Bonnie Brooks
Born the youngest of five children, Bonnie grew up on a dairy farm in Adolphustown, Ontario, surrounded by dogs and horses. She became interested in painting through her mother, who is also an artist. In 1979, she graduated from the University of Guelph where she studied fine arts and psychology. She later had the opportunity to study with the painter, Carl Schaefer.
Before devoting herself full-time to painting, Bonnie worked at an art supply store and taught watercolour classes at St.Lawrence College in Kingston. In 1999, she was accepted as a member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour (CSPWC).
Bonnie works in a variety of media and rarely uses photographs for inspiration, preferring instead to sketch, make notes and do colour washes on site.
“To me, art is about experimenting and growing in one’s artistic direction. I’m always striving to improve and strengthen my means of expression.”
Bonnie has participated in numerous exhibitions across Ontario and New York and her work is held in a number of private collections. Her painting, Suspension, was one of 15 selected from artists across Canada to become part of the permanent collection in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle in 2001.
Bonnie now resides on Loughborough Lake near Kingston, Ontario, where she is surrounded by scenes that inspire and sustain both her spirit and her art.