I get asked a lot where I got my colour pallet from because the same colours show up in my work again and again. The soft colours, sea foam green, blues and pinks are my mainstays. They are close to my heart and I’ve never revealed what my main inspiration was.

I was diagnosed with leukemia at 33 and had a bone marrow transplant shortly after. I spent most of a year in the hospital in Vancouver. Day after day I was surrounded by sea foam green scrubs, walls, medical equipment, nurses uniforms etc. It was inescapable. I floated in a sea of green, blues and pinks for a year not knowing if I would survive.

At first it was completely alien. I felt like I could be lost in the folds of the blankets, sheets and medications. It felt like no one knew I was there and that no one would miss me if I didn’t come back.

The colours became a part of my struggle to stay sane and to live.

When I left the VGH cancer free I felt I left a part of me behind, I left the old me and something intangible. As I got back to creating I felt drawn to those same colours that kept me company. The soft pastels came with me and filled the canvases in surprising ways. As I convalesced I would take long walks along Dallas road. The colour came with me in the form of the seawall. I found it soothing to my soul.

I continued to use the colours in all my work and I started to realize they represented something more to me. They now represented my resilience and strength. I found healing through sea foam green, blue and pink along with the sea water. Art is the greatest healer (along with medical science of course).