Terra Simieritsch is a Calgary based mixed media artist and teacher. She can often be found adventuring in the woods with her husband, young boys and dog in tow as she gathers inspiration for her work. She recently left a career in Environmental Science to pursue visual art full time. Her long-time friend and co-worker describes her work as follows:
“I have known Terra Simieritsch over the course of almost two decades as a respected environmental expert and as someone with a profound appreciation for the wild spaces and species of Alberta. Only recently have I come to know her as a skilled and highly original visual artist. Terra’s art is firmly rooted in her formal and informal studies and her lifelong immersion in nature. She starts with the familiar: animals, plants, and natural objects so common they often go unnoticed, but infuses them with colors and textures that we may only have envisioned as children in stories or dreams. To my mind this synthesis of realism and unbound creativity results in artwork that simply radiates with emotion and personal meaning. Terra’s paintings remind me that there is far more in nature than meets the human eye, and that our appreciation of wild things is incomplete without imagination, respect, and love.”
Three’s a Crowd, an example of my mixed-media art.
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What ‘hood are you in?
I’m in the burbs of Douglas Glen in southeast Calgary
What do you do?
I am a visual artist that works in mixed media. That means I love to incorporate many different materials into my acrylic and watercolour paintings. Currently I’m working with Chiyogami (Japanese silk screened paper), vintage sheet music, tissue paper and book pages. I’m also learning printmaking in order to make my own papers to incorporate into my work.
I am also an art teacher, and while I do teach some adult mixed media workshops I primarily teach preschool art workshops. I currently teach around 120 kids each month.
I am grateful for the flexibility of being a working artist, as I juggle these artistic pursuits around raising my two young sons. They love helping teach my preschool art classes and having so many art supplies at their fingertips.
What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on my first solo exhibit, Coexistence. This will be an exhibit highlighting the challenges and adaptations of people living alongside wildlife species that are often ‘conflict species’ such as skunks or porcupines. The exhibit will be shown at the Leighton Art Centre in the spring of 2021.
I am also working on a feather series for an upcoming show with Woolf’s Voices (at Shelf Life Books), and building inventory for upcoming shows and sales. I usually have a commission or two in the works as well.
Where can we find your work?
My work can be found at the Leighton Art Centre, south of Calgary and Lineham House Galleries in Okotoks.
My work can also be viewed and purchased on my website, on Instagram or Facebook.
