Bloomin’ Barn Studio – Gallery
Prince Edward County
I was born and raised in Toronto. As a six year old, I attended the Art Gallery of Toronto art classes for children. I graduated from the art program at Northern Secondary School in Toronto.
I lived in many different places in Ontario as well as ten years in Quebec. I was a resident of Burlington from 1979 to 1995 and participated in many shows and art auctions at the Burlington Art Centre, the Hamilton Art Gallery and the Dundas Valley School of Art. My focus then was watercolour, silk and porcelain painting. In the midst of a divorce I took a class in oil painting at the Burlington Art Centre and discovered my medium! This opened new doors for me – I love the luxuriousness of oils and the fact that I can paint large canvases. I create exuberant florals bursting with colour, which have been described as joyous. I’m a participant in the fabulous Prince Edward County Studio Tour and the Prince Edward County Arts Trail. The Merrill Inn in Picton and Sandbanks Provincial Park house my paintings. Others are in private collections in Canada, Europe and the United States.
I usually start three paintings in different sizes of the same subject. I paint very quickly using large brushes, “sketching” with a brush right onto the canvas, if I get bogged down with preliminary details I lose the passion and my paintings become static. When the energy is flowing the brushes practically leap out of my fingers. I paint “plein air” as often as possible, appearing somewhat like an orchestra conductor in front of my garden. I grow pretty well every flower I paint, but I’m not a gardener – the weeds win in August. From May to October you can view my paintings in a circa 1880 drive shed in my garden aka “The Bloomin Barn” and my sun filled studio year round. I am very fortunate to be able to paint every day. My paintings are getting larger and larger, and have been described as diaphanous, ethereal and best of all joyous.