I was born in the Netherlands, so I can say I'm from "back East" when somebody asks ... wa-a-a-a-y back East. I immigrated with my family to Canada in 1950 as a very young child, and settled first in Ontario. It was apparent that I would be “an artist” as early as grade 2. One day, during the art session, my teacher suddenly picked my work up off the desk, stared at it with an odd expression on her face, and marched me down to the Principal's office. I was terrified of the Principal, and I thought I was in deep doo doo. Turns out, I was "an Artist", and both teacher and Principal were impressed! It defined who I was for the rest of my life.I'm pretty much self-taught. There were no finances for further education of any kind, and I had to go work in the real world to earn my keep. But, there was always something new to explore in the name of Art, some technique to master and more subject matter that inspired. The beauty of details, light and shadow and the subtle nuances of colour became the focus of my paintings. I specialized in portraiture and taught classes in Art Clubs and in adult night classes for a number of years. It was only a side-line. I was a wife, a mom. Life got in the way. Reality ruled the day, and "art" was only the thing that softened the hard edges of the real world.Much later in life, things changed drastically for me. I worked for a number of years as an Editorial Cartoonist, first with The Chemainus Valley Courier once a month. Over a 10 year period, that work grew into 3 local weekly newspapers in the Cowichan Valley, plus one in Lloydminster, AB/SK. In 2018 and in 2019 - again, much to my surprise - I garnered Second Place in the National Canadian Community Newspaper Awards for Editorial Cartoons - Local Humour Category - two years in a row. The 2020 Covid 19 pandemic brought that work to an end, unfortunately, but since then I've developed my own comic stories called “Grampa Was an Alien”. Several family members serve as models for a few of the characters, my dad is represented in the older Grampy, and my second grandson Erik is the model for Ethan (young Grampy). My dad never met Erik, or any of his other great-grandchildren. In a small way, this modeling might serve to correct that. The rest of the characters are a blend of people I know, including me. This work can be viewed at www.grampawasanalien.com. Currently I'm VERY excited and honoured to be teamed up with Teresa Schapansky, having illustrated her series of 12 informative children’s books, collectively called “Along the Way”. Currently I'm again working with her on a children's book for the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association.I live in North Cowichan, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, with husband, Bill and cat, Bebe. Bill is my muse and my rock, and Bebe is ... well, she's a cat! Figure it out. I am a wife. I am a mom (although now the kids are grown-up, but as long as they call me "mom", I'm a mom). I am "Nana Elly". I am a cancer survivor. And now, I am an artist/cartoonist/illustrator/writer. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.Read more about this authorRead less about this author