 8 years ago and my father bought me some art supplies for my birthday and he told me to paint. I picked up the brush and it was nothing short of a miracle. Not only could I paint but I was painting better than I ever did before. It was as though I never put the brush down.
I chose to paint nature and wildlife, just like my favourite artist Robert Bateman.
Sometimes times get tough and have almost quit painting a few times but I always keep going back because I think it's what I am meant to do.
Thank you for coming along on my journey.