Hmmm  where to begin. Naturally, like most artists, I have had a desire to draw or create since I was a wee girl but actually didn't start 'painting' until 1998 when I wanted to create something special for my father. A lover of the sunsets of Southampton, I knew drawing wasn't going to capture the beauty the sun creates each night it sets on Georgian Bay. So I dove in not too sure exactly what  I was going to accomplish. The end result was a colourful painting depicting Chantry Island with its infamous Lighthouse framed by the glorious colors of the setting sun. This creation set it off to create another and then another and before I knew it, I was painting images from the mountain of photos I had taken and shortly there after jointed WetCanvas

I went searching to find a photo of that painting and ended up on a trip down memory lane. Upon searching I came across a small collection of pieces that have survived the journey thru my life. Ha! How exciting to see where I came from and the phases I seemed to have gone thru..

Here is a sneak peak inside of that history...

The Beginning..

My oh my this one brought back memories. This was done in my art class in high school, 1977 of Mr Rod Stewart, an all time favourite for many, many years. I loved this drawing so much that I ended up tracing over it onto a canvas and did do my very first painting. If memory serves me right I think it was about a 16x20' and one of my other class mates bought it! Sadly this drawing with its tracing marks is all I have left...

The next piece I found was done a number of years later, 1980 when I had gone thru a bit of a 'nude' phase.

There was another that I just loved of a woman lying down but over the years it has sadly vanished. I think I needed to consider a bit more practice in this department..

Around the end of 1980, beginning of 81, I went thru a phase where the covers of the DuranDuran albums fascinated me. The bold drawings of women and lack of detail I found so appealing. This one I was replicating the night I went into  labour with my first born.. hence its not finished!

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The year1985 I seemed to have ventured into a couple of different areas. I revisited trying my hand at nudes, continued to experience the thrill of drawing celebrities and attempted my first drawing of a cat!  Boy oh boy, I remember the painstaking time of drawing all the little circles to replicate the wool pile of Michael Jackson's sweater! Of course the next image is totally recognizable as his infamous glitter socks! To get the impact of them I decided to use Ink, glue and glitter. The cat was done from an image on a cat calendar I had...little did I know then that that was going to be the first of many that I would do

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Life with a family takes up a lot of time and my art was not something that was ever forefront but never left. I spent some time going back to school to study Journalism, another love interest but not anything I really pursued. Instead I started a career in the animal field and became a Vet Assistant while taking courses in Animal Sciences. My home was being shared by a couple of cats and art was something that I seemed to visit every so many years. The next images I found were from 1990 and are of Ms Sinead O'Connor, Dale Martindale of 'Images in Vogue'(remember them? My brother-in-law Tim Welch freelanced and played with them as well as with Carol Pope, Lisa Delbello,  Platinum Blonde and more. Anyway I had drawn another of Dale and was thrilled to give it to him for his birthday. Wonder if he still has it?) and of course Mr Rod Stewart again...There were many, many drawings of this wonderful gent but over the years they all seem to have vanished. I went thru a real phase of attending as many concerts as I could-getting single scalper tickets to increase my chances of being real close to the stage, wore Stewart tartans, had my hair cut like his (ha!) and well he was just about my world. Not the greatest likeness but I knew who it was.....

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The Transition

Life changed a great deal over the next few years,- re-marriage, family, careers and just my outlook on life. It had taken on a different course from what I had been living. Shortly after the birth of my fourth child  my body had given me about all that it was going to and I was diagnosis with Fibromyalsia. I found it rather devastating. I had been overly active, attending a gym for weights (not body building just keeping fit), biked and just, well did it all really. This diagnosis really was going to cramp my style. No longer able to go to work full time ( up to this point I had been working mostly in the Animal field-Veterinary Assistant, Kennel Attendant at a large Humane Society, Wildlife Rehabilitation and then eventually ended up in Telecommunications of all things.) This lack of being able to work now I must say did a number on my self esteem and worth. All this new found time did however give me the opportunity to revisit my artistic side but I didn't seem to venture back into it the way one would think. I started building birdhouses-not plain ones but fancy ones and then this progressed into mailboxes, butterfly houses and all kinds of 'crafty' items. So much that I started 'Life of Leisure' and began to offer them in local stores. One of the stores that carried my products asked if I could do some murals for them. Of course I said sure but was more flabbergast by my confidence that I could even attempt it! That led to a crash course on painting! I bought every book imaginable and read and practiced and I did it. I ended up painting 3 'Trompe LOeil (the art to fool the eye) columns! Who knew? Each column was done up like shelves in a cabinet and each shelf contained items that would pertain to the store. It was an Italian bakery/Deli so one shelf had a pie, another a vase of flowers, another a copper teapot with cup and saucer, etc. I will have to dig out the photos of these and add them here for you to see.... However, the monotony and time of creating the birdhouses, mailboxes and butterfly houses soon became overwhelming and I found myself looking at it as more of a choir then enjoyment. Certainly there was no profit and physically it was tough. It did take a lot more physical work then I could have ever imagined and it began to take its toll on me. One evening a friend and her husband came by and she had me show him the paintings I had done a few years back. He suggested joining the website WetCanvas and so I did. This move brought me into where I am today.

The Wetcanvas Years

I have to say that joining WetCanvas was really one of the best things I could have ever done. The group of artists are phenomenal and it was not only an enjoyable experience but also a tremendous learning tool. I highly recommend any new Artist to consider joining. Heck! Any artist! During my stay there, one event that was started was the Friday Night Draw, or later known as the FND. It would be held at 8pm each Friday night and one artist would host it. They would have the opportunity of choosing a 'theme' of their choice and supplying the reference images for all to use. The references would be uploaded just a little bit in advance, giving the participants a bit of time to figure out what image they wanted to use and to get their chosen materials ready. Beginning at 8pm the participating artists would set to work on their creation. I cant remember now if it was 1 hour or 2 that was permitted and at the end, all the artists would upload their work in a designated forum thread and admire and critique each others attempts. What was the beauty of these events was that it gave you the opportunity to try subjects that you never would have dreamed of, experience materials out of your norm and pushed your imagination and creativity to the limit. I learned so much from these events and must say I miss them. My stay with WetCanvas gave me  new found confidence and I started entering into competitions both on the web and brick and mortar.  I joined many organizations for Artists including EBSQ, Equine Art Guild, Pet Portrait Forum and many, many more.

Animal Rescue

 It was during these years that I started to get involved in Animal Rescue issues. One of the great things about the internet is that it puts the world at your finger tips. People, events, issues are no longer existing in another part of the world that doesn't effect you.  People that you never would have met become part of your elite social circle and some become best friends. The same goes for various issues. Animal issues were becoming very prevalent to me thru this media and I found myself desperately needing to do something about all the cases I was now becoming aware of.  I became a member of  Ebay and in turn Art 4 Critters and started selling my art to help benefit the animals at various Rescue Organizations throughout the world. In the mean time, we had made a move out to the country, something I think that was always in my blood although technically I was a  city girl. We came out here with 3 cats and 2 dogs and in no time we  increased the numbers with all the strays, abandoned and dropped off animals. Boy, I was seeing a different side of things being out here. Animals so need compassion and forever homes. My art was going strong, I was becoming known and I was giving back by way of the animals. My main subjects became animals-namely cats, horses, dogs and some wildlife. I had chosen Acrylic as my medium-liking the way it dried quickly and allowed me to dive deep into the heart of my paintings without the need to stop. After  a time I joined Artists United for Animal Rescue (AUAR) to continue doing my art to benefit animals in need. Last year with their help, we raised the funds to rescue a beautiful blind Paint mare, Cherokee from living the terrible life she was living. She joined our family along with another wonderful mare, Lena,  that needed someone to love her. I could never imagine life now without either one of them.

The Present...

This year I ventured into a different area again-this time one of Mermaids and Dolphins. This new found genre has allowed me to experiment more with color in a way I couldn't with the compositions I was doing. Perhaps I will stick with this world of fantasy for a while and expand upon it...needless to say though I will always make the animals a part of my canvas. My heart does belong to them and in a way I look it as 'animals' helping 'animals'. Although they dont fall into my norm, sometimes a little outside the box is always good for ones soul. It helps keep things fresh and alive within our spirit! Although today I am not affiliated with all the groups and organizations that I was-family and my crew here keep me occupied, but my art continues to go toward Animal Rescues including the care and upkeep of those that reside here with us.  I don't know where my art will go from here. Perhaps I will consider entering into a few more shows.. but no matter where it will go, I will continue to support the animals that so desperately need us.

For an idea of how you can help, please visit my 'Links' page for a list of Organizations that do all they can to benefit those in need..

Caron Wiedrick