Brendalee came to art through jewellery-making. She created primarily in silver, which she prefered above all other metals for its lustre, its malleability, and the singular way it enabled her to give form to her imagination. When she came to Gabriola nine years ago she found the island’s beauty an irresistible inspiration, and began to reflect some of its natural forms in her unique silverwork.

Brendalee found living on the island known as The Isle of the Arts made exploration of other ways to express her creativity inevitable. Painting in acrylics, watercolours, ink and paint making (using island plants and minerals) and surface pattern design are some of the ways she found to also express the wonder and joy she experiences in her natural surroundings. But regardless the medium there is a joy in completion, in holding a finished piece before your eyes to see the effort and the hours given shape to something unique. There is joy too, in the pursuit of finding just the right tool or improvising a better technique. If you are in your element there is joy in all of it. This is what Brendalee hopes you see reflected in whatever form her art takes.