Biography
Artist's Statement
I am a prairie native, and the sights and colours of the prairies influence my work. As a child, I would spend summer vacation at my grandparents’ farm in southern Saskatchewan; later, my parents built a cottage on Lake Manitoba and this became my weekend home. My memories of the farm, and experiences traveling the Interlake, have become the subjects of much of my artwork. I want to capture the instant of light and atmosphere that I remember and somehow make it concrete, so others can experience it. I know full well that the viewers won’t see the image the way I do; my satisfaction comes with knowing when I have achieved my goal.
Much of my art is painted in a pointillistic style, with pen and ink. Lately, I've also been working in egg tempera. With these media, my work is representational, landscapes and prairie architecture being the subjects. I guess being based on memories, it’s somewhat of a romanticized view of reality. Occasionally, I get opinionated.
I also work with fibres. I believe that an artist should not be limited to the traditional media; painting with fibres is as valid an art form as painting with oils. My fibre works are not realistic; they allow me the freedom that my paintings don’t, to express with line, texture, and colour. The common theme is still nature. The colours and forms found in the igneous rocks of the Canadian Shield, for instance, I could never capture in my pointillistic style. Fibres lend themselves beautifully to this subject, however.
I just want to capture the beauty that I see around me in all aspects of nature, and I hope that other people can sense it from my art.
May 2003
2017: well, the above still applies ... but I haven't been able to paint much in the last few years, since I moved into an apartment: the second bedroom which is supposed to be my studio is still filled with stuff to unpack !
However, ivory piano keys have now become my canvases: admittedly, they're small and a little limiting due to this, but they challenge me to think about what part of my subject I want to portray.
Much of my art is painted in a pointillistic style, with pen and ink. Lately, I've also been working in egg tempera. With these media, my work is representational, landscapes and prairie architecture being the subjects. I guess being based on memories, it’s somewhat of a romanticized view of reality. Occasionally, I get opinionated.
I also work with fibres. I believe that an artist should not be limited to the traditional media; painting with fibres is as valid an art form as painting with oils. My fibre works are not realistic; they allow me the freedom that my paintings don’t, to express with line, texture, and colour. The common theme is still nature. The colours and forms found in the igneous rocks of the Canadian Shield, for instance, I could never capture in my pointillistic style. Fibres lend themselves beautifully to this subject, however.
I just want to capture the beauty that I see around me in all aspects of nature, and I hope that other people can sense it from my art.
May 2003
2017: well, the above still applies ... but I haven't been able to paint much in the last few years, since I moved into an apartment: the second bedroom which is supposed to be my studio is still filled with stuff to unpack !
However, ivory piano keys have now become my canvases: admittedly, they're small and a little limiting due to this, but they challenge me to think about what part of my subject I want to portray.
All About Me:
Elizabeth Bonnett, March, 2003
(This was written when I was member-of-the-month for the Winnipeg Embroiderers Guild, so it has a bit of an embroidery slant to it, but it still works) ... and also in 2017!
I was born in Winnipeg, and grew up in a family of people who liked to work with their hands. To learn about me, you need to know about them.
First there was Gramma Fogg. She had a suite upstairs in our house, and had lived with us since my grandfather died, before I was born. She would send down home made goodies. I played Chinese checkers with her and helped with jigsaw puzzles. But I also watched her work. She had been a seamstress, and would make dresses for my Auntie Rene, and bridesmaid dresses for cousins, as well as clothes for herself. She also crocheted doilies, and knit mitts and scarves for all of us, and taught me how to knit. Gramma embroidered, too. I saw her cut work on family dressers everywhere and she embroidered a pair of floral pictures for all of her granddaughters.
Next there was Mom. She was a tailor. Not just a seamstress, but a men’s tailor. Around wartime, Mom worked at Holt Renfrews in ‘women’s alterations’ and her boss was asked to send 2 people up to men’s wear to do tailoring. He sent Mom and her friend. The men’s boss angrily called the women’s boss and said he needed tailors, not women; Mom’s boss said “those two women are the best tailors you’ll ever see” .... and he was right: they only worked on men’s clothes at Holt’s after that. In my memories of Mom, she’s always making clothes for someone, or costumes for the community club. I was surrounded by so much ‘handmade’ things, that the greatest treat I could ask for was a bought cookie or dress. Contrary to this, I always knew that if I couldn’t find something in the store that fit, Mom could, and would, make it for me. I don’t remember her doing much embroidery, but she would often add beadwork to embellish the bodice of a dress to make it special. As she grew older, Mom learned cake decorating, and at 80 started china painting.
Then there was Dad. One thing I can say about Dad: Mom had worked building airplanes at McDonald-Douglas during the war, where she met him. She knew that if something she needed didn’t exist, it could be made, and Dad was the one who could make it. He grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, where if you didn’t have something, you made it or did without. Growing up, all I had to do was describe what I needed and it would be made. Dad only finished grade 8, but he was always learning in life. He was a mechanic, an architect, a carpenter, and an inventor. He earned a living working as a diesel mechanic; he built my uncle’s house and our cottage; he made tables, chairs, and other furniture; and he invented tools. If the ones he bought didn’t work for the job, then Dad changed them until they did. He patented an attachment for electric drills that could turn them into electric screwdrivers. Nobody took him up on this, and he let the patent lapse. Well, you know how many people have electric drill/screwdrivers now, don’t you? When Dad retired from working on trucks, his second career as an artisan started. He turned bowls, and other things, on a lathe. He reached a level where the Crafts Guild would phone him for more work, he didn’t need to be juried in any more. Dad’s bowls are spread around the world today.
There were more influences on my life: Mom’s brother Walt is an artist, and a woodcarver, Uncle Russ works in marquetry (wood inlays). Dad’s brothers all worked in wood, as carpenters or craftspeople. A cousin is a quilter, and both of my brothers took up drawing as they retired.
So what does this tell you about me? I have been surrounded by people who supported creative endeavours, and encouraged exploration in new areas. With this in my background, you should not be surprised to see that I do not stay with one creative outlet. My parents believed that ‘store-bought’ wasn’t always the best, and that ‘handmade’ meant quality. My parents stood for craftsmanship: if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And innovation: if it doesn’t exist, it’s just because no one else made it yet, so make it yourself.
My early memories are of watching people ‘doing’. As an 8-year old I used my father’s carpentry tools, and when I was in Home Ec, I listened to my mother tell me “why is she teaching you that, this is a faster way.” I got paint-by-numbers every birthday, and used the leftover paint to paint my own pictures. I went to ‘painting in the park’ and Saturday morning art classes, but didn’t want to pursue a career in art (“it’s just hobby”). At university I earned my BA in geography, then went back to get the Honours degree. I wasn’t ready for the ‘real world’. During that year, I realized that I did want to learn more about art, and the next year enrolled in Fine Arts. My friends were all becoming teachers, but, uh-uh, not me. After art school, I worked as a photo retoucher and restorer for 8 years, then underwent another revelation about myself. Sure enough, I went back to college and became a teacher, and I’ve been one for 18 years. through all these years, I’ve explored various types of artistic expression. Stained glass, wood carving, ceramics, weaving, drawing, painting, photography, beading, ... you name it. Embroidery, however, was for my grandmother. It was pillow cases and aprons. Then I met Jo (Hewitt-Nickel). She started me on my first creative embroidery, (which I finished 10 years later, and which won the ET Award) and now I’ve discovered a new medium to keep me busy … for awhile.
(This was written when I was member-of-the-month for the Winnipeg Embroiderers Guild, so it has a bit of an embroidery slant to it, but it still works) ... and also in 2017!
I was born in Winnipeg, and grew up in a family of people who liked to work with their hands. To learn about me, you need to know about them.
First there was Gramma Fogg. She had a suite upstairs in our house, and had lived with us since my grandfather died, before I was born. She would send down home made goodies. I played Chinese checkers with her and helped with jigsaw puzzles. But I also watched her work. She had been a seamstress, and would make dresses for my Auntie Rene, and bridesmaid dresses for cousins, as well as clothes for herself. She also crocheted doilies, and knit mitts and scarves for all of us, and taught me how to knit. Gramma embroidered, too. I saw her cut work on family dressers everywhere and she embroidered a pair of floral pictures for all of her granddaughters.
Next there was Mom. She was a tailor. Not just a seamstress, but a men’s tailor. Around wartime, Mom worked at Holt Renfrews in ‘women’s alterations’ and her boss was asked to send 2 people up to men’s wear to do tailoring. He sent Mom and her friend. The men’s boss angrily called the women’s boss and said he needed tailors, not women; Mom’s boss said “those two women are the best tailors you’ll ever see” .... and he was right: they only worked on men’s clothes at Holt’s after that. In my memories of Mom, she’s always making clothes for someone, or costumes for the community club. I was surrounded by so much ‘handmade’ things, that the greatest treat I could ask for was a bought cookie or dress. Contrary to this, I always knew that if I couldn’t find something in the store that fit, Mom could, and would, make it for me. I don’t remember her doing much embroidery, but she would often add beadwork to embellish the bodice of a dress to make it special. As she grew older, Mom learned cake decorating, and at 80 started china painting.
Then there was Dad. One thing I can say about Dad: Mom had worked building airplanes at McDonald-Douglas during the war, where she met him. She knew that if something she needed didn’t exist, it could be made, and Dad was the one who could make it. He grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan, where if you didn’t have something, you made it or did without. Growing up, all I had to do was describe what I needed and it would be made. Dad only finished grade 8, but he was always learning in life. He was a mechanic, an architect, a carpenter, and an inventor. He earned a living working as a diesel mechanic; he built my uncle’s house and our cottage; he made tables, chairs, and other furniture; and he invented tools. If the ones he bought didn’t work for the job, then Dad changed them until they did. He patented an attachment for electric drills that could turn them into electric screwdrivers. Nobody took him up on this, and he let the patent lapse. Well, you know how many people have electric drill/screwdrivers now, don’t you? When Dad retired from working on trucks, his second career as an artisan started. He turned bowls, and other things, on a lathe. He reached a level where the Crafts Guild would phone him for more work, he didn’t need to be juried in any more. Dad’s bowls are spread around the world today.
There were more influences on my life: Mom’s brother Walt is an artist, and a woodcarver, Uncle Russ works in marquetry (wood inlays). Dad’s brothers all worked in wood, as carpenters or craftspeople. A cousin is a quilter, and both of my brothers took up drawing as they retired.
So what does this tell you about me? I have been surrounded by people who supported creative endeavours, and encouraged exploration in new areas. With this in my background, you should not be surprised to see that I do not stay with one creative outlet. My parents believed that ‘store-bought’ wasn’t always the best, and that ‘handmade’ meant quality. My parents stood for craftsmanship: if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And innovation: if it doesn’t exist, it’s just because no one else made it yet, so make it yourself.
My early memories are of watching people ‘doing’. As an 8-year old I used my father’s carpentry tools, and when I was in Home Ec, I listened to my mother tell me “why is she teaching you that, this is a faster way.” I got paint-by-numbers every birthday, and used the leftover paint to paint my own pictures. I went to ‘painting in the park’ and Saturday morning art classes, but didn’t want to pursue a career in art (“it’s just hobby”). At university I earned my BA in geography, then went back to get the Honours degree. I wasn’t ready for the ‘real world’. During that year, I realized that I did want to learn more about art, and the next year enrolled in Fine Arts. My friends were all becoming teachers, but, uh-uh, not me. After art school, I worked as a photo retoucher and restorer for 8 years, then underwent another revelation about myself. Sure enough, I went back to college and became a teacher, and I’ve been one for 18 years. through all these years, I’ve explored various types of artistic expression. Stained glass, wood carving, ceramics, weaving, drawing, painting, photography, beading, ... you name it. Embroidery, however, was for my grandmother. It was pillow cases and aprons. Then I met Jo (Hewitt-Nickel). She started me on my first creative embroidery, (which I finished 10 years later, and which won the ET Award) and now I’ve discovered a new medium to keep me busy … for awhile.