Evelyn Kirkaldy - Wild Images

Post date: Feb 13, 2015 10:26:22 PM

Evelyn Kirkaldy

Evelyn has an extensive background in design and visual expression. Even as a kid growing up in Toronto, Ontario, she spent much of her time exploring various forms of art by participating in a multitude of extra-curricular classes including summer drawing and sculpture workshops at Central Technical School. She later studied art at Three Schools of Art in Toronto and The Banff School of Fine Arts. After graduating with honours from the Ontario College of Art, she moved to western Canada. She spent several years in Calgary and 20 years in Vancouver working as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director and has won several awards for her work. She has enjoyed sharing her knowledge with others and has instructed both children and adults in many disciplines of art and design.

Evelyn enjoys travelling and has backpacked through Europe, but most of all she likes to explore mountains and the wilderness. An avid hiker and outdoors person, Evelyn spent ten days in a tree house surrounded by sixteen wild grizzly bears. She has explored the west coast of BC and travelled to Alaska in order to ‘walk with grizzlies’. In Churchill Manitoba, she came face to face with a large polar bear. “With my paintings I try to capture the essence of the landscape, the feeling of living in nature. A forest is not just trees, it’s a metropolis teeming with wildlife!” Her passion for the outdoors has inspired Evelyn to create a large body of work in various media depicting wilderness and also it’s ursine inhabitants. She has also served as Artistc Advisor to the Get Bear Smart Society based in Whistler BC since 2000.

Evelyn Kirkaldy’s latest acrylic creations are layered in sensuous, intricate texture. “I try to express light, colour and movement all at the same time.” Drips, dots and spatters merge and mingle to create striking contemporary landscapes. Working quickly and primarily without the limitations of a brush, Evelyn is able to harness the sense of spontaneity that is key to creativity. A deep sense of the natural world and energetic colour play are fundamental to her portrayals of vibrant mountain meadows, lively flower gardens and lush rainforests. She enjoys surprising her audience by developing various dimensions in her work. From a distance many of her canvases appear representational, but upon closer inspection, they become replete with sensuous abstract shapes. "I have a lot of fun with these paintings. I feel free to be expressive in my work." Her influences include Jackson Pollack as well as a number of Impressionist and Expressionist painters, but her favourites by far are Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt.