STEPHANIE PERRY

Painting, Works on Paper, Illustration, Jewelry, Found Objects, Textiles

City: Penticton, British Columbia

Website: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/StephPerryArt

Artist Statement: Much of my work centers around the idea of the “natural sacred.” How wildlife and humanity are intertwined and connected but how it’s so incredibly obvious that in today’s current human social structure, we are divided. My work is an attempt for me to bridge our connections, to re-forge them, to show to my audience and viewers the sacred of even the smallest creatures. How our perception of them at face value is broken and in recreating them in paint displaying their divinity I am somehow reminding the viewer to slow down and see them in that light. Most of my nature works focus on the narrative behind an animal, its behavior, what it eats and why for example. How these creatures are more than just “there” but each play a pivotal role in our ecosystem.

Biography: Born in 1978, Stephanie Perry grew up on the northern most part of Vancouver Island in a fishing village called Port Hardy and was heavily influenced by the natural landscape in the wild areas that were her playground. Her art mostly consists of landscapes and ecological subject matter like plants and animals, most of which she viewed and interacted with on the island. Being an avid bird watcher and nature enthusiast much of her inspiration comes from her own personal experiences, her work becoming a visual biography. She has dabbled in a variety of media such as oils, textiles, watercolor and sculpture, but her recent work within the last decade has been primarily acrylic and oil on canvas or panel. Stephanie first studied Art in Victoria BC at Camosun College and then finished her degree in Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal QC in 2003. She furthered her education and love of the arts to complete a teaching degree at University of Calgary in 2006 and taught Art to high school students for many years before starting her own family. Being a mother brought her back to her devotion to painting the natural landscape that surrounded her on hikes with her daughters, creating a link between her teaching of plant life to her children and how she visually expressed her adventures with them. In recent years she made the move to Penticton BC in the Okanagan valley and tries to balance home life with children and painting as well as children’s illustration for which she does both with passion.

If you are interested in viewing or purchasing more work by this artist please contact her at 250 492 4884 or email: gardenpetal@hotmail.com