Profile

At the University of Alberta, I majored in art through the Faculty of Education—driven by a love for painting and a desire to spark that same joy and creativity in young minds. After graduating, I spent a decade teaching art in junior and senior high schools, sharing my passion with the next generation.

Then life, in all its unpredictability, took me on a very different path–an amazing journey that took me to Nigeria for several years. Though I drifted from the canvas, creativity never left me. In Nigeria, I immersed myself in publishing—as an editor and designer—and later, back in Canada, I wore many hats: programmer, software instructor, business analyst, process modeller, and writer.

For about 45 years, I did not put brush to canvas, and yet, the longing never left. The ache to paint lingered quietly, always present.

When COVID-19 brought the world to a halt, it gave me something unexpected: time. With my consulting projects on pause, I finally returned to painting—and I hadn’t looked back until my daughter’s passing in 2022, after which I simply could not paint. Work became my refuge. If I did not have time to think, I could manage. However, knowing that she would not want me to linger in that dark place of sorrowful grief, I started painting again. It is therapy for a broken heart.