For many years the Canadian landscape, and its flora has been the central focus of Mary-Dawn's work. Though her use of diverse mediums, including oil and watercolours, she skilfully captures the velvety softness of summer's blossoms, the grace and elegance of maple and pine, or the powerful beauty of a glacial stream. Embodied in her work is an expression of timeless beauty and calm serenity that enables the viewer to experience a sense of joy and peace.
Mary-Dawn's affinity for nature stems from her childhood experiences on a family farm near Barrie, Ontario. These moments along with her extensive background in botany and environmental biology and a lifelong love of painting have continually guided her growth. Mary-Dawn has exhibited her work widely since 1973 and has received many awards for her work. Her paintings can be found in many private and corporate collections.
As a very young girl, Mary-Dawn spent countless hours engrossed in colouring and drawing. Creativity exists on both sides of her family, though her parents were raised during an era when little time was available for drawing. The nurturance given by teachers in Barrie, Ontario was a significant reason for her personal development. They recognized and encouraged her to believe in her artistic abilities. Though her grade 13 art teacher tried to persuade her to attend the Ontario College of Art, strong societal suggestions of poverty in the arts led her instead to study home economics at the University of Guelph. Art has always been a continuous thread woven through her life. She continued to draw while pursuing her studies at Guelph and to a greater extent through her science training at Brock University. Her commitment deepened while working for Agriculture Canada and later during a rich career as a teacher in Lincoln County (St. Catherine's area). Though she loved teaching, she always new that each of her loves - family, students and art - required a lot of time and dedication. The answer came when her husband Wayne was promoted and moved to Guelph with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Guelph did not need teachers that year, giving her art career time to blossom. Seventeen years later, she is doing what she knows she was born to do. Few people are lucky enough to find a dream, and then have the chance to follow it.
"...I am happiest when I am painting"
Historically, throughout her twenty-six year career, she has been a landscape painter. The Canadian tapestry of maple, spruce and pine became the subjects of her work and were regularly exhibited in juried and judged shows throughout the Niagara Peninsula. Then one summer - perhaps 18 years ago - while in search of change, she picked up watercolours from university days and returned to her childhood images of horses. Horses yielded to a brief flirtation with wildlife painting, but she soon tired of brown and yearned for colour. She was instantly absorbed by the colour and form of flowers! She continues to paint the landscape but more often, she chooses watercolour as her medium.
Life's paths have moulded her vision for subjects. Her time spent in agriculture and her university training asks that she see a flower for its beautiful composite parts. But more than that, just as one child differs from another so does one iris bloom sit differently, cock its head just so, or turn a petal flirtatiously to reveal its intricate internal structures. Her attention to detail, however, does not restrict her interest in pattern. This is perhaps the reason that many of her paintings focus on the beauty of the flower itself, the innate relationship of one bloom to another, and the fascinating positive and negative spaces they create.
Seven years ago, the Roberts family built their beautiful Garden House Gallery in Guelph, Ontario. Garden House has allowed for a spacious gallery and studio together with their home. The gardens have become a source of daily inspiration to her. The dark and textured strong hardwood bush at the rear of their five-acre property forms a splendid backdrop for their gardens. Diverse perennial flowers, herbaceous shrubs and stately spruce, frame a welcoming path that leads to the gallery. The beautiful grounds are just one way to give visitors a special day.
My reasons for painting are not unique. Painting is central to the person I am and my emotional well-being. Just as a singer needs to sing and a dancer needs to dance, I am happiest when I am painting.