Sandy Blass

I am a Canadian artist living in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I am a watercolourist who paints mostly landscapes of these great mountains, as well as the waters and forests of the west coast.

I began painting as a young child to find a place of peace and freedom while living in a volatile home. I am the child of WWII survivors, one a Holocaust survivor, and believe that anyone growing up with traumatized parents will understand the need for places of peace, freedom and joy to find rest in. Painting has given me both strength and calm in the midst of inherited PTSD.

This is why I began to paint and why I continue to paint. I find a great sense of strength in the mountains and a lasting peace in their solitude and sameness. They are always there and unchanging. I can count on them.

The coast provides a great sense of peace and calm as well. Vibrant colour has opened up vast stores of joy in me that have been there since I was a little girl! Colour is where I find my greatest freedom. As I begin to create work that is a bit more abstract, I am finding even more joy in the process of letting go and being freer in my technique. My hope is that you will find much the same responses to my work.