Biography
Since a young age, Lucy Collings has sketched scenes from her natural surroundings. As a child growing up in South Africa, she enjoyed drawing and painting the horses on her families' farm. Today she is inspired by the immense spaces and mountains of British Columbia where she has hiked and skied. She has lived in North Vancouver since 1978.
Lucy enjoys painting "plein air" and finds that those paintings have a special sense of "place". They are a reminder of the weather and flavour of that particular day and location, and specially so if the bugs were bad.
Lucy is a signature member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and an Honorary Life Member of the North Shore Artists' Guild.
Artist Statement
I paint to celebrate the beauty and variety of nature. It is my way of paying tribute to the magnificent natural world that surrounds us.
My work is representational with impressionistic uses of light, colour and brushstroke and I often exaggerate colour and light to create greater impact or stronger mood. My subject matter is approachable and accessible as I generally paint the everyday subjects and scenes which make British Columbia such an incredible place to live.
I generally use oils or acrylics-- but there is nothing quite like oil paint. It has a consistency and immediacy that is not matched by any other medium, and I always use oil when I paint outdoors.
About
One of Lucy’s pleasures is riding and “hanging out” with her quarter horse, Penny, which she boards in Aldergrove.
Going to different places in BC and “Trailer Camping” with friends is a delight. Penny gets an outside pen while I camp in her trailer, which is like a very large tent. Yes, I clean out the poop first and put down plastic and a mat.