“A Day in the Life” with Vancouver Visual Artist TJ Daniel

TJ Daniel earned her Fine Arts degree from UBC over a decade ago, but it’s only recently she’s had the time to jump into painting full-time. And not only is she becoming a prolific oil painter, but over the past handful of months, she’s been honoured with Active status at the Canadian Federation of Artists, invited to join the Vancouver Art Guild, and enthusiastically joined Artists in Our Midst, where she’ll be participating for the first time this May.

What TJ Daniel enjoys most about painting is the feeling of being in the flow of life. While painting, distractions and worries melt away. Moreover, as an avid walker who covers miles each and every day, she finds that rambling around Vancouver with the eyes of an artist makes her see things more vividly. It’s on these walks she’s inspired to pick up her palette knife and begin her next painting.

-Written by a friend

TJ Daniel
Long walks for inspiration
TJ Daniel
Print photos taken from walk
TJ Daniel
Set up studio
Get horizon line straight
Squeeze paint on palette
Work in progress
TJ Daniel
Out for a coffee break
TJ Daniel
Finished painting: Light brushwork smoothed some areas, and it’s been signed and completed. Since I painted this work especially for the Guardian as a way to show you my step-by-step artistic process, I’ve decided to title this Vancouver cityscape “The Guardian – Vancouver”, available to own as soon as the paint dries.

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Which ‘hood are you in?

I live just a few minutes from the beach and love getting up with the sun, grabbing a cup of jasmine tea and strolling along the seashore while the seagulls call out, the clouds float by, the waves shimmer in the sun, and the scent of salty sea air fills me with creative inspiration.

What do you do?

When I’m not creating art, I’m out taking long walks, volunteering with the arts organizations I belong to, and reading books. I like non-fiction, cozy mysteries, and spy novels like Daniel Sylva’s Gabriel Allon series (Allon’s cover is art restoration).

What are you currently working on?

These days, I’m excited about my new series of abstract and impressionistic paintings of Greater Vancouver’s rivers and seasides. This collection of oil paintings is what I’ll be showing in May during “Artists in Our Midst” here in Vancouver.

Where can we find your work?

Email | Artists in Our Midst | Vancouver Art Guild | Instagram

 

About Demian Vernieri 506 Articles
Demian is an Argentinian retired musician, avid gamer and editor for the Montréal Guardian, Toronto Guardian, Calgary Guardian and Vancouver Guardian websites.