I retired at 70, March 31, 2018.

I worked for more than 50 years. I spent my life making lists, meeting deadlines, working long hours (it seemed every day), always go-go-go.

I had always wanted to travel, and travel I did – across the
world – Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, the United States and Canada, thousands of miles through Southwestern Ontario. Saw so much and experienced so much more. But looking back, how much did I have the time to see? Really see?

To mark a personal anniversary in November before my retirement, I had taken part in a workshop given by artist Elizabeth Berry; I had been pleased with my painting, the first I had done since high school.

At my retirement potluck in March 2018, I was given a $50 Gift Certificate to Avenue Road Arts School and an easel.

Well, it’s daunting to leave work on Friday afternoon and on Monday morning realize you have nowhere to go, no meetings so no one to see… and I thought what the heck, I’ll register for the art course, starting the next week!

So began an entirely new way to live a life. To experience anew colour, light, shadows, reflections, clouds, water, trees, flowers. Years before I had fallen in love with the invention of the camera/phone and had accumulated thousands of photos.  A friend once asked me if I ever looked at them.  Well, now that I was retired, I began to really look at them. Nowadays, with my camera, I capture every image that appeals to me. With every painting attempt, I began to move away from my first instinct to recreate the picture in paint.  And began to move towards a new understanding of the world around me and I hope to share this altered vision with others. To see the world though the eyes of an artist.