MAUREEN DOODY
Featured artist: July and August 2019
Maureen Doody
Maureen is an award-winning contemporary artist, photographer and former elite athlete, from Ottawa, Canada.
Maureen’s journey of intrinsic personal exploration has led her to become an abstractionist with international reach. Employing unconventional colours, compositions and tonal schema, her paintings are an authentic expression of ‘revelations of self’; and by virtue, capture the transient nature of life and the essence of the human condition. An anthropologist, her paintings reflect her connection to the world around her, where one can discern reoccurring themes of truth, unity of nature, healing, reinvention, resilience, and the power of “I am”.
Maureen holds a degree in Anthropology and Film Studies from the University of Western Ontario; and, a Masters in Cultural Anthropology from Carleton University. During her studies, Maureen competed on both the Varsity Basketball and Track and Field teams, is a multiple Academic All-Canadian and a 2018 UWO Sports Hall of Honour Inductee. Throughout the course of her esteemed athletics career, including many provincial and national honours, Maureen was heralded as one of Canada’s elite long jumpers.
Maureen conjointly conceived and started one of Canada’s most prestigious and fully digital wedding/portrait studios. Her award-winning work has had international reach and has been featured in national wedding publications.
A cancer diagnosis in 2017 ‘awakened’ the artist to pursue her passion for painting.
Maureen’s early influence in painting stems from her east coast heritage, namely her late father, the renowned Newfoundland ceramicist William Doody. Under his guidance and mentorship Maureen developed and honed her skills as a painter in both oil and acrylic mediums. In addition, she learned the craft of various ceramic techniques, such as glazing, staining, acrylic paint application and kiln firing.
Maureen also had the privilege of further developing her skills and artistry in oil painting and relief/sculpture technique, in the mediums of wood and clay, from family friend and local/international artist, author and teacher, Fr. Herman Falke, O.C.A. (Life member of the Sculptors Society of Canada; painter and sculptor of the “human landscape”).
In 2018, Maureen was selected as one of 17 “New” artists from across Canada for the ‘Get Noticed’ Art Exhibit at the Red Head Gallery in Toronto. This is a bi-annual exhibition of visual artists selected by Toronto gallerists noted for actively raising the bar for Canada’s commercial art world. In addition, she was one of 35 artists selected by the Ontario Society of Artists for their biannual Emerging Artists Juried Exhibition.
Her work, selected for numerous juried art exhibits, can be found in private collections throughout Canada and the United States.
Artist Statement
My paintings are a reflection of personal discovery and essential truths towards an authentic
self (living). I sincerely hope my art inspires others towards their ‘awakening’ – to let go of who
we think we’re supposed to be and embrace who we’re intended to be.
Contact Information:
www.maureendoodyart.com
@maureendoody4