Biography
Born and raised in rural Ontario, Canada, Nora began experimenting with watercolours in 1984 while residing in Montreal.
Her studio is now in her log home nestled in a woodland setting in the Township of Lanark Highlands near Canada’s capital of Ottawa.
She is surrounded by her “friends of the forest”, (white tail deer, foxes, skunks, wolves, raccoons, flying squirrels and black bears, to name a few). She regularly goes on sketching and photography excursions throughout the countryside in search of the perfect old rusted truck, run-down barn or wild spring blooms begging to be painted.
Working primarily in watercolours, Nora’s “rural roots” and love of nature are evident in her art. Mostly self-taught, she has evolved into a versatile artist with a fine sense of detail and design. She offers an interesting and refreshing variety of works done in her distinctive realistic style. Her subject matter includes florals, interesting still life subjects, landscapes and seascapes, all executed with a masterly command of colour, technique and composition in such a way that each petal comes to life, each kitchen towel looks usable and every beach pebble looks water worn. Her realistic style demands that every knothole on an old barn door and every rust spot on an old enamel pot be rendered in crisp detail.
Over the years, Nora has studied under the direction of several internationally recognized artists. Her works have earned her numerous Awards of Excellence in juried shows. She has also completed several series of limited edition reproductions.
Nora is happiest when totally immersed in her art. The most challenging and important part is the sketching. When satisfied with the drawing, she cannot wait to begin laying in the colour. Nora likens creating her art works to that of reading a good book. She gets completely hooked on creating each piece and loves the wonderfully satisfying feeling of watching it come to life before her very eyes. She feels truly blessed to be doing something she absolutely loves.
