bio | artist statement
A short while later: Two pencils: red for girls, blue for boys. I'm an artist! Most fun ever in a classroom: Four year art course at Central Technical School, Toronto. Graduation in 1961. Getting serious: 1964, art career begins in earnest in the field of magazine design, art direction and illustration. Chatelaine, Miss Chatelaine, Flare, enRoute. Foot in the door: 1989. New York. My first contract with Greenwillow to illustrate a children's book. Then another. KidsCanPress.com. Big move: London, England. Three more kids' books. I begin to feel a yen to paint. I enroll in courses at The Camden School of Art, London and Lydgate Art Research Centre, Wiltshire. First group show: at the Wabe Gallery, Hampstead. 1996. Headed west: 1997. Vancouver. Three more childrens' books, for Kidscan Press, Toronto, while I continue painting, mainly figure and still life . I attend workshops at the Vancouver Art Academy and get better acquainted with acrylics, add texture. I get re-acquainted with oils. The work becomes more abstract and the canvases become larger. Time to look for a gallery. Making marks: I am fascinated by the creative process and its many surprises, obstacles and outcomes. Ever in search of the mark that feels the closest to what makes me tick, I enjoy exploring various points of view by working in series, utilizing different techniques, colour palettes, media and imagery. And now. Guided by a healthy measure of discontent and a desire to work in 3d with new materials, I am shifting my focus to fiber arts and what better place to begin than with doll making? I've long had an interest in fashion, have a background in design and children's illustrations, my mother taught me the fine points of wielding a needle and thread and operating a sewing machine and my grandmother was a keen knitter. I couldn't ask for a clearer path to my next best creative pursuit.
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First peek at the world: Springtime, Paris. 1942.