Local artist Patricia Coulter is having a whirlwind of a year, as her paintings are being featured on a national stage.
After retiring in 2013, the former Northern Lights School Division Fine Arts teacher has thrown herself into her paintings and is starting to rack up the accolades.
“I was kind of a Sunday afternoon painter to start with,” said Coulter, who is just a few years into pursuing the gig full time.
“I am now able to produce more work and get it out in the world.”
This past summer she took a trip to an art expo in New York City as a way to get her style and paintings out in front of more influential eyes.
It was at this exhibit that her art caught the eye of representatives from Art Business News. Staff at the art magazine asked to see more pieces of Coulter's work and eventually chose the painting “Brimming” for their July 2015 cover.
“That was a really big achievement for me,” said Coulter on getting her work featured on a cover.
The publicity gained from the expo has lead to a few more interesting opportunities for the local artist.
After filling out an application earlier in the year, Coulter was one of ten North American artists selected to be featured on a new series that will air on PBS in February.
A film company run by Australian Graeme Stevenson recently started filming a series called “Put Some Colour in Your Life,” which is designed to inspire people to become artists.
Stevenson will be filming Coulter painting at her Arizona home in December.
“He will be interviewing me while I am painting and then will show the finished product,” said Coulter, who is going to have to speed up her normal painting process.
“I usually take quite a bit of time, sometimes up to two weeks,” said Coulter. “This time I am going to be ready. I have a couple ideas. I want to show him that I am inspired by the landscape. I think that is my biggest inspiration.”
Over her many years of painting, Coulter's work has mostly focused around her love for her surroundings. Capturing the prairie landscape has been the passion that has fueled her work over the years living in Cold Lake.
“Capturing the colours and shapes of nature with the challenging medium of watercolor has become my passion,” said Coulter.
“I want people to look at my paintings, slow down and reflect on the fleeting beauty of the changing landscape.”
This passion for landscapes has lead to a variety of awards for Coulter, who has seen her artwork featured around Alberta, before finding a place on the national scene.
In 2005, her painting “Prairie Sentinels” was chosen for the Celebrate Alberta Competition featuring the work of Alberta artists.
In 2008, she was awarded a Merit Award in Watercolour and has since led a variety of watercolour workshops.
A lot of the Sunday afternoon painting sessions were inspired by her surroundings in the Cold Lake and Bonnyville region.
“I think there is something beautiful unfolding before us everyday,” said Coulter, who likes to go on daily walks in Cold Lake to find inspiration for her paintings.
“I am always inspired by something. Sometimes it is the frost on the edge of a leaf, or how a lake looks, or how the trees look, or the sunset.”
Last week the local artist took another huge step forward in her career by signing a licensing agreement for four of her paintings. The agreement, with a U.S. company, will see reprints of her paintings produced and sold across North America.
She is also one of three Canadians artist to have work selected for an upcoming book. Her painting "Big Sky Country" is set to be included in the book “Acrylic Works” and will be published in early 2016.
“This past year now has really taken off for me,” said Coulter. “I am kind of blown away by it all. It is so exciting.”