Wilma Pinkus
At 8 years of age Wilma was fortunate to be selected for Arthur Lismer’s Saturday morning classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario. From her teens onward, painting became the focus of her life. She studied art at Central Technical School (Toronto) and the Ontario College of Art, as well as the University of British Columbia, and Colorado College in Colorado Springs, U.S.A.
After moving to Ottawa, Ontario in 1961, she began teaching drawing and painting, later becoming the Head of Visual Arts in the Special Arts program at the High School of Commerce, and subsequently at Canterbury High School of the Arts until 1992. Only proven, talented high school students and adults planning a career as artists were accepted to this program.
She believes that as an art teacher it is important to not only have practical skills but also an historic background. To this end, she enrolled in evening and summer courses and earned an Honours degree in Art History at Carleton University. She moved on to become an associate professor at Queen’s University, for art teachers qualifying for the Ontario Ministry of Education as art specialists.
Her technique is the layering of colour; light over dark and dark over light, producing an extremely dense and complex surface on which modeling is accomplished with colour.
For many years the focus of her watercolours was on the coastal landscapes of Nova Scotia, Quebec City, Newfoundland, Ottawa, as well as Florida. She has traveled extensively throughout Portugal, Switzerland, France, Italy and Israel to analyze the landscape, paint "in situ," and capture the momentary changes in light. These trips led her to numerous solo and group exhibitions.
She has been the winner of numerous awards, scholarships and was selected as a Fellow of the Ottawa Watercolour Society. She has an extensive exhibition history with participation in numerous solo and group shows in Kingston, Montreal, Ottawa, Almonte and Toronto. Her work is in private and corporate collections across Canada as well as England, France and Holland.
Her life as an artist and educator has resulted in many accolades, including reviews from CBC Radio and Television, a number of regional radio stations and an independent filmmaker, as well as being featured in newspapers and magazines. On several occasions she has been consulted by curators of the National Gallery of Canada to explain various aspects of watercolour techniques and also to demonstrate the practical applications of the medium in the works of Canadian artists.
On December 3, 2004 she was honoured to win the Artistic Excellence Award sponsored by the National Arts Centre for "Celebration of People."
She continues to work pursuing her craft as a watercolour artist.
After moving to Ottawa, Ontario in 1961, she began teaching drawing and painting, later becoming the Head of Visual Arts in the Special Arts program at the High School of Commerce, and subsequently at Canterbury High School of the Arts until 1992. Only proven, talented high school students and adults planning a career as artists were accepted to this program.
She believes that as an art teacher it is important to not only have practical skills but also an historic background. To this end, she enrolled in evening and summer courses and earned an Honours degree in Art History at Carleton University. She moved on to become an associate professor at Queen’s University, for art teachers qualifying for the Ontario Ministry of Education as art specialists.
Her technique is the layering of colour; light over dark and dark over light, producing an extremely dense and complex surface on which modeling is accomplished with colour.
For many years the focus of her watercolours was on the coastal landscapes of Nova Scotia, Quebec City, Newfoundland, Ottawa, as well as Florida. She has traveled extensively throughout Portugal, Switzerland, France, Italy and Israel to analyze the landscape, paint "in situ," and capture the momentary changes in light. These trips led her to numerous solo and group exhibitions.
She has been the winner of numerous awards, scholarships and was selected as a Fellow of the Ottawa Watercolour Society. She has an extensive exhibition history with participation in numerous solo and group shows in Kingston, Montreal, Ottawa, Almonte and Toronto. Her work is in private and corporate collections across Canada as well as England, France and Holland.
Her life as an artist and educator has resulted in many accolades, including reviews from CBC Radio and Television, a number of regional radio stations and an independent filmmaker, as well as being featured in newspapers and magazines. On several occasions she has been consulted by curators of the National Gallery of Canada to explain various aspects of watercolour techniques and also to demonstrate the practical applications of the medium in the works of Canadian artists.
On December 3, 2004 she was honoured to win the Artistic Excellence Award sponsored by the National Arts Centre for "Celebration of People."
She continues to work pursuing her craft as a watercolour artist.
