I was born and raised in the Okanagan Valley and now live in Lake Country with my author-editor (now retired) husband, Michael Schwartzentruber. I work in my home-studio, teach watercolour and acrylic painting, and promote art as a health-giving activity.
I have a passion for the community in which I live and the beauty and fragility of the Okanagan Valley. Because the valley is a semi-arid environment, I feel strongly that the protection of our water systems needs to be an imperative. The large lakes – Okanagan, Wood, and Kalamalka – are vulnerable, as are the out-of-the-way water edges, ponds, and streams. I know that protection and preservation of our waters is not only a concern in the Okanagan but is a universal need. Water has deep spiritual meaning for me in that it makes up the basis of all life and connects all life on earth through its life-giving powers.
A designer, illustrator and painter, I have been exhibiting work in the Lake Country area since 1995. My work has been displayed at Lake Country ArtWalk, the District offices, the Regional District Library, and in local businesses. I have been a member of the ArtWalk Planning Committee, Arts Council, and Arts Advisory Board to the District Council. In 2004, I raised $4000 raised for the rebuilding of the Kettle Valley Trestles destroyed in the Okanagan Mountain Park wildlfie, with a poster of an image of one of the railway trestles I painted prior to the fire. I have also donated art for various other fundraisers. I support the David Suzuki Foundation, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and Mission and Service of the United Church of Canada.
Artist Statement: The world of nature inspires me creatively and I feel a deep connection to the earth and all of creation. I am in accord with the quote attributed to Chief Seattle, “Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together.”
2024 -- Lake Country Art Gallery Under 200 Fund raiser
2024 -- Lake Country Artwalk
2023 -- Lake Country Art Gallery Under 200' Fund raiser
2023 -- Lake Country ArtWalk
2023 -- Lake Country Garden Show
2022 -- Lake Country Artwalk
2022 -- Lake Country District Offices
2020 -- Vertigo Art Galley Member Show, Vernon
2018 -- Peachland Art Gallery Member Show
2017 -- Lake Country Garden Show
2016 -- Lake Country ArtWalk (juried)
2016 -- Lake Country Garden Show
2014 -- Lake Country Coffee House (February)
2013 -- Lake Country District Offices
2011 - 2023 (February, annually) - Member's Show at Lake Country Art Galley
2011 -- Work shown at Ex Nihilo Winery
2011 -- Kelowna Art Gallery Member's Show -- "On the Path to Abstraction"
2010 - 2023 (November, annually) - Under 100 - Lake Country Art Gallery (juried)
2010 -- Inaugural Show at the Lake Country Art Gallery
2008 -- District of Lake Country Offices
2004 -- Fundraiser poster for Kettle Valley Railroad rebuild
2003 -- The Barn Gallery, Oyama
2002 -- Pine Tree Art Collective guest artist, Kelowna
2000 -- Kelowna Regional District Offices
1999-- 2024 (September, annually) Lake Country ArtWalk (juried)
1999 -- Winfield Regional Library
1996 -- Watercolour Group Show, Sorrento Centre