How I Got My Start as an Artist
Many people have asked me how I got my start, or ended up, as a watercolor artist. The easiest answer is, I was born.
My earliest memories of drawing are from when I was three years old. I recall staying at my grandparents’ house in the winter because it was a warmer house than the tiny uninsulated cabin (a shack, really) that my family lived in. I have humble but happy beginnings growing up on the prairie farm my grandparents homesteaded over a hundred years ago.
I had wonderful parents; I grew up across the yard from one set of grandparents, and a six-mile drive to town where my other grandparents lived. Wax crayons were involved in that first artistic episode. I was just strong enough to push a dresser on wheels away from the nice bare wall behind it so I could draw. Then I pushed it back once I'd completed my first masterpiece. Ahem.
My earliest memories of drawing are from when I was three years old. I recall staying at my grandparents’ house in the winter because it was a warmer house than the tiny uninsulated cabin (a shack, really) that my family lived in. I have humble but happy beginnings growing up on the prairie farm my grandparents homesteaded over a hundred years ago.
I had wonderful parents; I grew up across the yard from one set of grandparents, and a six-mile drive to town where my other grandparents lived. Wax crayons were involved in that first artistic episode. I was just strong enough to push a dresser on wheels away from the nice bare wall behind it so I could draw. Then I pushed it back once I'd completed my first masterpiece. Ahem.
I also discovered than I could crawl under the old iron bed and draw on the walls where no one would find my creations. I think I knew that walls were not an acceptable location for my work, and my mom confirmed that when she finally found my drawings.
Let’s just say that she firmly re-directed my efforts toward paper after those discoveries. I'm sure they looked something like this:
Let’s just say that she firmly re-directed my efforts toward paper after those discoveries. I'm sure they looked something like this:
In the small prairie school I attended, it was clear from the start that my abilities leaned far more toward the artistic than the mathematical or scientific. I was labelled a good “draw-er” and loved art class and story time the most.
After having raised two children, I’m a firm believer that we start out with the personalities that we have throughout life. Life can knock us around, but what we loved as children is usually what we love as adults.
Living on a farm on the Canadian prairies gave me lots of scope for creativity. The entire farm and beyond was my playground. Nature provided lots of materials.
After having raised two children, I’m a firm believer that we start out with the personalities that we have throughout life. Life can knock us around, but what we loved as children is usually what we love as adults.
Living on a farm on the Canadian prairies gave me lots of scope for creativity. The entire farm and beyond was my playground. Nature provided lots of materials.
Attending small schools, however, gave me very little in the way of art education. I didn’t know that I was missing it, so I created anyway. When I was a young teen, my parents gave me a set of oil paints for Christmas. My grandma had taken an art class when she’d spent a winter in the city and she gave me an oil painting instruction book.
I was off and running and painted several “works” that are still somewhere in the family archives.
As I neared the end of my high school years, I decided to study art in university. Unfortunately, never having studied art in the upper high school grades was a problem. But problems have solutions. I contacted the department of education in the next province, where I intended to go to university, and requested that I could study Grade 12 Art by correspondence.
I was off and running and painted several “works” that are still somewhere in the family archives.
As I neared the end of my high school years, I decided to study art in university. Unfortunately, never having studied art in the upper high school grades was a problem. But problems have solutions. I contacted the department of education in the next province, where I intended to go to university, and requested that I could study Grade 12 Art by correspondence.
The answer was no.
I would not be allowed to study Grade 12 Art without having first completed Grades 10 and 11 Art. Not to be daunted, I fired off a letter explaining that I needed the final year to qualify for university attendance and requested that I be able to take all three grades in one year.
It took some convincing on my part but finally they relented and began sending me the materials. Any apprehension I’d felt at being able to handle all this was wiped away pretty quickly. Getting through three years of art instruction in one year was a piece of cake. I even recommended ways they could improve the program.
When you think about what comes easily to you, too often it is discounted as unimportant. After all, if it’s this easy anyone could do it, right? Not so.
The next year, off I went to university in Calgary, Alberta. Registered in the Faculty of Fine Arts, I studied drawing, design, and art history. My academic career was short lived, though. After only one year, I met a cute guy who swept me off my feet and we began making plans together. We got married the following spring.
That’s when my art took a back burner. Between setting up home, jobs, and starting a family, life was busy. But what you love can’t lie dormant forever, so when my youngest daughter started kindergarten I borrowed library books, bought watercolours, brushes, and paper and started painting again.
I would not be allowed to study Grade 12 Art without having first completed Grades 10 and 11 Art. Not to be daunted, I fired off a letter explaining that I needed the final year to qualify for university attendance and requested that I be able to take all three grades in one year.
It took some convincing on my part but finally they relented and began sending me the materials. Any apprehension I’d felt at being able to handle all this was wiped away pretty quickly. Getting through three years of art instruction in one year was a piece of cake. I even recommended ways they could improve the program.
When you think about what comes easily to you, too often it is discounted as unimportant. After all, if it’s this easy anyone could do it, right? Not so.
The next year, off I went to university in Calgary, Alberta. Registered in the Faculty of Fine Arts, I studied drawing, design, and art history. My academic career was short lived, though. After only one year, I met a cute guy who swept me off my feet and we began making plans together. We got married the following spring.
That’s when my art took a back burner. Between setting up home, jobs, and starting a family, life was busy. But what you love can’t lie dormant forever, so when my youngest daughter started kindergarten I borrowed library books, bought watercolours, brushes, and paper and started painting again.
It’s funny how when you make the decision to start off in a certain direction, opportunities appear. I found a watercolor studio class with an excellent instructor and attended once a week for over a year. Learning watercolor technique, how to make the paint do what you want, is key, and I was fortunate in my instructor.
Over the years, I’ve taken classes in various techniques, all fun. While raising my daughters, working at various jobs including travel agent and hotel sales, I continued to paint.
My watercolor paintings sold in galleries, and went to hang in homes all over the world. When my children were a bit older we moved to France. My adult coloring book, Sketches from the South of France, feature my drawings from this time. And then moved back to Canada, this time to the west coast.
Over the years, I’ve taken classes in various techniques, all fun. While raising my daughters, working at various jobs including travel agent and hotel sales, I continued to paint.
My watercolor paintings sold in galleries, and went to hang in homes all over the world. When my children were a bit older we moved to France. My adult coloring book, Sketches from the South of France, feature my drawings from this time. And then moved back to Canada, this time to the west coast.
I started my own business nearly twenty years ago designing art for several stationery product lines. Selling my products wholesale, they went into shops throughout most of the English-speaking world. All the watercolor artwork and the witty or touching sayings were mine.
Along the way, I had the opportunity to joint venture in a small retail store. I thought being involved in the store was a good way to expand my business. And while I enjoyed much about the retailing experience, it coincided with a chronic health issue that made it difficult to continue with my wholesale company at the same time. A bit of a stumble, you could say.
Along the way, I had the opportunity to joint venture in a small retail store. I thought being involved in the store was a good way to expand my business. And while I enjoyed much about the retailing experience, it coincided with a chronic health issue that made it difficult to continue with my wholesale company at the same time. A bit of a stumble, you could say.
My business struggled and my health languished then gradually began to improve. I decided to write a book because it was something I’d always thought I could do. Pictures and words come easily to me. I published a novel, and then another, and at the same time the publishing world was undergoing dramatic changes.
I saw an opportunity to help others write and publish that would help my business get back on its hurting feet. Retail was proving not to have been my best choice, as fun as it was.
In the intervening years, I’ve published twenty-three of my own books, including novels, novellas, journals, illustrated inspirational books, and adult colouring books. I helped numerous clients publish dozens of books.
I saw an opportunity to help others write and publish that would help my business get back on its hurting feet. Retail was proving not to have been my best choice, as fun as it was.
In the intervening years, I’ve published twenty-three of my own books, including novels, novellas, journals, illustrated inspirational books, and adult colouring books. I helped numerous clients publish dozens of books.
In the past five years, I’ve lost both my parents. There is no way that is not a blow. As executor on my mom’s will, I’ve had to learn things I never expected to need to know. However, going through difficult things often gives you a perspective that you might not get otherwise.
Mine involved realizing how much I missed creating art and putting it out into the world for others to enjoy. When the time was right, I decided to open my online store, Summer Bay Studio, which is the same name that I’ve used all these years for my art business.
Summer Bay Studio features my art and designs on a growing variety of products. Through the years I’ve kept painting and now, not only have I amassed an impressive collection of paintings, I now have an outlet for all my charming watercolour art and designs.
I hope you love my artwork as much as I love creating everything. I plan to continue to create art that lifts hearts and brightens days for a long time to come.
Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter in the box below.
Mine involved realizing how much I missed creating art and putting it out into the world for others to enjoy. When the time was right, I decided to open my online store, Summer Bay Studio, which is the same name that I’ve used all these years for my art business.
Summer Bay Studio features my art and designs on a growing variety of products. Through the years I’ve kept painting and now, not only have I amassed an impressive collection of paintings, I now have an outlet for all my charming watercolour art and designs.
I hope you love my artwork as much as I love creating everything. I plan to continue to create art that lifts hearts and brightens days for a long time to come.
Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter in the box below.