Hello, I’m Kim

I was born in the culturally diverse land of poutine and smoked meat (Montréal). I migrated across the country to Calgary in 2002 to see if the Rocky Mountains were all they were cracked up to be; they were.

I’ve been creating since I could hold a pencil. No, since I could spread paint around with my hands. My parents considered my early works contemporary. My first solo art exhibition was in 1982 when my work was displayed on my family’s avocado-coloured fridge. 

As life has a way of doing, mine took me away from the arts. For almost twenty years, I didn’t so much as look at a sheet of drawing paper. Then, after searching for an outlet to manage several painful life events, I went back to the thing that felt most natural to me: drawing. 

Under the tutelage and encouragement of my art teacher and mentor, Michelle Austen, I picked up a paintbrush in 2015 and haven’t looked back. Around the same time, I began writing about what I was going through. Both creative endeavours have paid off. Now a published author and a recognized, internationally-sold artist represented by Bluerock Gallery, I divide time between writing, painting, and helping others improve their creative work. Where painting is concerned, my distinctive art focuses on Canada’s stunning landscape and its wildlife.

No matter where I’ve lived I’ve always felt most at home in front of an easel. These days, a laptop works too. I’m honoured to have my work grace your walls and your bookshelves.

Happy reading, happy art collecting.

— Kimberley McNeil