Hello, I’m Renee Poitras

I was born in St Leonard, NB in 1953, the eldest of 9. St Leonard is a very small French Acadian town. My father was a Baker/Chef. I love Creston’s farm to table lifestyle as food has always been a big part of my life. I moved to the big city of Toronto after I graduated and spent the 70’s studying for my CGA and working in accounting. Ended up marrying an American and moved to San Francisco where I spent the 80’s. In 1990 I moved back to Canada with my two children who were then 10 and 5. I was DONE with my marriage, accounting and the US.

My Story

I started a new life in Calgary and became my own boss in the world of retail. Five stores and 25 years later I was DONE again (workaholic burnt out) ! I sold the business and retired. My whole life up until then was about working and working hard. Bob and I have been together for 20 years and we had a plan to retire to Vancouver Island but we missed the boat real estate wise. Now, I am so happy we ended up here instead.

I guess you could say I am a late bloomer ! I have, in the last few years, been learning to let go of perfectionism and just play. Art making was always something I wanted to try but never found time to do... until I joined ArtSpace in the Fall of 2001. Sometimes I wonder how I landed here with this amazing group of women? Seriously, this is exactly what I need. I am learning to play, to paint for the sake of painting and not productivity. I appreciate the encouragement from the group and love that I can learn technique from Jaye.

My biggest accomplishment art wise is yet to come, or maybe not, I don't care ! I just want to play and spend time getting lost in the moment of creation.