After over a decade long career in business, and then a long hiatus dedicated to raising my three children, I went back to school and attended continuing studies courses at Red Deer College. Encouraged to do more with my art practice by an instructor, I applied to OCADU, presented a portfolio of works and was accepted to the drawing and painting program. I completed the BFA at OCADU in 2019 with distinction and awarded the Mackenzie Investments foyer placement for Inclusive Spaces.
Having spent a lot of time outdoors as a youth canoe tripping at camp in the summers, working at our farm and visits to family in Ireland by the sea, had a tremendous influence on my art. The work always starts with the natural world and using all of my senses, I respond to whatever catches my attention.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Since my thesis year in 2019, I have been creating abstracted stylized images of imagined transformations inspired by the dragonfly and butterfly. These ancient creatures caught my attention while plein air drawing and are metaphor of transformation. In my most recent work I became fascinated with the white butterfly which happens to live in Ireland and I also include markings from Ontario species. I intertwine biological wings, sometimes figures and text and distort and recolour them using digital Procreate drawing, photo sources and once printed, I often work overtop with traditional ways of making using pastel and paint or I will import hand drawings into the digital world. The synthesis of older and newer ways of making speak to the importance to me of understanding our history and the latest technology in order to gain a deeper understanding of who we are. Sometimes I intertwine text from poetry or philosophy into the works. Overall I wish to evoke a sense of things changing and transforming, hoping to offer a meditative experience from which the viewer can draw their own thoughts and feelings from the work.