ABOUT THE ARTIST
Megan Ward
Megan is a landscape and still life painter based in Peterborough, Ontario. She graduated from OCAD University (Toronto) in 2012 with a BFA in Drawing & Painting, and the final year of her degree was completed in the Florence Program at OCADU’s studios in Italy. Meg is an elected member of the Colour and Form Society and has taught community painting classes in portraiture and abstraction.
Meg works primarily in oils and uses a blend of representational and abstract approaches, focusing on season, mood and symbolic aspects of natural cycles. Like tending a garden, creating art is an act of devotion and a source of well-being for her. The creative process offers a reprieve from the noise and obligations of our daily world, while her subjects reflect the restorative beauty of scenic views and botanical elements.
Meg's abstract landscapes offer room for free expression in her process, while her still life paintings are born more directly from observation and traditional technique. She plays in the balance between representational and abstract approaches, seeking opportunities for spontaneity through the painting process.
In the landscape work, emotion is conveyed through the changeability of weather and fleeting moments, like the delicate junctures of sunrise and sunset. These scenes are often drawn from imagination, with loose shapes and exuberant texture. Her use of a mixture of tools allows for variety in paint application and her glazing work brings out subtle colour shifts. The resulting effects imply depth, movement, and a sense of time.
Recent still life pieces are more studied in their execution, celebrating the poetic qualities of botanical specimens and other objects. Her home gardens are increasingly an important source of inspiration and of cut flowers to use in static arrangements. Rich palettes and painterly brushwork establish a sense of character in otherwise quiet compositions. These two branches of her artistic practice inform and heighten each other, pushing the possibilities of technique and the portrayal of light to achieve emotional resonance.
For more, see the Kawartha Magazine profile (Spring/Summer 2024).