Bio - "Joy in Art"
I was born in Amsterdam, and grew up with parents who nurtured the artist in my sisters and me. We immigrated to Vancouver in 1958, and for a time as a child I went to the Vancouver School of Art on Saturday mornings. As a young adult I continued to pursue art while working and raising my three children as a single parent, and then had the good fortune in 1979 to attend a sponsored Graphic Design course at the Kootenay School of Art. Graphic design, sign painting, murals and faux finishing consecutively became my livelihood, often with my daughter, Rosanna.
For me my art is like unguided travel, an adventure where the sudden discovery inspires the response, and the trick to making the most of it is to become invisible during the experience. I let the subject and my response to it dictate the medium and style of expression.
During the past few years, I have been working on resolving the need for a certain “look” that determines whether an artist becomes “known”, with my tendency to experiment, and that has resulted in “series”, where I follow a theme. Currently my explorations, mainly in acrylic and pastel so far, are called “In Transit”, a theme that appeals to me on many levels.
Paint, murals, texture, drawing, collage, layering, pastels, photography, portraits, and sculpture all are part of my work, past and present. I belong to the ARTforce Collective and the North Vancouver Arts Council, and my work can be found in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands and France.
Art Education
♦ Emily Carr University of Art and Design - Certificate in Fine Art Media completed (summer 2012) - drawing, composition, colour theory, contemporary concepts, business, forms and styles, mixed media, brushstrokes
♦ Vancouver Community College – Certificate in Digital Graphic Design, 2004-05
♦ Federation of Canadian Artists - mixed media intensive with Donna Baspaly, SFCA
♦ Kootenay School of Art - Honours Graphic Design 1979-80
♦ Vancouver School of Art - Saturday morning classes 1963-65
Memberships and Awards
♦ International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE - member since 2000, scenic artist
♦ Artforce Collective - critique and exhibition group - meets monthly
♦ BC Perinatal Health Conference - !st prize for “Rosanna and Mieka” 2010
♦ South Delta Artists’ Guild “Oil and Water” juried - 2010 Best in Show, 2009 Best in Show and Critics’ Choice
♦ Cambridge House International SHOWCASE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS - Honorarium award for “All That Remains” November 2006
♦ Alan Wylie Award, Federation of Canadian Artists - “View in Orange-Blue” 24 x 30”, acrylic, March 2005
♦ Signs of the Times Magazine, First Place for Arcade supergraphic, March 1982
♦ Vancouver Art Gallery, portrait artist in the rotunda for summer - Face to Face – 400 years of Portraits, 1999
Recent Shows
♦ About Face - North Vancouver Community Arts Council group show, “Portrait of Penny” Jan. 31-Mar.1 2014
♦ Hycroft Manor Juried Show, Vancouver – summer show in gallery, mixed media, July 10 – 30, 2013
♦ Leigh Square Arts Village, Port Coquitlam – “Transitory-Transit Story” group show June 13 – July 16, 2013
♦ Place des Arts, Coquitlam – “Shaped by the Past” group show with ARTforce members Feb. 4 – Mar. 17, 2013
♦ North Vancouver Arts Council - “Window Views” 2 "In Transit" works, November 2010
♦ “Oil and Water” South Delta Artists Guild, Longhouse Gallery - summer 2011, 2010 and 2009.
♦ The Creative Framing Company, Vancouver, B.C. - April 1-30, “Tulipa Vanitas”, “container” Nov. 5 –25, 2006, “Pond Afternoon” 2005, “Fruitful Meditations” 2004
♦ New Westminster Library - “Ripple in Still Water” April 2005, fund-raiser for tsunami relief, group show
I was born in Amsterdam, and grew up with parents who nurtured the artist in my sisters and me. We immigrated to Vancouver in 1958, and for a time as a child I went to the Vancouver School of Art on Saturday mornings. As a young adult I continued to pursue art while working and raising my three children as a single parent, and then had the good fortune in 1979 to attend a sponsored Graphic Design course at the Kootenay School of Art. Graphic design, sign painting, murals and faux finishing consecutively became my livelihood, often with my daughter, Rosanna.
For me my art is like unguided travel, an adventure where the sudden discovery inspires the response, and the trick to making the most of it is to become invisible during the experience. I let the subject and my response to it dictate the medium and style of expression.
During the past few years, I have been working on resolving the need for a certain “look” that determines whether an artist becomes “known”, with my tendency to experiment, and that has resulted in “series”, where I follow a theme. Currently my explorations, mainly in acrylic and pastel so far, are called “In Transit”, a theme that appeals to me on many levels.
Paint, murals, texture, drawing, collage, layering, pastels, photography, portraits, and sculpture all are part of my work, past and present. I belong to the ARTforce Collective and the North Vancouver Arts Council, and my work can be found in Canada, the USA, the Netherlands and France.
Art Education
♦ Emily Carr University of Art and Design - Certificate in Fine Art Media completed (summer 2012) - drawing, composition, colour theory, contemporary concepts, business, forms and styles, mixed media, brushstrokes
♦ Vancouver Community College – Certificate in Digital Graphic Design, 2004-05
♦ Federation of Canadian Artists - mixed media intensive with Donna Baspaly, SFCA
♦ Kootenay School of Art - Honours Graphic Design 1979-80
♦ Vancouver School of Art - Saturday morning classes 1963-65
Memberships and Awards
♦ International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees, IATSE - member since 2000, scenic artist
♦ Artforce Collective - critique and exhibition group - meets monthly
♦ BC Perinatal Health Conference - !st prize for “Rosanna and Mieka” 2010
♦ South Delta Artists’ Guild “Oil and Water” juried - 2010 Best in Show, 2009 Best in Show and Critics’ Choice
♦ Cambridge House International SHOWCASE FOR THE VISUAL ARTS - Honorarium award for “All That Remains” November 2006
♦ Alan Wylie Award, Federation of Canadian Artists - “View in Orange-Blue” 24 x 30”, acrylic, March 2005
♦ Signs of the Times Magazine, First Place for Arcade supergraphic, March 1982
♦ Vancouver Art Gallery, portrait artist in the rotunda for summer - Face to Face – 400 years of Portraits, 1999
Recent Shows
♦ About Face - North Vancouver Community Arts Council group show, “Portrait of Penny” Jan. 31-Mar.1 2014
♦ Hycroft Manor Juried Show, Vancouver – summer show in gallery, mixed media, July 10 – 30, 2013
♦ Leigh Square Arts Village, Port Coquitlam – “Transitory-Transit Story” group show June 13 – July 16, 2013
♦ Place des Arts, Coquitlam – “Shaped by the Past” group show with ARTforce members Feb. 4 – Mar. 17, 2013
♦ North Vancouver Arts Council - “Window Views” 2 "In Transit" works, November 2010
♦ “Oil and Water” South Delta Artists Guild, Longhouse Gallery - summer 2011, 2010 and 2009.
♦ The Creative Framing Company, Vancouver, B.C. - April 1-30, “Tulipa Vanitas”, “container” Nov. 5 –25, 2006, “Pond Afternoon” 2005, “Fruitful Meditations” 2004
♦ New Westminster Library - “Ripple in Still Water” April 2005, fund-raiser for tsunami relief, group show