Lauretta McNeil
Simply put, I love to paint. As a child, the best gift that I could ever receive was a brand new box of crayons or watercolor paints. This creative desire has continued throughout my life beginning with my childhood in Banff . Even then, I was continually amazed at the everchanging beauty of the Rocky Mountains that surrounded me every day. So it is no surprise that I love to paint mountains and each painting takes me on a mental hike over each rock and up and down each valley. I take that same 'hike' whether I'm doing still life, portraiture, or landscape.
Through the years, I have attended various classes and workshops in pastels, watercolor, figure drawing, china painting, and extended classes in oil painting, which has always risen to the top as my first choice of medium. Pure bright transparent colors and strong contrasts uplift me and make me happy and if I help the viewer to feel that way, then I feel that my efforts are successful. For me, oil painting is coaxing a shape out of a flat surface and making it into a three dimensional image - sculpting with a brush. I never tire of the challenge of taking a simple composition and translating it into something magical with a touch of whimsy.
Through the years, I have attended various classes and workshops in pastels, watercolor, figure drawing, china painting, and extended classes in oil painting, which has always risen to the top as my first choice of medium. Pure bright transparent colors and strong contrasts uplift me and make me happy and if I help the viewer to feel that way, then I feel that my efforts are successful. For me, oil painting is coaxing a shape out of a flat surface and making it into a three dimensional image - sculpting with a brush. I never tire of the challenge of taking a simple composition and translating it into something magical with a touch of whimsy.
