In the seventies and eighties, I lived and worked in downtown Toronto. I took evening life drawing courses at AGO, OCA and The Toronto School of Art. I enjoyed working in charcoal & watercolour, and kept sketchbooks for pencil & ink ideas. At Central Technical School I did silk screen printing classes. Then I began creating original watercolour and silkscreened cards which were sold in boutique stores in the Beach, Yorkville and uptown Toronto areas.

I ran a small silk screen print business from my third floor flat where I printed invitations and packaging for artists. In the nineties, I began a teaching career in math and computer science. In what little free time I had, I continued to sketch and, for a few years, attended watercolour classes at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre. I will be forever grateful for the friendships made in those Saturday morning classes and I loved the creative environment fostered by teacher, mentor and friend, Bernice Harper.

Since retiring four years ago I’ve continued exploring drawing, watercolour and botanical art. I’ve studied with inspirational artists including Beverley Hulme, Sue Ericsson, and Marjan Verstappen at Cedar Ridge. During the pandemic, I transitioned to online lessons with Anna Mason, and Sian & Rob Dudley. I currently work with coloured pencil and watercolour.

In jest, a friend recently described me as an emerging artist. If it’s possible to be an emerging artist in your mid-sixties then perhaps that is indeed me. Before retirement, when something touched me, I packed it away as a vignette. Now, I have time to paint these vignettes; some of which have been waiting on the backburner for decades. Nature inspires me. As you’ll see, I’m fond of simple moments in time.

My work has been exhibited in shows at the Scarborough Civic Centre, Cedar Ridge Studio Gallery and The Art Guild of Scarborough. Please visit KayMinterArt on Instagram and the gallery on the Art Guild of Scarborough’s website to see more pictures.