Joan van Kralingen is an artist who has always lived in Toronto, Canada. She enjoyed drawing as a child and through her teen years, but made the choice to study geology in university. This started a long career working in the exploration industry and later government, which provided opportunities to work in and appreciate the vastness and natural beauty of Canada’s far north. Before retiring, she took up painting in acrylics as a totally new medium for her, which rekindled her love of creating art. This has been her preferred medium ever since, painting landscapes inspired by either local scenes or from her travels, seascapes, brilliant sunlit flowers, or animals, whether they be pets or wildlife. Joan has continued to take courses and workshops (through the Art Gallery of Ontario, and the Perivale Gallery, Manitoulin Island among others.) Joan joined The Art Guild of Scarborough in fall, 2025, and has shown her work in their semi-annual juried shows and sales.
Statement
From the time I was a child, art was always an enjoyable part of my life whether through drawing, watercolours or oil pastels. I took all the art courses I could in school, and any available supplementary courses, but ultimately decided to pursue a career in the sciences rather than the arts. Fast forward through many years of work, and minimal creation of art (but always being a gallery goer on trips), until about 15 years ago when I discovered a local artist giving lessons in acrylic painting. These lessons helped me rediscover the joy of making a painting and expressing what appealed to me most in a landscape or seascape, a still life, flowers, birds or wildlife. I found acrylics a wonderful medium, spontaneous, vivid, and very forgiving. Once I retired ten years ago I was really able to devote a lot more time to painting. My preferred medium is still acrylics, and my subject matter is whatever moves me with its beauty, power, serenity, or just plain fun. My paintings can be inspired by a nature hike, travel either abroad or within Canada, or just a walk in the neighbourhood. Painting scenes from my travels has really extended the pleasure of my trips, keeping the experiences fresh years after. I also appreciate what a great learning and communal experience art can be: the wealth of resources, whether courses, online sources or fellow painters, ensures there is always something to help one improve and see things from a new angle.