Margaret Derry
Margaret uploads her own photos as starting points, then reimagines the backgrounds and layers on “paint” using programs that mimic everything from brush strokes to pigment density.
At first glance, painter Margaret Derry’s rustic Ontario landscapes, birds and farm animals read as colour-drenched realism. They are, but Margaret dirtied no actual paint brushes to create them. She makes them entirely on her computer. About a decade ago, the Caledon-based polymath – she’s an adjunct history professor at the University of Guelph, a successful cattle breeder and an author specializing in the history of agriculture and animal husbandry – followed her probing curiosity into the world of digital painting. She uploads her own photos as starting points, then reimagines the backgrounds and layers on “paint” using programs that mimic everything from brush strokes to pigment density. Printed on canvas, the images are tributes to the tension between photography and painting. Available in three sizes ranging up to 24″ x 30″. poplarlane.net
Lashes ~ by Margaret Derry
Bunny ~ by Margaret Derry
Pileated (detail) ~ by Margaret Derry
Retired fishing boat ~ by Margaret Derry
Related Stories
Agata Wisniewski
Agata replicates a flower’s delicate petals and crinkly layers, imbuing each image with what she calls “illumination from within.”
Ann Randeraad
The self-taught Amaranth potter is the force behind a decade of the annual Empty Bowls food bank fundraiser at Alton Mill Arts Centre.
Anthony Jenkins
After moving to Mono in 2012, Anthony began writing and illustrating for this magazine.
Chris Evitts
Indefinite edges, dusky landscapes and strange figures seen as if through smoky lenses evoke the moment between waking and dreaming.
Gita Karklins
Gita’s art frequently focuses on small plastic or china figurines.
Ricky Schaede
Fascinated with the mysteries and origins of the universe, Ricky says, “It is my hope to reconcile scientific thinking with spiritual imagination.”
