This winter landscape, Winter Evening, Acrylic on Canvas, was created to celebrate the serenity of nature at dusk following our first snowfall of the year. The peaceful transparent layers of the atmosphere are applied with large, loose, brushstrokes and are meant to convey tranquility. The background is balanced with the more concise, finely detailed brushstrokes in the foreground capturing the dusting of snow on the fir trees, and the lumpy snowy surfaces on the branches of the pines bringing us back into the immediate environment. I see nature as a connection point which helps me appreciate these incredible landforms that are such a large part of the history of our area in the Okanagan. The word nature is derived from the latin word “natura” or essential qualities, and in ancient times literally meant birth.

So often my art work is a celebration of nature, as I enjoy the outdoors immensely, and at every opportunity I am to be found hiking in the spring and summer, and snowshoeing in the winter. After a day outdoors, I take these images of beauty with me, and then transfer images and ideas into my sketch book in my studio, located in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. I have active status with the Federation of Canadian Artists, and was proud to give a talk about my art work at the Penticton TEDx Penticton conference in 2012.