Selected paintings in private collections:[portfolio_slideshow id=103]

How my art evolved:

In 1996-7, during my last year as an art student at McMaster University, I painted a series of 11 paintings based on my birthplace, the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. I was engaged to a Canadian, and as my plans to return home after graduation changed – and before I looked forward to creating a new life for myself in Canada – I wanted to look back, at what St. Lucia meant to me. I had 2 large paintings on the go at a time, one figurative and one landscape, and by the end of the year I had a strong body of work, but I’d learned that my passion lay in painting foliage.

My next series, Jungle Rhythms, still encapsulates the feeling that I want to capture with my art to this day, but in time my skills have progressed and changed. Fast forward to 2009, when I started painting with my married name (my maiden name was Gomez). The last few paintings had been of local Canadian flowers and ponds, but now I began a series of hibiscus & banana images which were the first two to come to mind when I thought of St. Lucian flora. Then I included crotons, royal poinciana (flamboyant), frangipani (plumeria), anthuriums and more. The tropical landscape is an endless source of inspiration, one that is layered in meaning for me.

I’ve also started painting more of what is around me in Ontario, Canada – eg. lily pads and dragonflies from the ponds while camping or fishing with husband and sons. I fish for compositions with my camera while they catch & release whatever they can. Throughout the year, I make trips to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, to capture the changing seasons with my camera and sketchbook. In the winter, I visit local greenhouses like Gage Park Tropical Greenhouse in Hamilton, and the Burlington Art Center Conservatory. And of course I travel to the Caribbean to exhibit my paintings, visit family and friends and breathe deep in the landscape of my youth!