Living close to the Canadian Rockies, Andrea finds the mountains and trees to be a continual source of inspiration for paintings. However she did not always live in Alberta. Her life was enriched by growing up in Japan. She is a third generation
Canadian Japanese, born abroad. Her parents’ work involved travelling between Japan and Canada every five years or so.

She grew up by the Japan Sea. Hearing the crash of waves, beach-combing for shells, swimming with jellyfish and climbing rocks on the beach were second nature to her. This provided the backbone for her deep love of nature which comes out in her paintings.

With a studio set up in her home in Calgary, Alberta, Andrea painted with watercolour for about 6 years then moved on to pastels and finally on to acrylics. The acrylic medium is very versatile, allowing mixed media and many layers of paint. With daily walks through the trees and being a lover of hiking in the mountains, it is no wonder that trees have been predominant in her pieces.

Exploring ways of incorporating kintsugi in new subject matter is challenging but Andrea looks forward to experimenting and is excited about it.