Drawing from the outside in
My first steps into art were as a young child watching my father build a rendition of a mountain scene in watercolour. Years later, I picked up my father’s painting palette and, using the techniques I could remember, started to experiment.
An early love of mountains and wilderness drew me to the old growth forest of West Vancouver. At that time I was formally studying egg tempera, where fine detail was essential. Out of a series of old growth forest paintings,
The Happy Wanderer was donated to Friends of Cypress Provincial Park as a fundraiser for their campaign to save those same trees.
A passion had grown from life to canvas and back to life again, and, where some artists add more detail to their work, I started taking detail out. Oil became my new medium and I visited Tuscany to study the lessons the Old Masters could teach. I stood in awe at the galleries and absorbed every brush stroke.
My art today uses minimal strokes to depict the essence of life. As one collector describes my work, “it lets the viewer use their own imagination to connect the image.”
My enthusiasm and passion for life is instilled into my teaching, which I do locally at Malaspina University College, from my studio in Lang Bay and in Tuscany, Italy.
Inspiration drawn from nature, life, and the dynamic aspect of an ever-changing environment, is captured through my art. With the brush as my instrument and my body as the vehicle, I connect with my soul to paint the beauty of the subject and set my mind free.
ursula@ursulamedley.com | 604·487·4579