Before reading any further, you'd better put aside any preconceptions you might have about artists. You know what I'm talking about… those notions that artists are flighty, eccentric types given to living alone and shunning the everyday company of we more, well, "normal" folk? Forget them all!

  In fact, if more people were like Bracebridge artist Lynda Lynn, the world would be a much nicer, less complicated -- and certainly more beautiful -- place.

  Born and bred a Bracebridge girl (she's fifth generation Muskokan), the award-winning artist developed an interest in her craft at a young age.

  "I've always liked colour. I remember playing with grandmother’s quilting scraps and spending countless hours colouring with her," she recalls. "She had fabulous gardens full of luscious colours, textures and scents. It was a magical place."

The power of colour

  This girlhood fascination with colour led Lynda to try her hand at a wide variety of media, including oils, watercolour, acrylic, pastel, batik, textile design and stained glass, to name but a few. In fact, Lynda admits she's never tired of experimenting with her art, and certainly has never stopped wanting to learn.

  “Colour is such a subjective thing,” adds Lynda. “Everyone sees it just a little bit differently, and that makes it all the more interesting. It can change your body temperature and affects your mood. It sells things and causes us to reject others. It makes you think more clearly or can make you sleepy. You can’t help be affected by it.”

  A realtor by day, Lynda became a founding director and instructor with the Muskoka School of the Arts in 1995.

  “The world around me holds infinite curiosity and interest, and I find the whole field of artistic expression fascinating," she says. "Art is a matter of perception, with its elements changing through both the eyes of the artist and with the viewer.  I prefer an impressionistic to somewhat abstract form of expression leaving some personal space to the imagination of each person who views the work."

 
  Sharing her passion

  When not painting for herself, Lynda can often be found sharing her love of colours and art with others. 

  “People often comment, ‘I can’t draw a straight line’,” says Lynda. “But everyone has creative skills. Can they write their name? Of course they can. They have simply trained their hand to follow their eye, the same process used to draw. As you move your eye over your subject, so moves your hand. Painting and sculpture are simply more involved.”

  Whether you’re a regular art show aficionado or not, you’ve likely seen some of Lynn’s warm, colourful paintings. Recently, realty company Royal LePage used one of her illustrations – the award-winning Winter’s Blessing -- in a Muskoka-wide advertising campaign. Her work is also currently on display at Scott’s of Muskoka in Bracebridge, the Alexandra Luke Gallery on Ziska Road, Bracebridge, and at Iroquois Artisans in Bala (viewings can also be booked at her studio, too).

  Her work has also won numerous awards, including the Award of Excellence for Acrylic Painting at the Muskoka Arts and Crafts Spring Members Show in 2001, as well as The Doug Gatcke Award for Members’ Choice, Best of Show, at the same event.

  To learn more about Lynda Lynn the artist, or for 

details of her art classes, contact her at 

705-645-5495, or e-mail llynn@muskoka.com.