Following a career that spanned nearly 4 decades in luxury cosmetics throughout Western Canada with the last 10 years residing on Marine Drive in South Surrey. I spent many happy hours walking along the promenade, enjoying the beach front restaurants and visiting White Rock Pier. After retiring in Victoria, I discovered sculpting. I have been immersed in fine art my entire life from a broad range of disciplines including Inuit, French, Asian and American Southwestern. I have always been interested in drawing and painting. I participated in a weekly portrait drawing group over the course of a year and worked with Melanie Furtado in 2020 in an on line course from her studio in Paris. I’ve also developed my skills from live figure drawing in Victoria. My first sculpture was made during a 5-day course in 2019, lead by Italian maestro Gabriele Vicari in partnership with Victoria artist David Hunwick. Since then I have sculpted under the instruction of David Hunwick and attended a second course in 2019 with Gabriele and David, sculpting a traditional figure from a live model. My fifth project, “MURPHY Brave & Hospitable”, was started in 2021 and completed in bronze in May 2022. MURPHY was exhibited at both the 2022 Penticton Public Sculpture Exhibition, where it won a “People’s Choice Award” and also the 2022 Castlegar Sculpturewalk. The city of Castlegar has leased it for the 23-24 season. “Gentle Slumber - A Dream for Love & Peace” is my newest project, recently completed in May 2023.
Laurel Dinney
