Personal Work

Welcome to my personal work. You'll find all kinds of stuff in here, painting, printmaking, small sketches, and maybe even some crochet! Who knows what you'll find down below?

This series was created for my grad show from Seneca College. The artist statement below was posted on the wall next to my piece in the gallery. They were done in fineliner and watercolour on heavy-weight cold press paper.

"Mistress Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And marigolds all in a row.”

Kate Smith

I created this series based on The Secret Garden, a 1911 novel about Mary, a sour child learning to be joyful through a newfound connection with nature. She creates a new life for herself with friends and meaning. To me, this story is about how the freedom to play and explore and have something to cherish. It is about the growth that comes with this kind of autonomy.

The Secret Garden holds a special place in my heart. My first time reading this book was with my mom. She read it to me as a bedtime story and used it to teach me how to read. Just as Mary created a world out of a garden, my mom created worlds out of stories, and I now create worlds out of art.

I used an Art Nouveau style, a popular art movement when the novel was written. The style focuses on botanical studies, flowing lines, and capturing the natural world. I feel this style best reflects Mary’s transition. Art nouveau is about freedom. About a release from tradition and the expectations that came with it. It was built off the concept of making art for art’s sake. Just as Mary learned to enjoy her life by living it, Art Nouveau was about enjoying art by creating it.

A lino print of a girl lying in a wildflower field with her fingers dipped in a pond. A frog has hopped over to her to see what'ss going on.

This is one of my favourite prints. A lino-carving printed with black ink on paper, 11x14 inches.

The carving process took me ages (I carved between each and every blade of grass) but I think it was worth it in the end. The idea of a girl just relaxing by a pond, with a little frog friend coming to join her peaceful day. I wanted to portray a calm and serene scene and I hope you like it as much as I do.