About the Artist

Ardath Davis, is a West Coast artist who has lived and painted in many parts of Canada. She studied at the Montreal Museum of Arts under Arthur Lismer, and later worked with Harold Beament, RCA. Davis credits Al Broulliette’s teachings about "good negative shapes" as paramount in her approach to good design. She uses an intuitive approach through most of the painting process.

The stimulus for her creativity is an awareness of nature’s pulse and the constant cyclic changes that occur. An ever present theme in her work is the regeneration of life.

"Sketching the Quebec countryside in all seasons was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with Nature in all her varied moods."

Davis has had numerous one-person shows and instructed throughout British Columbia. Her work has received awards both locally and internationally and may be found in private and corporate collections worldwide.

"Most of my paintings whether traditional watercolours, oils or acrylics nearly always take their forms from the objects in nature that I am so passionate about. The play of light often stirs my creative juices, or the mood of a place will make me want to paint it's elusive quality. Although while I lived in Eastern Canada, and painted in oils, on returning to my birthplace, the west coast, I felt a need to render this area in watercolour. Water, and it's reflective action is a favourite subject for me. When I work in acrylics the process is very different. I start with a large shape that is very carefully thought out, and is rendered in a very dark colour of my choice on a twice gessoed surface. The negative background shapes must be as interesting as the shapes that have been painted. The painting starts, with intellect, and as lifts and scrapes are inflicted on the surface, other designs begin to appear, and are incorporated into the work, thus the painting leads the painter, and it becomes an intuitive experience. There are too many passages that occur during the process to record at this time, but as ideas ebb & flow, and the painting nears completion, it is again time for a return to intellect and to judge the overall composition, it's values and the harmony of it's colours. Although I have no intended subject matter in this way of working, the resulting painting is nearly always related to nature in one form or another."

Associations

  • Northwest Watercolour Society (1st Canadian woman to be elected to Signature Status)
  • Knickerbocker Artists, New York (1st Canadian woman to be elected to Signature Status)
  • Catherine Lorrillard Wolfe Art Club, New York

Gallery Representation

  • Federation Gallery, Granville Island, Vancouver, BC
  • Broadmead Gallery, Victoria
  • Ardath Davis Studio Gallery, Victoria, BC
  • The Gallery in Oak Bay Village

Pricing

Price Guidelines, please contact artist for prices. Shipping additional cost.

  • Framed, 1/2 sheet $650 to $850
    Framed 29 x 23 ", Sheet approximately 20.5 x 13.75
  • Framed, Full sheet $1,000 to $1,200
    Framed 36 x 28", Sheet approximately 27.5 x 18.75
  • Unframed Print ($115, Tube $4)

Contact the Artist

Please contact Ardath by Telephone (250) 477-6355, by Fax (250) 477-6340 or
E-Mail ardathdavisstudio@shaw.ca