Darlene Kulig was awarded the CSEA/Berol Prismacolour National Art Scholarship awarded to six Canadian students entering Fine Arts based on outstanding potential in visual arts. Graduating from the Ontario College of Art and Design she quickly moved into a commercial setting and within four years of graduating was running her own successful design studio. 

Darlene began painting full time ten years ago. Her work utilizes synthesis or stylization - an approach that came into Eurocentric art from Japan in the mid 1800’s. Many of Canada’s great landscape painters (Lawren Harris being an obvious example) have done this. Darlene makes her approach her own by using strong (high key) colour and uniting smaller shapes into larger more powerful areas by controlling her values. Her love of the beauty available in the Canadian landscape is clear. What is especially impressive is that she has developed a unique very personal approach that "feels" Canadian. 

TorontoHOME and Ottawa Life Magazine have featured Darlene’s award winningwork, showcasing her vibrant, coast to coast Canadian landscapes. Global Affairs Canada has installed a selection of Kulig Canadian Landscapes in Canadian Embassies buildings in North America, Europe, the Middle East. and South America and The Mayo clinic has Darlene’s work hanging in the Rochester Clinic. Pomegranate Communications has licensed Darlene’s work to be reproduced as contemporary Canadian content in their international product line. Pomegranate products can be found in the MOMA, The British Museum, The National Gallery of Canada and AGO.

Currently, Darlene is focusing her creative efforts full time on developing a recognizable, signature Kulig Canadian landscape as well as traveling with an eye for her next painting series. The award winning Rocky Mountaineer has commissioned Darlene to ride and paint the Rocky Mountains for an upcoming Canadian Rockies series to be completed this fall. A member of the Etobicoke Art Group and Neilson Park Creative Centre where she studies and paints, you can find her work in galleries across Canada and the United States as well as private collections around the world.