Hello and welcome to my page, I am a Visual Artist
Colleen Bessel is a photo and visual artist residing in Port Moody. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Colleen spent most of her adult life in the corporate world living in several different cities and provinces. This prairie girl moved to beautiful British Columbia after retiring in 2010 to be near her daughter and granddaughters- who are the light of her life. Recently remarried, she and her husband split their time between Port Moody and their cottage on Galiano Island. Every summer she participates in the Galiano Saturday Market where you can find her latest works of art or photography. Her work is also available at local shops at both locations.
Contact Details
Bessel, Colleen
https://www.colleenbesselphotoart.com/
Port Moody, BC, Canada
Samples of my work
Artist Statement
I love art in all its forms and expressions. From an early age I loved painting, writing, drawing, anything creative... when I was a teenager my parents enrolled me in art classes even though they could not really afford it. My pursuit of art has taken various paths as my life allowed. In the 70's I studied oil painting - mostly landscapes and seascapes. As life got busier with career and family art fell to the back burner, sporadic episodes as life allowed. I developed a love of photography as a hobby and that filled the void for a while. But, when I retired from a business career in 2010 I was ready to allow the creative part of me out of the box. I took numerous photography and travel writing courses and travelled extensively with a Photography group, having a number of published travel articles and selling my photography at markets and local shops. And then the Pandemic hit and I turned back to painting to express my artistic passions. This time I studied watercolor and have been focusing on painting nature and its perfect little creatures. My current works and simple, happy images of butterflies, dragonflies, hummingbirds, bees and other tiny beings. I call this grouping A Small World. All are watercolor and ink mounted on wood panels and finished with a protective coating of either wax or acrylic spray.