A woman in Kirkland wanted to show her appreciation to District 8 councilor Karen Cliffe by painting an amazing version of the peanuts art style and depicting what it is like living in Kirkland.
Trudy White, a resident in Kirkland started painting in January of 2018 with no previous practice in the art. While at the West Island Cancer Wellness center Trudy was given the suggestion by Nathalie Lafrance, the program coordinator, to try a painting class.
"I said to her oh I don't know how to paint, I've never painted before"
-Trudy White
Trudy said that it took a bit of convincing for her to start, but then she finally decided to take some classes with the volunteers, Carol Ladouceur and Susan Murphy. After her time at the center, Trudy took it upon herself to continue painting and took a few classes at Art Hive the Dollard Center for Arts where Susan Hodgson encouraged her to keep practicing.
Trudy shared that she does paintings for her friends and family. They ask her to paint a variety of subjects from a beloved pet to the Staten Island ferry. She works mainly in acrylic paint which takes her about 8 hours to do the average 8" by 10" painting.
"Sometimes I paint over it and over it again to get it the way I like"
-Trudy White
Trudy says that a lot of her inspiration comes from either a picture from trips she's been on or simply photos she finds on the internet that she finds pretty but also mentions that she will paint anything. She is currently working on her first large piece that is 16" by 20".
All of her paintings so far have been gifts for friends but she said that she wants to try selling for commission if people were interested. Anyone curious about her art can visit her Instagram @trudy.white1. Go follow her to support and find more of her beautiful paintings!
