About
I am a contemporary abstract artist working in paint, mixed media and print making. I’m drawn to express that which lies beyond words, beyond what’s visible. My work is built in layers - marks, colour, and texture derived from gestural writing. Landscape, architecture and contemporary design stir my curiosity.
I grew up a free-range kid in the wilds of North Vancouver and the wider west coast landscape and have been making some form of artistic expression since I could hold a coloured pencil. After university I moved to Vancouver Island in the early 80s and worked professionally as a writer/editor for 30 years crafting stories for business. My abstract paintings embed a visual language that also tells a story. I’ve taught calligraphy and mark making with handmade brushes for local arts organizations and at the Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts (MISSA) on Vancouver Island, B.C.
I work from my home studio on Vancouver Island, adjacent to the Salish Sea. I have participated in art residencies in Victoria, the Gulf Islands, Mexico City and was Artist in Residence at Tidal Art Centre, in Lund B.C. May, 2025. My paintings and prints have been exhibited in galleries in Victoria, Vancouver, Lund and New York. My works are held in private collections around the world.
EXHIBITIONS
Writ Large:Contemporary Works on Paper, arc.hive artist run centre, Victoria, BC, October 4 - 19, 2025, Group Exhibition
Fleeting, Metchosin Art Pod, Metchosin, B.C. July 24 - Sept. 14, 2025, *Jurors Choice Award, Group Exhibition
Glimpses and Musings, Tidal Art Centre, Lund, B.C May 23 - 25, 2025, Solo Exhibition
AIR, Metchosin Art Pod, Metchosin, B.C., April 4 - May 25, 2025, Group Exhibition
Small Gems Show, Victoria Arts Council, Victoria, BC December 2022 - January, 2023, Group Exhibition
Oak Bay Community Artists Studio Exhibition, Victoria, BC, November 5 and 6, 2022. Private exhibition
Small Works Show and Sale, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC Nov 2022 - Jan 2023, Group Exhibition
Small Works Show and Sale, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC June - August, 2022, Group Exhibition
Oak Bay Community Artists Exhibition, April, 2022, Victoria, BC Group Exhibition.
Sub Text, Metchosin Art Pod, April, 2022 *Juror’s Choice Award. Group Exhibition
Landward New works in the time of Covid. Errant Art Space, Victoria, BC Group Exhibition, November 2021.
Sooke Fine Arts Show Sooke Fine Arts Society, July 2021. Group Exhibition
Summer Small Works Show and Sale Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, June 2021 Acrylic painting. Group Exhibition
Small Works Exhibition, Victoria Print Society, Solar plate print, 2020. Group Exhibition
Beyond the Archive, GroundZero Printmakers, Feb, 2020. Solar plate print. Group Exhibition
Forged arc.Hive artist run centre, Victoria, BC. May 2019. Ink paintings with hand made tools. Group Exhibition
Winter Small Works Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Nov. 2019. Mark making with ink and hand made tools. Group Exhibition
Solar Impressions Southhampton Arts Centre, Sag Harbour, New York, Nov. 2019. Group Exhibition
In Light of Winter Zebra Arts Collective, Chapel Gallery, Victoria, BC, Nov. 2019. Acrylic paintings. Group Exhibition
Curriculum Vitae
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EDUCATION
2024 Sally Hirst - Online Abstract Composition
2023 Sally Hirst - Online, Aspects of Abstraction
2021 Lewis Noble - Online Abstraction painting,
2020-2021 Louise Fletcher - Online Abstraction painting
2019 - 2020 Artists’ Mentorship Program, arc.hive Artist-Run Centre, Victoria, B.C
2018 - 2019 Artists’ Mentorship Program, arc.hive Artist-Run Centre, Victoria, B.C
2019 Solar Printmaking Intensive, Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts (MISSA), Metchosin
2020 Painting Intensive, Vancouver Island Art Workshops, Cedar, B.C.
2016 - 2020 Drawing and Painting specialization, Vancouver Island School of Art, Victoria, B.C.
1989 - present Private calligraphy instruction, workshops and conferences, Fairbank Calligraphy Society, Victoria,
1983 Marketing Management, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, B.C.
1978 Bachelor of Arts, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
EXHIBITIONS
2020 Beyond the Archive, Ground Zero Printmakers, Victoria Arts Council, Victoria, B.C., group
exhibition
2020 Fairfield Artists Studio Tour, Zebra Art Collective, Victoria, B.C., group exhibition
2019 Solar Impressions, International juried printmaking exhibition, Southampton Arts Centre, New York group exhibition.
2019 In Light of Winter, Zebra Art Collective, Chapel Gallery, Victoria, B.C., group exhibition
2019 Winter Small Works, juried exhibition, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, B.C., group exhibition
2019 Small Gems, Victoria Arts Council, Victoria, B.C., group exhibition
2018 Forged, arc.hive Artist-Run Centre, Victoria, B.C, group exhibition
PRESENTATIONS
2022 Fairbank Calligraphy Society, The Influence of Calligraphy on Abstract Painting, March, 2022
2021 Sooke Fine Arts Show, Sooke Fine Arts Society, Abstract Painting in Acrylic. July 2021.
MEDIA
January 2020 The Amazing Journey of a MISSA student, GoWestShore magazine, Victoria, B.C. January, 2020
Visit https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A6ca6be96-8e1d-4be3-ab96-0ebdb7db384d to read the full article.
September 2025 Attention + Openness = Reward, by Diana Smith Metchosin Muse, regional newspaper. September, 2025
Visit http://www.metchosinmuse.ca/pdf/2025/MM_09-2025_web.pdf
COMMISSIONS
2020 Canyon of Steel, acrylic on canvas, 18 inches x 24 inches. Victoria, B.C.
2021 Let’s take the long way around, acrylic on canvas, 48 inches x 36 inches. Victoria, B.C.