Biography

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Michelle Basic Hendry SCA is an award winning artist and landscape painter. She has been elected by her peers to become a member of the Society of Canadian Artists and the Landscape Artists International. She currently resides in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada.

In the winter of 2008, Michelle went for a drive down a sideroad in Muskoka and ended up stopping in front of a 110 year old abandoned house in Uffington. The twilight cast the whole scene in a sombre blue. The experience put her on two quests; one, to capture that feeling on canvas and, the other, to learn about the lives of those who had once lived there. An entire series resulted.

"When I paint a chair by an old window, I wonder who may have sat there and what their lives were like... And sometimes, I have been able to find out! Behind each painting, there is a story to be told. "

In 2005, Michelle had one of her paintings accepted into an exhibition at the MacLaren Art Center, a regional public gallery in Barrie, Ontario and won "Best in Show" at MAC. Michelle exhibited in the 19th Annual McMichael Art Show and Sale at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in 2009 and in 2010, won an Award of Excellence in Acrylic at MAC for "Everything But the Bathroom Sink".

Michelle holds an Honours Degree in History from the University of Toronto and a Diploma with Distinction from Georgian College in Graphic Design and she has instructed at Georgian College. Michelle was an entrepreneur in the field of graphic design for over a decade before turning to fine art full time. Michelle has work in private collections in Canada, the U.S. and the UK.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Landscape and the sense of place can often be a visual metaphor for an emotion, a feeling. Like music in a minor key can evoke a memory of love or loss, sensuality or melancholy, a landscape painting speaks through Light. The angle of light, the saturation of colour and its intensity can evoke those same feelings. A certain amount of realism is required to create recognition and relationship - and specificity - for me.

My work is a mirror of places - an artscape. If I am moved, I am driven to share that landscape or place with others and in so doing, reflect who we are back to us - whether it be a wild place or an abandoned one.

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