Lynne Grillmair was born in Vancouver in 1947, but spent her early years in the Similkameen and Fraser Valleys respectively. She attended the University of British Columbia from 1965-69, graduating with a Fine Arts degree. She was fortunate to be able to study under the direction of B.C. Binning and Tony Only, both well-known B.C. painters.

After graduation, her painting aspirations were put on the backburner in order to earn a living in the "real world". She was hired by a small heli-ski company, Canadian Mountain Holidays, to cook at their new lodge in the Bugaboos. There she met her husband, Leo, and for 20 years they managed the lodge together.

An unexpected illness in 1989 terminated Lynne's career in the chef's arena. With the help of her husband she was able to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a painter. In 1990-91 she attended the Alberta College of Art. In the following years she attended workshops by well-known water media painters like our local Treva Burton, Jack Reid, Jean Pederson and most recently, experimental artist Mary Todd Beam. It has been through these workshops that Lynne has honed her craft, discovering the myriad of possibilities in expression that water media together with other materials such as gels, acrylics, opaque pigments, metallics, found papers and objects provide. It is an exciting exploration that has steered her in diverse directions in the search for her own voice.

Lynne continues to paint traditional watercolor landscapes using an intense palette, often with the three primaries alone and many layers of diluted color. She is exploring a more personal expression creating abstract works with personal symbols and images. This is new territory and very exciting for the artist. Lynne is represented by "The Kootenay Gallery" in Invermere and "The Point of Art" in Calgary. Her work can also be seen in Strand's and Myrtle's Restaurants in Invermere.

Naturalism - Artist's Statement

Lynne uses watercolour in the traditional manner of wet-in-wet to execute paintings on location to capture a moment in the landscape, or a light pattern on a still life arrangement in the studio. 

Mixed Media - Artist's Statement

These paintings are experiments and explorations using a variety of art materials - collages, metallics, fluid acrylics, foil etc. The pieces are concerned with design, composition, texture and colour. While images are present, there are also personal and exotic calligraphy marks which punctuate the surface and keep the eye engaged as well as creating interesting abstract patterns.