Brenda Beattie - Canadian Artist

Why Do I Paint?

I ask myself this, especially when I am frustrated. On the whole it makes me happy. There are so many wonderful things I see each day that I will never have time to paint them all. I want to share these things.
My work is realistic but not photographic, I want the viewer to recognize what they are looking at. At the same time I feel I am sharing a bit of my soul. I hope the viewer will experience an emotion as well.
Sometimes I am in a part of the wilderness that many people may not have the opportunity to see, such as the Canadian North. At these times I think it is important to express the value of our wilderness so we will take care of it and preserve it.
 Art is like therapy , when I get in the "zone", I am in tune with life and with myself, unaware of time or place.

Brenda's Background

  Brenda Beattie’s love of painting en plein air began as a teenager on fishing trips to the mountains with her family. While her father and brother fished for rainbow trout, she painted, using watercolours because they were so portable. She began to paint after receiving an oil paint set when she was 12, and at an even younger age she learned how to draw watching a television show called “Learn to Draw with John Gnagy.” Born and raised in Banff National Park, Brenda’s love and deep respect for the natural world was nurtured from a young age. While in high school in Banff, Brenda attended classes given by Holly Middleton, an early influence, at the Banff School of Fine Arts, which later became the Banff Centre of the Arts. After high school, Brenda attended the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson, B.C.  Brenda also studied under Ilda Lubane at the University of Alberta, and when she and her family moved to Ottawa in 1991, she met her mentor, Eleanor Milne (Parliament Hills Dominion Sculptor). Brenda was doing a lot of drawings of the gargoyles on Ottawa's Parliament Hill. Continually learning,  she has taken classes at the Ottawa School of Art as well as weekend classes from such artists as Gord Mackenzie among others.
She is a "Fellow" of the Ottawa Watercolour Society as well as a past president and current webmaster for the society.
She is involved in the West Carleton Arts Society and the Kanata Arts Club. She has taught classes at the Kanata Art Club, the Ottawa Watercolour Society, the Ottawa School of Art as well as in her home and on YouTube.