As far back as I can remember I have been making art. My mother used to paint and I
still have two paintings that I did with her at around 9 years old, one of Templeton the rat
and Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web and one of my Siamese cat. The painting of
Templeton was hung in the Mendel Art Gallery to represent Brunskill School. I was
always taking some kind of art class as a child, often those offered by the Mendel Art
Gallery, which I loved.
In high school I continued to make art. I was a fan of children’s book art and I could
spend hours being drawn into the amazing worlds created by the beautiful illustrations in
them. I had a large painting of Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire cat hang in the
library at Nutana Collegiate for a period of time.
Although I spent three years at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary in the 70’s, it wasn’t
until I was the Program Manager at the Community Arts Program at the U of S that I
really started to develop my skills and style as an artist by taking classes there. It was a
class called Off the Grid that was taught by Miranda Jones that influenced the work that I
have been doing for the past seven years. I loved and continue to love the process of
working with mixed media, gilding and putting colour and pattern together. I think that
my love of children’s book illustrations and storytelling continues to influence my work.


