Cheryl Peddie

I work as a full-time artist and art instructor in Calgary, Alberta. I’ve been painting in oil for over 20 years, and enjoy creating paintings of our local landscape, urban scenes, interiors, still life and animals.

In 2014, I began ‘plein air’ painting – painting outdoors from life. It opened me to a new way of seeing and living as an artist. I like knowing that I’ve spent time experiencing each location I’ve painted. This connects me to my work more intimately than if I’d just snapped a photo for a reference, then moved along. As a result, my paintings (both plein air and the studio work it inspires) become more compelling, authentic, and are more joyful to create.

The primary inspiration behind my work is light. I love that the time of day, weather and season all work to create different lighting conditions, climate and mood. With the variety of weather we enjoy in Alberta, I’m able to tell a different story each time I paint. I paint outside year-round.

Painting plein air also allows me to see and paint subtleties that can be missed when solely using a photograph as reference. The day is all there for me to absorb; the sights, sounds and smells; the feel of the sun, wind, heat and cold. It all contributes to a richer experience to convey in my painting. I feel like I become part of my subject matter. My paintings aren’t just a record of what I observe, but of my reactions and interactions with those surroundings – my connection to it. In this way, my paintings not only tell the story of my time in that place, collectively, they tell the story of my life, and what has had meaning to me.