Aurora Visual Art Association
Artist Profiles
Leonie Poole BEd, MEd
Leonie Poole, a native of Alberta grew up in a community that nurtured in her the love of nature. At a very young age, she showed interest in recreating in her paintings the beauty of the prairie landscapes and the many flowers she found in her parent's gardens. Later, as an art teacher, she continued to instill in her students this admiration for all the beauty that can be found everywhere in nature. Today, as a retired teacher and a grandmother, she continues to teach others to appreciate and respect the environment and its fleeting beauty.
Leonie's paintings are mainly representational with impressionistic touches. She paints in watercolour, acrylic or oils, with a preference for watercolour. Her development as an artist was influenced by many. Her first formal classes in art were at The University of Alberta where she majored in visual arts in conjunction with her education degree. She taught art during her teaching years and would paint occasionally during that period of time. However as a mother and a teacher, there was very little time to paint. Today, retirement allows her to paint much more. Having taken a few classes and workshops with renown artists she feels better equiped and challenged to pursue her art more seriously.
Leonie is a member of a number of art societies and has shown her paintings in many different group shows along with some solo shows. She is represented by Le Centre d'Art Visuel de l'Alberta in Edmonton and her own studio, Sunset Studio in Bonnyville. Her paintings are mostly found in friend's and families's homes but a few have made their way into corporate places.
Leonie teaches art classes to adults and youths in her studio and gives occasional workshops to groups. She hopes others will also find pleasure in expressing themselves through their art.
Artist Statement
The driving force that keeps me wanting to paint is the reward I get in expressing myself through my art. I hope my paintings help others see the incredible fleeting beauty that surrouds us and maybe see the world through different eyes.
Some of my paintings can be viewed on my personal website at
www.leonie.poole.com
Brenda Claude
Allthough Brenda waited until her 50s to dedicate herself to fine art, her internal "prairie bohrmian" began to reveal itself from an early aga.
The granddaughter of Hungarian immigrants and the daughter of an artist mother, Brenda learned to appreciat both the aesthelic and practical values of making things herself. . As a young girl, she learned how to repurpose and create everything from cloches to cards and furniture. Later on as a wife, career woman, and mother to three children on a farm north of Bonnyville, Alberta, Brenda continued to express her creativity through sewing, photography, and furniture making. Over the past decade, Brenda has devoted herself to her art. She has been described as a fearless painter and has experimrnted with watercolours, oil and acrylics. Brenda is inspired by the works of fellow local painters.
Brenda's other main influence is the natural beauty which surrounds the home that she shares with Bob, her husband of 40 plus years. Her connection to the woods and lakes of the Lakeland is evident in her work. Brenda and Bob have six amazing grandchildren. her intention is to help others appreciate beauty and see the light.
Brenda can be emailed at rbclaude@telusplanet.net
