SHIRLEY YURKEWICH - BIOGRAPHY & ACHIEVEMENTS - I am a born and raised Edmontonian coming into the world in June of 1944 at the old Misericordia Hospital. I have enjoyed Art and artistic endeavors for as long as I can remember and won my first award as a Junior High student with a drawing entered into the Edmonton Exhibition student art competition. It was a drawing in pencil crayon of water lilies which garnered first prize - one dollar! I became an elementary school teacher and Art was my favorite subject to teach mainly because children have a natural love of it and even children who struggle with academic studies can find success and enjoyment in artistic activities. My busy life as a teacher and single parent precluded finding time to be involved in Art as personal expression until just recently. My journey with artistic expression has included some water colour workshops, in which I found little success, and drawing classes, in which I did well but it was not until January of 2002 that I found the medium that would reflect the best of my artistic inclinations. I enrolled in a workshop with Gene Prokop, not realizing it was on painting with oils. Many years ago I had discarded oils because I believed they were messy and smelly and required chemicals to clean up. The workshop turned out to be a life changing experience, artistically speaking, as I discovered that painting with oils is not at all what I thought it was, and is exactly the right medium of expression for me.

I have been painting for five years under the direction of Gene Prokop and I have had very positive response to my work, My goal is to continue painting, mainly for the joy of it. Presently I am an active member of the Society of Western Canadian Artists, where I served as secretary for 3 years and recently I was juried into the Edmonton Art Club .My husband Mike is very supportive of my artistic endeavors and is especially keen on the prospect of selling paintings.

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'Uncle Victor' x , Original Oil on Canvas - For Dis $0 SOLD