I sometimes work in silence, or I paint while listening to music. I particularly enjoy the music of Duke Ellington, Joe Williams, Count Basie, 60s pop music from Eastern Europe, and a field recording made by my friend Paul Tedeschini of the sounds of crickets and waves at Gibraltar Point, on Toronto Island.The paintings tell the story of my emotional world. Some of the portraits of women are drawn from my imagination. I am often asked who these women are. They may resemble me somewhat, or have the features of my friends, relatives, or a stranger on the subway. I enjoy painting their complexions blue, green, whatever. There is a joy and freedom in painting that I whole-heartedly recommend as one of the pleasures of life.I also enjoy painting the person present with me in my studio. I recently completed a series of three paintings based on actor Lesley Dowey's process in portraying Cleopatra in Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra. Please see the Cleopatra Series if you love cobalt blue.I usually paint women but I am challenging myself to paint men. My new series Men About Town kicks off with a portrait of the dashing, brilliant bon vivant Jaymz B.
The landscapes reflect my love for a location and my visceral experience of a place. I contemplate the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Vancouver beaches, Saskatchewan fields and Yukon mountains. 
Imaginary Landscape
16" x 16"
2006
2006I recently returned to painting after a two decade interval during which I worked as a classical singer, actor, vaudevillian, comic, writer, producer, voice coach, and performer of Yiddish art song. Show biz credits include national broadcasts on the Comedy Network, CBC, CTV and Bravo! My bio is presented in full under Stella Walker Bio on this site.
Painting for me is a wonderful, physical, meditative joy. I work in my Toronto studio, relishing the non-verbal bliss of mixing big messy mud pies of colour and glitz, then smearing the paint on mahogany panels. I don't paint on canvas, only wood, as it is more hardy and I like the texture of the wood grain. I layer colours and combine iridescent and metallic acrylic paints.
Painting for me is a wonderful, physical, meditative joy. I work in my Toronto studio, relishing the non-verbal bliss of mixing big messy mud pies of colour and glitz, then smearing the paint on mahogany panels. I don't paint on canvas, only wood, as it is more hardy and I like the texture of the wood grain. I layer colours and combine iridescent and metallic acrylic paints. 
