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Artist Profiles
July 2010
~ by Rebecca Hazell
September 2009
~ by Bernice Ramsdin-Firth
August 2009
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
July 2009
~ by Liz M. Forbes
June 2009
~ by Karen Allen
May 2009
~ by Bruce Whittington
April 2009
~ by Kate Sutherland
March 2009
~ by Tom Masters
February 2009
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
December 2008
~ by Roxanne Strasbourg
November 2008
~ by Rebecca Hazell
October 2008
~ by Kate Sutherland
September 2008
~ by Sylvia Holt
August 2008
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
July 2008
~ by Liz M. Forbes
June 2008
~ by Gloria Lorenzen
May 2008
~ by Bruce Whittington
April 2008
~ by Rebecca Hazell
March 2008
~ by Tom Masters
February 2008
~ by Ron Greenaway
January 2008
~ by Liz Forbes
December 2007
~ by Elizabeth Symon
November 2007
~ by Longevity John Falkner
October 2007
~ by Yvette Stack
September 2007
~ by Kate Sutherland
June 2007
~ by Bruce Whittington
May 2007
~ by Lesley Hammocks
April 2007
~ by Tom Masters
March 2007
~ by Theo Gustafson
February 2007
~ by Bernice Ramsdin-Firth
December 2006
~ by Theo Gustafson
November 2006
~ by Dorothy Jeanne Engst
October 2006
~ by Bev Mountain
September 2006
~ by Liz M. Forbes
August 2006
~ by Lesley Hammocks
July 2006
~ by Dorothy Jeanne Engst
June 2006
~ by Lesley Hammocks
May 2006
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Naomi McLean
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~ by Liz M. Forbes of the Chemainus Writers
Naomi Mclean, who was born and raised in Rhodesia, credits her mother for her love of art. Her mother, a talented artist, poured her love for beauty into her first-born child. Before Naomi could read or write she was an accomplished drawer, learning perspective and watercolours at her mother's side - most importantly, she learned how to see.
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| Naomi McLean |
Naomi laughingly describes their "ghastly family holidays" where the family of six, crowded into the car and drove from Rhodesia to the coast of South Africa. Naomi suffered from carsickness and consequently sat in the front seat with her parents, her three siblings jammed into the back with their camping gear strapped to the roof of the car. It was on these trips, to distract her from carsickness, that her mother encouraged her to observe nature. "Look Naomi," her mother would say, "look at that line of light on the horizon", or "Watch how the tree is changing colour." Naomi began to see and feel her world through different eyes and soon reflected her observations back to her mother, thus beginning her life long love of landscape.
As a young adult, Naomi cobbled the money together to attend Art School at Cape Town University, but left after two years - their focus was on figure drawing. Naomi had moved to Cape Town for the beauty of the light and the landscape and she wanted to paint landscapes.
Marriage, a son and an eventual move brought her to Saskatoon where she painted light filled skies and breathtaking landscapes. Another move took them to the Okanagan - here she enjoyed a successful stint as "guest artist" in a vineyard where her art sold well.
Large light filled oil paintings of her Saskatchewan and Okanagan period hang on walls in her house in Duncan along with her current lively paintings done from her holidays in Mexico. Our milder climate brought her to the Cowichan Valley where she finds the scenery inspiring. I love her charming scenes of the float homes and boats in Cowichan and Maple Bay; again, her use of light is uplifting. The small scene of an arbutus tree overlooking Finlayson Arm is washed in a mauve light that feels absolutely right and brought me joy.
Naomi gets comfort from trees and mountains, "God is telling us he loves us in the beauty we see in the scenery around us." It is the same with music she feels, "When you hear beautiful music you feel God loves you." Naomi also plays and teaches violin. A member of the Cherry Point Art Group, Naomi McLean's paintings are for sale at the Upstairs gallery at Gallery 223 in Nanaimo.
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