Aisthorpe-Smith, Jeanne

Jeanne was born in England in 1945 and moved to Nova Scotia in 1954. She studied graphic design in the late 1980s in Middleton, NS, and then went on to study painting with Dr. Avery Vaughn of Windsor for several years. In 1992 Jeanne moved to Victoria, BC to study fine art. During that time, she also studied with David Goatley, a renowned West coast artist known for his portraiture. She graduated from the Victoria College of Art in 1995. Jeanne received a Certificate of Appreciation for her contribution to Art in Nova Scotia from Her Honour, Myra A. Freeman, the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

Jeanne has had many solo and group shows in NS and BC since 1990, and continues to paint and show her work to the present day. Her work has been shown in galleries in the USA and Canada, and can be found in private collections around the world.

Artist Statement

My early work, upon graduation from the Victoria College of Art, focused on horses and what they symbolized to me, as I have had horses for most of my life.

After graduation and moving back to NS, my work started to focus on the land around me in the Annapolis Valley. I began working with fields of colour that resonate together. I painted uncluttered scenes of field and farm that were familiar to me, and that I felt in many ways we were losing. I am drawn to things or places that I love and colour resonates with me at a high frequency, so it is natural for me to put the two together. I feel very blessed to be able to paint what I love, and always feel great excitement to start a new canvas.