Margo Harrison

Born in 1945 in Vancouver, Margo was raised near Ladysmith on Vancouver Island. She majored in fine arts at the University of Victoria where she studied painting with Toni Onley and earned a Bachelor of Education degree.

Margo taught "Painting in the Parks" classes from 1967 to 1972 for the Federation of Canadian Artists. She was a teacher and art specialist in the Surrey School District for thirty-four years before retiring in 2002.

Margo began watercolour painting in 1985 and started sculpting clay "Comfort Cats" in 1998. She has been working in mixed media since 2004. She is fascinated and inspired by the spiritual and cultural contributions of our First Nations.

Research into the artwork of the Haida resulted in Margo creating panels depicting details from carvings on totems, bentwood boxes and chests. These paintings are acrylic/mixed media and ‘relief-carved’.

Margo explains “I tend to work in series, exploring an idea thoroughly before moving on. My paintings focus on light, shadows, shapes and textures as I narrow the field of vision on subjects such as totem poles and organic shapes. To provide a challenge and a pleasing balance, I sculpt life-size figures of sleeping cats out of clay.”

She says that she sees her future works “celebrating sunshine, uplifting spirits, calming frayed nerves and exploring different themes and media”. Her paintings, sculptures and photographs are shown at the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery.