My first Exhibit, In Port Credit, 1948 was a pencil drawing on our bathroom wall. I signed my little brother’s name. I was five. I’ve always loved to draw!

  In 1974, after the birth of my second child- Kate-I bought a bottle of India Ink, several straight pens and nibs and began drawing ‘Views’ from my life- as stay – at – home Mom and transplanted ‘southerner’-in and around Lively and at our camp on Lake Dassarat, in Northern Quebec. I joined the Lively Art Club and exhibited my landscapes and life drawings at their Annual Spring Shows.

  Over the next 10 years I was an active member of: the Lively Walden art Club, the Sudbury Craft and Art Foundation, the ATTIC Committee and the Sudbury Arts Council. I continued to work in pen & ink and pencil but I fell in love with acrylics. No smell! Quick Drying! Perfect for painting at the kitchen table- near small children and long-haired dogs- and when storing your ‘works in Progress’ under and behind your couch!

  At 40, my reality changed. I rejoined the work-force and became a ‘Community Service Worker’. I worked with: Northern Lights Festival Boreal, The Sudbury Multicultural Folk Arts Association, the Kidney Foundation, the Town of Walden and the Lake Laurentian Conservation Foundation. Most of my creative energy was focused on: publicity, public relations, public education, volunteer recruitment and fund raising. My artistic projects were varied but limited to gifts for family and friends.
  And now, 22 years later, I've had my first solo exhibit thanks to my daughter Kate- my muse and my motivator. Kate has single handedly ‘jump-started’ my artistic pursuits and broadened my ‘views’ of the world
  In 2000, Kate and I toured the Scottish Highlands (home of my Mother’s ancestors) and I fell in love with the ancient castles and the wild beauty of the Lochs and mountains. She brought me a portable easel and challenged me to start painting again.

  When my husband and I visited her on Vancouver Island, she specifically arranged opportunities for me to sketch ‘on site’ wherever we went. I fell in love with the natural beauty of the Pacific Rim. The rainforests and the mountain passes. It inspired me to paint a series of small landscapes in acrylics and I began to draw in pen and ink again.
  Wherever Kate travels (as a Military Doctor or tourist) she takes amazing photos- her - views of the world. Her photos of the sea and cliffs of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland just begged to be interpreted in acrylics.
  In 2004, Kate and I met in County Kerry, Ireland (home of my Father’s ancestors) for 15 days of R&R, at ‘Seaside Cottage’, near Killorglin. I took my pens and paper and had time to draw almost every day! It was a feast for the senses! Vibrant green, rolling hills and hedges, raw cliffs rising from the sea, misty mountain passes, barren limestone formation in ‘The Burren’, Ancient Ringforts and Portal Tombs. I returned to Lively eager to share my experiences in ink and acrylics.

  In November, Kate challenged me to “…Get brave and exhibit your work…stop hiding it under the couch!…Find a location for an exhibit.

  In December, Sue Lampinen made it all possible by offering me space in her Gallery – “Lampinen Fine Art & Custom Framing” – for a solo Exhibit.

  And May 2-20/05… “Views From a Broad”…over 50 original ‘views from my life- as wife, mother, grandmother, nature-lover, ‘recent traveler and older BROAD was a reality!

  June - Aug./05 Several of my in drawings & paintings were for sale during the summer at Lampinen Fine Art & Custom Framing.

July 9-17/05 3 of my 4 submissions to La Cloche Art Show were part of the 28th Annual Exhibit: 'Almost Spring', 'Skelling Ring Road, Valentia Island' and 'Nesting Kitten'. This was very exciting news because it was the first time I'd ever participated and I received an Honorable mention for my Ink Drawing - 'Nesting Kitten'.

  "...On Oct.1 & 2, I was part of the Sudbury Craft & Art Foundation's 15th Annual Studio Tour. John Kurczak( a nature Photographer) and I worked with a model, in Studio U, at The Sudbury Arts Council Gallery...'Gwen & John - in Plain Sight'. It was a new experience for both of us! We had 90 visitors on Sat. & 60 on Sun. It was lots of fun! I completed 5 pencil drawings of our model Stephanie & John took over 100 digital photos! We're going to include some of this artwork in next year's Studio Tour - Sept.30,Oct.1,2006."

  Over 60 years in the making! From my first Exhibit in Port Credit, in 1948…a pencil drawing on our bathroom' wall; through the evolution of my life - from student, teacher, Salvation Army Officer, wife & stay-at-home Mom, volunteer teacher, Insurance salesman, community service worker, community volunteer to Grandmother and older 'Broad'… drawing & painting and artistic projects (cartoons, crewel-work/embroidery, hand-quilting, murals, portraits, soft-sculpture, wood-carving and writing etc) have filled my need to express myself creatively and provided an escape from reality.

  My passion is Drawing- especially in black Ink…the deliberate, defining lines moving across the blank page to create contrast, shape, texture and life - en plein air or from photographs.

  Acrylics are perfect for my lifestyle…No smell! Quick drying…essential with small grandchildren and long-haired dogs and when storing your 'works-in-progress'. And perfect for my style of painting…creating images from the distance to foreground…layering & building the depth, shapes, textures and highlights and experimenting with colours.

'  Views' from my Life include: Landscape…BC, Northeastern Ontario, Northwestern Quebec, Newfoundland, County Kerry in Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland and Llanbedr in Wales and Life… people of all ages and animals- wild and domestic.