Monica Macdonald

The work of Monica Macdonald can be described as: "Exuberance, joy and humour all rolled into one… happy and bold and delicious!” Monica’s paintings are characterised by lively brushwork and a vibrant use of colour. “My work is a celebration of the world around me - the landscape, the weather, the everyday stuff of life. My inspiration comes from these things but also from the sensuous qualities of the paint itself - from the colour, the smell, the texture, and from the pleasure of making a mark."

Monica studied at Sir Wilfred Grenfell School of Fine Art in Corner Brook NF and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax NS where she received her Bachelor of Fine Art in 1996. She has been the recipient of several Arts awards including the New Brunswick Arts Board Emerging Artist Creation Grant, and the John Lewis Paton Scholarship from Memorial University. Recently she has continued her professional development by attending several workshops and artist’s residencies in Florida and North Carolina that have invigorated her work and led her in new directions.

Monica’s paintings have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout Atlantic Canada. Her work can be found hanging in private and corporate collections nationally and internationally, including CIBC Wood Gundy, McCain Foods International Ltd, Greater Halifax Partnership, Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital, the CCL Group and The Canadiana Fund National Capital Commission.

In 2007, after an absence of 30 years, Monica moved back to her childhood home of Prince Edward Island. She can be found painting in her studio down a long clay road by a secluded tree lined lake. Her work is deeply rooted in the red soil of that landscape where for her “the distance between nature and art does not exist."