Art as a Guide Through Life

 

Snack Time, wool, 7.5" x 11.25, CAN $450

January Blog



Art has always been my way to capture the beauty of nature. After I immigrated to Canada, it became my means to express myself without words in difficult and memorable times, a personal retreat.


I came to Canada in April 1995, following my then-financé Ingo back to the country he had lived in since childhood. While I had a degree as a foreign language correspondent in English and Spanish, most of my practice had been in the artificial space of a classroom. I felt overwhelmed when communicating in English, especially in group discussions.


After exploring the country on our route from Toronto to Vancouver, we finally settled in Ottawa. For the first year, I only was here as a tourist and had to leave the country at least every six months. I also could not get a work permit.


Wanting to meet people, I signed up for a painting class at the Ottawa School of Art. At first, I was shocked at how rusty my drawing and painting skills had become within a few years of hardly touching my tools, but I slowly regained confidence. While I didn't understand every word the instructor said, I understood enough to follow her directions and slowly found my way back into painting.


However, our growing family soon limited my creative activities again. In 2006, I entered a budding artist exhibition and won a prize for my painting, Jessie - Forever in My Heart. Creating the artwork of our beautiful Golden Retriever, who died the day after her 10th birthday, was my way to keep her memory alive and deal with the pain of losing her so suddenly. Creating the painting cost me a lot of strength. I had to stop several times when I was overwhelmed with pain. Therefore, I started a second painting, Princess Christine, a portrait of my young daughter. I submitted both paintings to the Arteast Budding Artist Exhibition. Both paintings achieved high scores, but my dog painting won in its category. Winning the prize encouraged me to get serious about painting again and develop my art beyond the hobby stage.


Fast forward a couple of decades, and I have the privilege of teaching others, and the vision for my business has become much more than providing beauty with my art. It reflects my experiences of using art to cope, explore and capture my surroundings.


As an entrepreneur, I represent my business. What I offer reflects my personal values. My core values give you transparency of my focus and whether your expectations align with my values when you consider working with me.


When I think of my values, there is one more that I could add: Inspiration. Over the years, I have experienced the power of art to celebrate life's beauty and to get me through some deep valleys. I want to share this gift with you so you experience the freedom of creative expression, which will enrich your life.

This year, I have picked a different challenge for myself. I still strive to create art every day. However, I want to complete ten unfinished projects every month instead of creating a new drawing or painting daily. I reached my goal this month. Here is a collage of the finished artworks.

 

 

To read more about each piece, please email me, and I will send you a copy of my latest newsletter. I will publish my next blog on February 28, 2025.