I was born in Quebec and grew up in an art-rich environment in the Laurentians and Montreal. At 22, I moved to British Columbia’s West Coast to go to graduate school and stayed on.
For more than 25 years I’ve been pursuing formal art studies to add to a lifetime of informal study. I also hold a BA and MA.
Before turning to a full-time art practice, I was a professional writer and editor, in effect working with language the way I now work with visual art forms: as a way to see, experience and better understand the world and my own small part in it. In many studio projects, I merge the two pursuits, devising ways to turn quoted passages—poetic, scientific, philosophic, salty—into 2D and 3D visual form.
I work from my light-filled home studio near the ocean and mountains in the Cowichan Valley, outside Victoria, British Columbia.
Select Education and Skills Development
Credit courses: Vancouver Island School of Art, Victoria BC (since 2005): abstract colour and form, art history, collage and composition, colour theory, design principles, series development, painting (landscape, figure, still life, portrait, abstraction)
Workshops, mentorships, art residencies/retreats, etc:
- Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts (since 2003): abstract and contemporary art concepts, 3D assemblage/sculpture, series development, hot glass sandcasting
- Vancouver Island Art Workshops (since 2006): abstract mixed media, abstract painting, abstract design, abstract design masterclass
- Collaborative Artist’s Mentorship Program (CAMP), Victoria BC (Connie Michele Morey)
- Group coaching program, The Artist’s Mindset (Cheryl Taves, Insight Creative)
- Joya Artist in Residence, Almeria, Spain, June 2024
- Isla Mujeres, Mexico, self-directed group art retreat, 2020 and 2023
- Photojournalism course, Western Academy of Photography, Victoria BC (Ted Grant)
- MA, University of Victoria, Victoria BC; BA (Honours), Concordia University, Montreal QC
Memberships Current and Past
- Art Critique Program with contemporary artist Sara Robichaud
- co-LAB-orate Art Crit group, Victoria BC
- Cowichan Valley Arts Council
- Victoria Arts Council
- Zebra Arts Collective, Victoria BC
Exhibitions
- August 2024: Local Treasures, Arts Council of Ladysmith & District show, Ladysmith BC
- Nov 2023-Jan 2024: Juried. Black and White: Contrasting Ideas and Realities. EJ Hughes Gallery/Excellent Frameworks, Duncan BC
- Dec 2023: December Members Show, Victoria Arts Council, VAC Gallery, Victoria BC
- Sept-Nov 2023: Solo exhibition of works from project Caustic Optimism, Victoria Arts Council satellite venue, Oak Bay Public Library, Victoria BC
- June-July 2023: Juried. Look Again: Photographic Art Show, ArtPod Gallery, Metchosin BC
- May-June 2023: 53rd Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show, Portals Gallery, Duncan BC
- April-May 2023: Trifolia, three-person show, Gage Gallery, Victoria BC
- Oct-Nov 2022: Juried. Ekphrasis, ArtPod Gallery, Metchosin BC
- June 2022: 6 x 6 x 6, co-LAB-orate group show, Errant artSpace, Victoria BC
- May 2022: 52nd Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show, Portals Gallery, Duncan BC
- April-May 2022: Solo exhibition, Room for Not Knowing, Chapel Gallery, Victoria BC
- Oct 2021: Seen | Together, exhibition with Louise Oborne, Errant artSpace, Victoria BC
- Aug 2021: Interlude, five-member group show, Errant artSpace, Victoria BC
- July-Aug 2021: Juried. 35th Sooke Fine Arts Show, Sooke BC
- May 2021: 51st Cowichan Valley Fine Arts Show, Portals Gallery, Duncan BC
- Feb-March 2021: Juried. 9th biennial Ladysmith Fine Arts Show, Ladysmith BC
- July 2020: Juried. Summer Show, Victoria Arts Council, VAC Gallery, Victoria BC
- May 2020: 50th Annual Fine Arts Show, Portals Gallery, Duncan BC (Hon. Mention award)
- April 2020: Juried. UNTIL online gallery (Issue 4), Victoria Arts Council, Victoria BC
- Nov 2019: In Light of Winter, Zebra Art Collective group show, Chapel Gallery, Victoria BC