Jenifer Darbellay - Artist Statement and Bio 

Jenifer Darbellay is an award winning artist and designer living with her family in Vancouver, BC, the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory and traditional lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. She primarily works in acrylics in her home studio. Also after years of doing her costume designs in watercolours, she has found her way back to that medium but for illustration. There are not many more minutes in the day but with any spare she continues with textiles design, slow clothing and slow stitching quilts.  Over the last 15 years her work has continued to be inspired by motifs of weather, angels, women, children, nature, umbrellas and vast space. There is always an element of whimsy and an ephemeral vibe floating thru her work. When working in acrylics and using a palette knife she is fascinated with a binary moment of things falling apart and coming together and the combination of both. Mental photographs of a quiet space soon to be filled with a birthday crowd. The view from the boat as you come home form a day of adventure. Familiar instances of a split second in time that will evoke sweet happiness and a sense of connection. Standing off to the side of a gathering watching the people closest to your heart. Shy moments before you enter the explosive dance floor. Contemplating kiddos jumping in puddles while watching from the safety of the umbrella. These images are her companions as she continues her conversation with the canvas about fragility and protection, preciousness and stoic strength.  Forever fascinated with the relationship between mother/child and the relationship of the mother we are to our own inner child, Jenifer particularly loves juxtaposing this relationship against the encroaching outside world represented by dramatic weather. She often works with a palette knife and other mark makers for symbols and layers.  Her studio is in her tall house, facing the northeast with a view of the mountains and the weather that climbs over it on its way across this beautiful giant country. Happily her children’s projects tumble thru part of her space, part of her inspiration and focus. A Mothers time is broken down to minutes and every minute is precious and an opportunity to work, see, create, sew and paint.;)

Jenifer Darbellay        BIOGRAPHY

I am an artist because I have been so supported. Always championed and cheered on by my artist mother, my supportive father and the legacy of grandparents on both sides of my family who painted in private and shared with hesitation because they were intensely private although enormously talented.   I honor their talent and I feel I have inherited their love of painting by taking mine out of the studio into the light.  I grew up in Calgary, AB and I am pleased to see my big sky roots present themselves strongly and visually in my work. I also spent many summers driving thru Saskatchewan to a cabin in the north and those prairie oceans and lake life of the Canadian North are very much a part of me. And now living on the west coast of this beautiful vast country I am so struck by the unique lighting, rain, coast life and the living giants of the forest. So blessed. It informs my work in every way.

 I received my BFA from Alberta College of Art and Design in Textiles and went on to pursue a career as a professional costume designer for 30 years. I have received awards and scholarships for design and art in both the professional and academic worlds. In 2006, I moved to Vancouver and received my MFA from the University of British Columbia.

 Becoming a mother 11 years ago, and again 3 years ago has changed my career trajectory.  I am inspired by the abandon and love with which my kiddos meet the world and I want to mirror their endless possibilities while honouring my own thru my creative profession. I want them to live in a home where dreams are pursued, and being a working artist is that for me.

When I look back and see the building blocks of 38 years of art classes, 30 years of designing for theatre, teaching and a general obsessions with art supplies, returning to painting feels like coming home.