Painting from Experience – Emily Lozeron

Emily Lozeron grew up in Debolt drawing and painting, but never daring to dream that one day she would be a successful artist. Yet, through hard work and passion, that is exactly what she has become. Lozeron is now an internationally recognized nature and wildlife artist.

When she started out, she didn’t want to become a “starving artist” so she trained to be a nurse and she still works casually as a nurse in Beaverlodge. Then, while living in Calgary fifteen years ago, she was encouraged to paint more during a difficult point in her life. Painting gave her joy and carried her through those hard times.

Lozeron started to paint for herself but she also continued to grow as an artist. She took courses from people she admired like Robert Bateman, who drew her to art in the first place, and David Kitler.

“I’m always gathering things from people I admire—people like Richard Schmidt, Mike Svob, Heather Pant, and all the people around the area who are amazing,” said Lozeron. “So my paintings are always going to be changing, hopefully, throughout my career.”

Lozeron moved back to Grande Prairie with her husband where she continued taking courses and putting in the hard work to develop her skills.

“We have a fantastic community of artists in the area,” Lozeron said. “There are always artists out there who are willing to show you what they know and those are the people I love to be around.”

Lozeron’s process begins out in nature, experiencing the things she will paint. She paints what she has a connection to, which is currently hiking, being out in nature, and being with animals.

“We have a fantastic community of artists in the area. There are always artists out there who are willing to show you what they know and those are the people I love to be around.”

While she sometimes does plein air painting, for most of her work she takes pictures and returns home where she sets up in her living room, close to her family. There she thinks about the composition and the colours.

“It will depend on the feeling I’m getting at the time I experience it,” said Lozeron, “Some are very muted, while others are very vibrant depending on the warmth, the sun, or whatever it is.”

Once the inspiration and idea are established Lozeron begins. “I just sit and paint and get obsessed and sit there as long as it takes to get the painting done,” Lozeron said. When a painting is nearly done, she sets it aside and starts on the next one, waiting a week or a month until she knows if she actually likes it.

Recently, Lozeron’s painting of sheep was put on display in the 2019 Dream Home. It’s a compilation of a flock of sheep she observed and the personalities she saw in them. “Every time I do something, I try to get their personality as well. Those seem to connect with people more.”

In a new series, Lozeron captures not only the personality but also a sense of sound. One day while sitting in a field photographing birds, she started to think about combining her paintings with bird song. She got the idea to turn the wire into the staff of music and to place the birds into notes.

Lozeron hopes to show people the places she has been and allow them to not only see them but to also share in the experiences of being there. “There are many people who can’t go out, but they still enjoy nature and I hope to bring that to them,” said Lozeron. “It gives me such joy and peace to be in these places and hopefully they can enjoy it through my paintings.”

At times it’s still hard for Lozeron to believe that people want to buy her work. “I’ve worked really, really hard for it and I love it so much,” said Lozeron. “For me to be able to portray something so that people would like it and be able to identify with it, that is a huge honour for me.”

Lozeron has been honoured in other ways as well. She was juried into Artists for Conservation, a Canadian based international organization, four times in the last few years. She has also been juried into Birds in Art, an annual exhibition in the United States that features the best bird artists in the world. Furthermore, she won the Grant Berg Capture the Peace contest in 2018.

If you want to see Lozeron’s art in person you can find it in the Grant Berg Gallery in Grande Prairie and the Kube Gallery in Fort Langley. She also participates in shows with the Artist Guild in Grande Prairie and the West Fine Art Show in Vancouver and will be having her own show in Fort St. John in October.

You can find out more about Emily Lozeron and her art at:

emilylozeron.com
facebook.com/EmilyLozeron
instagram.com/emily_lozeron

“Every time I do something, I try to get their personality as well. Those seem to connect with people more.”