Artist Profile: Jody Bruce

No people, animals or buildings. Nothing man-made. Jody Bruce only paints trees, mountains, water, rocks, the land, the wind. And people love her work. This past summer she came back to her Kelowna, British Columbia, home with big sales and an award from the Calgary Stampede. “It is a bit overwhelming how quickly people are connecting with the work and recognizing it as Jody Bruce painting,” she says. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself.” The 42-year-old former dental assistant is a self-taught painter who, one day seven years ago, decided to produce one painting a week for a year. She has continued that level of discipline ever since, spending all day in her studio, except for hiking and camping trips with her family. “Other than my daughter, it is my full-time job,” she says. That daughter, eight-year-old Ginger, has painted alongside her mother in the studio since she was three.

Her other studio essentials are loud music—mostly classical piano—and bare feet. “My creative process is simple but by painting barefoot, I let the painting take me where it needs to go,” she explains. “Each canvas contains the repeated use of recurring shapes in nature, creating a hypnotic rhythm and a sense of movement long after the music has stopped.”

To check out Jody’s art, go to JodyBruceArt.com