Ann Boleyn, the second wife of England’s Henry VIII, is remembered for one thing – being beheaded. 

Esther was well educated and intelligent. She was able to work diligently to convince the King of Persia to protect her people against the wishes of those who also had his ear. It is unimaginable that a young beautiful Jewish girl could become the Queen of what is in modern day, Iran.

As an historical character, Esther is an extraordinary heroine who delivers her nation from genocide.

Women in history and in the Bible have often been portrayed as flat characters, either scarlet women or virgins. In the story of Samson and Delilah, Samson is God’s favourite, yet he married prostitutes and killed men. I decided to explore the story of Samson and Delilah with the goal of looking at the person of Delilah. Who was she?

A story that intrigues me, because it seems to appear in slightly different forms in many cultures, is the story of Noah’s Ark. The women, Noah’s wife and her daughter-in-laws, are very present in the story but remain unnamed, in spite of the fact that lesser male characters are named.

A trip to New York city and then moving to a small city in Saskatchewan lead me on an artistic journey that started at the Garden of Eden. Here I share the beginning of that discovery and what lead me to over a hundred paintings in this series.

22x30" Watercolour on cotton paper. The story of Eve and the Garden of Eden is one that the Western World has laden with guilt and blame. When investigating the story, I discovered many interesting things, the first of which was that Eve was called the same name as Adam until the fall. Both Adam and Eve were made in God’s image.

Sarah was barren; she had no child’ Gen. 11:30 Sarah, is a story of infertility, one, which is very present in society today. It is hard to imagine how difficult it would have been for Sarah in a society where the major value that a woman had was her ability to produce a son yet her prayers were more than answered as she became the mother of a nation.

Hildegard von Bingen is emerging as one of the most remarkable creative personalities of the Middle Ages. She was a mystic. composer, writer and visionary as well as being one of the most powerful women in her time. How could I not do a painting about her?