Fiona M. Smith

I have always loved to create. Most of the gifts I received as a child were materials and tools for arts and crafts – pencil crayons, water colour paints, pastels, lacemaking, FIMO clay, a knitting machine, beads and findings for jewelry making. I tried and used them all and then foraged for more materials in old clothes, buttons, and nature.

I also had the privilege of exposure to the art of the world. I went to galleries and museums; I learned about and witnessed art from ancient traditions to the Great Masters to contemporary artists. I find endless joy in art, but I never thought I was good enough to produce it. 

As an adult, my focus has been a “practical career” – something that had a steady income, rules, rigour, a path, stability, predictability, and a pension. I am grateful to have found all of those things in my 25-year career in Communications.

I have spent many years quilting in my “creative time”, and I loved the focus on colour, pattern and texture – bringing together pieces that were not necessarily intended to go together and giving them new meaning as they formed a new composition. But it has never seemed like enough, and often took the backburner to work. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of beauty, creativity, balance, passion, wonder, perspective and joy in what I do. 

So now, I am embracing my instincts, I am looking at the world differently, I am coming back to art … I am taking fabric, paint, paper, and just about anything I can get my hands on to make art. And I am releasing it out into the world.