Santana Star

I was born in Glasgow Scotland and grew up in Canada, mainly on the east Coast. I was drawn to art at a very early age, in kindergarten, loved finger painting and making mud pots. One of my ancestor's Lily Mc Dougall was an oil painter who studied at the Hague and was the first woman artist to be accepted into the Scottish guild.

In the summer of 1969 I left home and moved to Prince Edward Island where the path of Art began to open up for me when I met British Canadian Artist Hilda Woolnough (now deceased). Hilda was a graduate of Chelsea School of Art in London. She became my friend and mentor. Through Holland College and UPEI I studied life drawing, acrylic painting and Art History. I then did a foundation at the Nova Scotia College of Art & design with an extra focus on ceramics.

When I turned 21 I was given a return ticket to London, England. I continued art classes mainly focusing on ceramics. At Well Walk Pottery in Hampstead I learned to throw pots and at Camden Arts center continued to work with ceramics. During my time in UK I got married and had four children. I also studied holistic healing modalities such as homeopathy, reflexology, Shiatsu and aroma therapy.

After more than 20 years in England I came to California and continued to study art in Santa Cruz. I studied mandala painting and was also involved in a painting circle with local artists. I did a workshop in Acrylic painting in New Mexico near the home of Georgia O'keef. I then studied water color and drawing then moved into acrylics on canvas. With my latest teacher I studied oil painting on canvas and I fell in love with that medium. I love the roundness and depth of color and tone with oil paint. There is a richness in that medium.

I love the beauty of nature and enjoy being out in it hiking around. I am inspired to paint nature's beauty. I mainly paint landscapes and seascapes but also love to paint flowers. My paintings are usually vibrant with color. I hope the viewer will enjoy my paintings and find them uplifting.

At present I live in Aptos, California and my main focus is oil painting on canvas.

Drawing & Painting Holland College

Art History UPEI

Foundation Nova Scotia College of Art & Design

Ceramics, Well Walk pottery Hampstead, London, UK

ceramics, Camden Arts center Camden, London, UK

Drawing, water color, acrylics, oils with various teachers in Santa Cruz CA

During my Foundation at NSCAD I was the slide librarian and got to see some fantastic art. I was amazed by the ceramics of antiquity and sculpture especially Rodin. In painting: I love magic realism, impressionism and expressionism, the work of Matisse, Rousseau, Gaugin, Cezanne some of the work of the Canadian group of Seven. Nicholas Roerich is my most favourite Artist his work has a magical, mystical quality with a spiritual theme that has power and stillness at the same time. My favorite modern artist is Erin Hanson her sense of color is sublime. Some artists have the ability to take nature up to the next level and capture the essence of its beauty onto a canvas. Art is about seeing and the artist often sees beyond the surface what others don't see.

impressionism, magical, mystical, landscapes, seascapes, flowers, still life's, vibrant, colorful, mountains