Brenda Beattie is an award-winning, Ottawa-based artist who was born and raised in Banff National Park. This gave her a love of nature and the wilderness. She had art training at the Banff Center, the Kootenay School of Art, the Ottawa School of Art and the Haliburton Summer School of the Arts. She constantly learns by taking classes whenever she has time.
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Brenda is continuously exploring different techniques and styles, but enjoys the challenges of painting highly detailed subjects. Her work is inspired by the beauty of nature.
Brenda is a member of various organizations and galleries, including the Plant Recreation Center Gallery, the Eva Jones Gallery, Zolas Restaurant, the Carp Family Health Team Clinic, and others. Her works have been accepted in juried exhibitions, and her paintings can be found in private collections here in Canada. Her paintings have been acquired by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany (1 Waverley Street, Ottawa, ON), The High Commission of Canada in Bangladesh, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, The Great Canadian Oil Sands (GCOS) in Ft McMurray, Parks Canada (Western Arctic Office in Inuvik, NT).

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I am a representational landscape painter. I work in pen and ink, watercolour and acrylics.
There are winter days when the world looks black and white; those days are so perfect for pen and ink.
I usually complete one large pen and ink drawing each year. I will keep it with me at art shows so I can work on it when it's not busy. I will also keep it in the living room so I can work on it when the TV gets boring at night. So I don’t have many of them.
When I am in the studio working from a watercolour sketch or a photo reference, I will use acrylics, which allow me to work on a large canvas. If I am out in the field, I often use watercolour as it is so portable.
I often ask myself why I paint. When I am out in nature, I feel so moved by it that I want to capture it and share it with others. If I am in a remote wilderness location, I want to share it with others. I am also inspired by other artists, and I am constantly trying to become a better painter. At present, I am learning to get more sunlight in my paintings.
Although I was born and raised in Banff National Park, I have lived in the Ottawa area since 1990.
I worked for the Federal Government for 22 years in the high-tech field. I continued with my art during that time and am now a full-time artist. I also teach my art classes, which are documented on my website.