It's been a whirlwind seven months for Linzy Arnott.
Since the Maple Ridge resident got married last August in Port Moody, she's been painting furiously for three solo exhibitions this winter.
The first, titled Where It All Began, featured 51 pieces in the Cowichan Theatre Art Gallery in her hometown. The next month saw her open The Five Seasons at The Fort Gallery in Fort Langley with 32 works and, this month, she has nine pieces hungat the Port Moody Arts Centre (PMAC) and the nearby Scotiabank Gallery in a displaycalled Colour of the Mind, which she describes as "fragments of memories."
But despite the mad rush, her efforts appear to have paid off, both financially and career-wise.
When her Vancouver Island show closed three weeks ago, Arnott, 24, had sold all by five paintings.
"I just couldn't believe how quickly they went," she said, adding with a smile, "I guess now I can take a honeymoon."
Though she plied quickly for the exhibits - with commission pieces, charity events, etc., squeezed in between - Arnott said she poured her heart and soul into each piece, toiling for many hours on every artwork.
For example, with Burning Desire, a large red and gold abstract now at PMAC, Arnott spent about three weeks to paint 25 layers of acrylic colours and gold leaf.
Liquid leaf, gold leaf, varnishes, resin and metallics are her favourite media - either on canvas or a wooden background. "The liquid leaf effect is so translucent," she said. "The light changes depending on where you stand or the time of day.
It's not just the shimmer that catches the eye. Arnott splashes whites on to her washed-out style pieces, which one art critic recently praised her for successfully carrying off the stark contrast.
Not all of her images have the dipped paint effect, though. She also specializes in birds - crows, hummingbirds, swans - having seen plenty while growing up in Cowichan Bay."Birds are symbols of freedom," she said. "I want to give a feeling of freedom and limitlessness."
Luckily, Arnott has been free to paint since she was a child. Given an easel at the age of seven, Arnott credits her grandmothers and high school teacher, David Aris, for nurturing her talent, and artists Wendy Farrow and Cy Trembly for being her inspirations.
Arnott was a Grade 11 student at Francis Kelsey secondary in Mill Bay whenshe represented B.C. in a nationwide art contest and was flown to Quebec to see her work displayed in the Canadian Children's Museum.
The experience, she said, proved to be a turning point and gave the 16-year-old girl the confidence to push her passion into a career.
She moved to Vancouver after winning a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Graphic Design and, later, studied colour theory and painting at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. But she left after a semester "because I already had my style by then and it was hard to be taught something different," she said.
Today, she has her own business and her art and illustrations can be seen in galleries around the world, including in New York and Japan.
Last month, she won the first annual Good Life Connoisseur Art Contest. Her piece called Familiar Road - a 36x36 inch acrylic on wood - was auctioned off with proceeds going to Operation Rainbow Canada.
Linzy Arnott's exhibit, Colour of the Mind, runs until April 10 at PMAC (2425 St. John's St.) and at the Scotiabank Gallery (2501 St. John's St.).
jwarren@tricitynews.com
