Canada Day Art

Paintings That Celebrate Canada | Canada Day Art

It’s no secret that I am obsessed with Canada.

For the past twenty years I have crisscrossed this country exploring, painting, exhibiting, photographing, filming, writing, and collecting stories. Every journey has become part of my work. Every province has left its mark. This Canada Day I find myself reflecting on the art that has grown from those travels and the incredible privilege of experiencing this country through the eyes of an artist.

Under A Borealis Sky, c. 2011 Acrylic 30 x 40 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley – private collection Edmonton AB

Yesterday I listened to the audiobook Canada by Mike Myers. It is part memoir, part love letter to Canada, and a fascinating look at how the country shaped him and continues to influence his life. It is funny, nostalgic, and deeply Canadian.

As I listened, I found myself comparing my own experiences with his. While Myers grew up on the east coast of the Canadian experience and I was raised on the west coast, there was plenty of common ground. At the same time, there were clear differences in language, accent, traditions, landmarks, and the cultural touchstones that shaped us.

Those differences became one of the reasons I set out to explore Canada for myself. I never quite saw the west coast reflected in the familiar pop culture caricature of what it meant to be Canadian. I wanted to discover the many versions of Canada that exist from coast to coast and find my own visual language for telling those stories.

Come On Just Let’s Go, 2024 Acrylic on Canvas 48 x 30 in – Brandy Saturley

One of the few television shows that truly captured the spirit of the west coast was The Beachcombers. For that, I will always thank the CBC. I grew up combing beaches for treasures washed ashore, building forts from driftwood logs, and spending long summer days until the inevitable sunburn arrived. I’m still not entirely sure what our west coast accent sounds like, but I certainly know what it means when someone says it’s “socked in.”

Canada Day Art – Wide Open Spaces

Canada is a vast country filled with dramatic landscapes, wide open spaces, remarkable people, and unforgettable towns and cities. Over the years I have painted hockey, iconic Canadian symbols, pop culture, roadside attractions, prairie skies, urban landmarks, and rugged coastlines. A polar bear king has wandered through my canvases, the Canadian flag has made its appearance, and so has the CN Tower. Newfoundland inspired an entire body of work celebrating the resilience, humour, and character of life on Canada’s eastern edge.

Ride My Wake, c. 2014 Acrylic 36 x 48 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley – Private Collection Edmonton, AB

Lately my focus has turned back toward home. This year I have been spending much of my time exploring Vancouver Island, rediscovering the forests, shorelines, fishing villages, and coastal communities that first shaped my imagination. After years of travelling across Canada, it feels right to return to the west coast and celebrate the unique voice and identity it brings to the Canadian story.

My paintings have never been about documenting Canada exactly as it is. They are about capturing how Canada feels. They are visual stories built from memory, experience, symbolism, and a deep affection for this extraordinary country.

Sealions Song, c. 2026 Acrylic On Canvas 30 x 60 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley – Private Collection Vancouver, Canada

Happy Birthday, Canada.

Thank you for twenty years of inspiration, endless roads to travel, and stories still waiting to be painted. I can’t wait to see where the next adventure leads.

On Guard (hockey Canada flag), c. 2013 Acrylic 24 x 36 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley – Colart Collection, Quebec Canada

June 30, 2026

20 Years 20 Paintings

Art Career

Celebrating Canada Through Art – 20 Years, 20 Paintings

It was July 1, 2006 when I stepped away from my full-time job to focus entirely on my life as an artist. I did not plan the date with intention, it simply arrived that way, almost as if Canada Day itself was quietly opening a door.

Since then, I have created well over 400 paintings. From this body of work, I have chosen 20 paintings to represent the first twenty years of my practice. This is 20 years told through 20 paintings.

The works selected for this list now live in prominent public collections, esteemed private collections, and a few remain available for collectors. Together, they form a cross-section of my commentary on Canadian culture and iconography.

These paintings reflect moments of storytelling rooted in my lived experience of Canada. They carry my ongoing dialogue with landscape, identity, and cultural symbolism, often shaped by travel and observation across the country. Some works lean into celebration, others into quiet critique. Some explore political undercurrents in Canada, while others speak more personally to my experience as a woman artist working within a national narrative.

These paintings represent my travels from coast to coast to coast in Canada and the people, places and stories I heard along the way. Taken together, they form a visual map of attention, curiosity, and connection, a record of how I have seen and felt Canada over two decades of painting. I invite you to move through them as you would a journey across the country itself, one image at a time, each offering its own view, its own memory, its own question.

20. A Cup For Louise – collection of the Artist

19. On Guard – Colart Collection, Quebec, CA

18. Poppies For Louise – collection of the Artist

17. Under A Borealis Sky – private collection, Edmonton CA

16. Ride My Wake – private collection Edmonton, CA

15. Spirited Island – available through Willock & Sax Gallery in Banff

14. Monarch of The Arctic Realms – available through the Artist

13. The Conversation – available through the Artist

12. The Wild Life – Peck Collection, Edmonton, CA

11. Canadian Subconscious – private collection, Edmonton, CA

10. We Can Fit in My Canoe – Colart Collection, Quebec

9. Little Red Saltbox – private collection, Newfoundland, CA

8. Come On Just Let’s Go – Available through James Baird Gallery, Newfoundland

7. The Kiss – private collection, Edmonton, CA

6. The Prodigy – private collection, Montreal, CA

5. Pond Hockey Days – Private Collection, Victoria CA

4. Raised in the Sky – Private Collection, Ontario CA

3. Goalie’s Mask: red, white & Dryden – collection of the Artist

2. With Hearts On Our Sleeves – Private Collection, Ontario CA

Let Your Backbone Rise – Private Collection, Montreal CA

These twenty paintings are not a conclusion, but a waypoint. They mark two decades of looking closely, listening carefully, and translating Canada into colour, form, and story. Each one holds a fragment of a larger conversation that is still unfolding in the studio today.

June 22, 2026

Truths About Being an Artist

Art Career

The Painting Is Only the Beginning: Truths About Being an Artist

One of the questions I am often asked is, “What’s it like being an artist?” Usually the question is accompanied by a certain image of what an artist’s life might be. A quiet studio. A paintbrush in hand. Inspiration arriving like a lightning bolt. Days spent creating without a care in the world, are these truths about being an Artist?

I understand where these ideas come from. For centuries artists have been romanticized as dreamers, rebels, and free spirits. While there is some truth in those descriptions, they only tell part of the story. The reality of being a professional artist is far more complex and, in my opinion, far more interesting.

It Starts with a Love of Making Things

Like many artists, I began drawing as a child. Long before exhibitions, publications, collectors, or commissions entered the picture, there was simply the joy of creating. Hours disappeared while I sat in my bedroom drawing, painting, and imagining. Looking back, I realize that those early years were not about becoming an artist. They were about discovering a way of seeing the world.

That sense of curiosity remains at the heart of my practice today.

Brandy Saturley in her Victoria, Canada studio – 2021

Inspiration Is Wonderful, But Discipline Matters More

People often imagine that artists wait for inspiration before they begin working. The truth is that most professional artists show up whether they feel inspired or not.

There are certainly moments of excitement and discovery in the studio. There are days when a painting seems to unfold effortlessly. But there are also days filled with problem-solving, revision, and persistence. Painting is not simply an act of expression. It is a practice.

The longer I have worked as an artist, the more I have come to appreciate discipline. Inspiration may light the spark, but discipline keeps the fire burning.

Artists Wear Many Hats

What surprises people most is how much of an artist’s life takes place away from the easel. There are exhibitions to organize, paintings to photograph, websites to update, newsletters to write, inventory to maintain, shipping to arrange, applications to complete, and relationships to nurture.

Being a professional artist requires creativity, but it also requires entrepreneurship. The painting may be what people see, but behind every finished work is a great deal of planning, administration, and effort.

Brandy Saturley in her studio at Royal College of Art, UK – 2019

Truths About Being an Artist: Success Rarely Happens Overnight

From the outside, it can appear as though artists suddenly emerge into public view. What is often invisible are the years spent learning, experimenting, making mistakes, and continuing despite setbacks. Most artists spend decades developing their voice. Every exhibition, publication, residency, and opportunity is built upon countless hours of work that nobody sees. Art is a long game. It asks for patience, resilience, and faith in a vision that may take years to fully emerge.

Artists Are Observers

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that artists simply make pictures. What artists really do is observe. We pay attention to details, symbols, stories, and moments that others may pass by. We gather fragments of experience and transform them into something visual. My own work is rooted in exploring Canada, its landscapes, popular culture, and collective identity. Through painting, I seek to tell stories about who we are and how we see ourselves.

The canvas becomes a place where observation and imagination meet.

The Real Gift of Being an Artist

After nearly two decades as a professional artist, I have come to understand that being an artist is not simply a career.

It is a way of moving through the world. It is a commitment to curiosity. A willingness to keep learning. A desire to look closely and find meaning in everyday life. The paintings hanging on gallery walls represent only a small part of that journey. Behind each one are years of observation, travel, reflection, experimentation, and hard work.

The painting is never just a painting. It is the visible result of a life spent paying attention. And despite all the challenges, uncertainties, and misconceptions that come with this profession, I cannot imagine doing anything else.

If you would like to explore my paintings and follow my ongoing journey across Canada through art, I invite you to visit the galleries and stories featured throughout this website.

Brandy Saturley in her Parksville, Canada studio, 2025

June 17, 2026

Spirit of David Hockney

Art Career

The Momentous Spirit of David Hockney: A Painter’s Painter

When I was a young artist making drawings in my bedroom, I dreamed of big things for my art. I imagined large canvases, distant galleries, and the possibility that painting could become a way of seeing the world more clearly. As I grew older and found my way to art college, I discovered the spirit of British artist David Hockney and something shifted in me.

Hockney was born in Bradford, England, in 1937 and became one of the defining artists of the 20th century. Associated with the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, he quickly stood apart from many of his contemporaries. While others leaned into irony and commercial imagery, Hockney brought warmth, observation, and deep affection for everyday life into his work. His portraits, California swimming pool paintings, stage designs, and later monumental landscapes all carried the same unmistakable energy: a vivid curiosity about how we see and experience the world.

One of the most famous paintings of David Hockney is this double portrait from the swimming pool series. (Image: Christie’s)

What struck me first was the sense of wonder in his paintings. Hockney’s work feels open-hearted and alive. His portraits are intimate without becoming sentimental, and his landscapes transform familiar scenes into something almost dreamlike. Over time I became especially drawn to those immense, near-abstract landscapes where colour and rhythm seem to pulse across the canvas. The spirit in the work kept expanding, radiating outward from the paintings themselves.

The first time I saw Hockney’s work in person was at the Vancouver Art Gallery, during an exhibition of his portraits and later digital works. Even though he was already regarded as a master painter, he never stopped evolving. Hockney embraced new technology with the same curiosity he brought to oil paint and drawing. He understood that the tool is secondary to the artist using it. Standing in front of those digital portraits, I could still feel his painterly touch, his vibrant palette, and his sharp observational eye.

Self-Portrait on iPad, 2012 – David Hockney

A few years later, I visited the Seattle Art Fair and was invited to view part of Paul Allen’s private collection. There, filling an entire wall like a towering window into another world, was Hockney’s monumental multi-panel landscape Winter Timber (2009). The scale was overwhelming in the best possible way. It wasn’t just a landscape painting; it was an environment, a rhythm of colour and structure that seemed to pull the viewer inside.

In Winter Timber, Hockney captured the Yorkshire countryside. (Image: Christie’s)

By the end of 2018, I was searching for a way to disrupt my own studio practice. I felt caught in a creative rut and wanted to challenge the habits I had built around my work. At the time, I was known primarily for a pop realism aesthetic and had been described as “The Voice of Canadian Pop Art.” I began researching short programs and art schools, eventually discovering a summer contemporary art program in London, UK, at the Royal College of Art — the same institution where Hockney had once studied.

Spirit of David Hockney: In 2019, I went to London.

The experience was transformative. At the RCA, I was pushed to make work in ways that felt unfamiliar and risky. I was encouraged to move beyond polished narrative painting and toward experimentation, gesture, and abstraction. My vivid colour palette remained, but the structure of the work began to loosen and expand.

Spirit Mirror paintings by Brandy Saturley, Royal College of Art, 2019

When I returned to Canada, I felt creatively unsettled — in a productive way. I was surrounded again by the pop-art narratives and Canadian iconography that had defined my practice, but I no longer wanted to approach them in the same manner. I kept thinking about that enormous Hockney landscape in Seattle and the freedom it embodied.

I chose Princess Louisa Inlet in British Columbia as the subject for a new painting. On a huge expanse of unstretched duck canvas stapled directly to the wall, I began sketching the landscape in paint. I had worked this way in London, and I wanted to preserve that sense of immediacy and physical engagement. As I painted, the work opened up. Marks became bolder, layers of colour accumulated, forms dissolved and re-emerged. The painting grew into the largest work I had made at that point, and with it came a flood of new ideas. It felt less like illustrating a place and more like building an atmosphere, a memory, a rhythm of looking.

Sound of a Landscape, 42 x 80 x 2 in, 2019, Brandy Saturley

Today, I woke to social media feeds filled with tributes to David Hockney. At 88 years old, this icon of contemporary art has passed away.

Hockney was more than a celebrated painter; he was a reminder that artistic curiosity never has to harden into certainty. He kept experimenting, kept looking closely, kept finding joy in colour, technology, landscape, and human connection. For many artists of my generation, he was a painter’s painter — someone whose influence extended beyond style into the very attitude of making art.

Godspeed, Mr. Hockney. Your spirit continues to live on through your paintings, and through the countless artists you encouraged simply by showing us how fearlessly alive art can be.

June 12, 2026

The Goalie’s Mask Paintings

Art Career, Canadian Paintings

For the Love of Hockey and The Habs: Brandy Saturley’s Goalie Mask Paintings

Canadian artist Brandy Saturley is known for her bold pop art depictions of Canadiana, exploring the icons, symbols, landscapes, and cultural mythology that shape the country’s identity. Beginning in 2010, Saturley turned her attention to hockey, spending nearly a decade examining the sport through paint as both a cultural phenomenon and a deeply personal symbol of Canada.

Drawn to the role of the goaltender, Saturley found herself identifying with the solitary and observant nature of the position. Much like an artist, the goalie stands apart from the action while remaining at the emotional centre of the game. She was also fascinated by the personality expressed through the hand-crafted goalie masks of an earlier era, particularly those worn before the sleek, graphic designs of modern hockey.

Ken Dryden Pretzel Mask replica at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, Calgary AB

When seeking a singular image that could speak to both Canada and hockey’s place within its cultural psyche, Saturley chose legendary Montreal Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden and his two iconic masks: the skeletal “Pretzel Mask” and the striking “Target Mask.”

Ken Dryden and his masks have inspired generations of Canadian artists, becoming enduring symbols not only of hockey history but of Canadian identity itself. What Saturley discovered while painting goalie masks against the Canadian flag was that hockey can become surprisingly polarizing when viewed through the lens of fine art. The paintings exist between two worlds: the art world and the hockey world. Art audiences often approach the work with curiosity or confusion, while hockey fans immediately connect emotionally, sharing stories of childhood games, family rituals, and devotion to a national pastime. The response revealed how deeply hockey lives within the Canadian subconscious.

For her first and most recognized hockey painting, Saturley chose Dryden’s famous Pretzel Mask, a mask skeletal in form and molded closely to the contours of the goalie’s face. Rather than simply paint an object, she sought to tell a broader story. The mask was set against a Canadian flag split in two by a blue line, hinting at themes of division, identity, and duality: art versus sport, observation versus participation, culture versus nationalism. The symbolism emerged intuitively during the painting process.

Goalie’s Mask: red, white & Dryden (The Goalies Mask Painting), c. 2011 Acrylic 48 x 36 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

The work was influenced by several moments and experiences: Ken Dryden’s legendary career, the emotional atmosphere surrounding the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the Vancouver Canucks’ near Stanley Cup victory, and Georgia O’Keeffe’s iconic painting Cow’s Skull: Red, White and Blue, which Saturley encountered while visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

“I knew that I wanted to paint a goaltender’s mask on the Canadian flag, but which mask should I choose and why? On my travels across Canada I compiled thousands of reference photographs, and while searching through them I came across the rookie mask of hockey great Ken Dryden, whose mask resides at the Hockey Hall of Fame. I was immediately taken with the character of the mask. In Dryden’s era, the mold of the mask actually resembled the shape of the player’s face, so even though it is covered in nicks and dents, you can still see his face within it.

I developed a deep appreciation for how dangerous the game was in that era. The mask itself stands as proof, pitted and scarred to the point that it is remarkable his face survived intact. I also became inspired by Dryden himself, someone who succeeded not only as an athlete but as a thinker and businessman, continually reinventing himself throughout his life.

In the painting, the centre blue line splits the flag in half. I intentionally left the meaning open to interpretation because it carries many possibilities depending on the viewer and their relationship to hockey, Canada, and the man behind the mask.

This painting marked the beginning of a series titled Iconic Canuck, a body of work I have been developing for the past two decades. What began as a love letter to Canada continues to evolve and transform. At this point, I no longer feel that I control the work. It guides me. It has become part of who I am.”
— Brandy Saturley

In 2012, the painting Goalie’s Mask: Red, White and Dryden was loaned to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame for a one-year exhibition. In 2014, the work was shortlisted for the IOC Olympic Trophy in Sport and Art.

The Goalie’s Mask Paintings: The Target Mask

Another Ken Dryden-inspired work by Saturley features the legendary “Target Mask,” with its concentric red and blue rings forming a bold bullseye across the goalie’s face. Dryden believed a goalie mask should remain visually simple and recognizable from the highest seats in the arena, or even from a television screen at home. The minimalist design became one of the most iconic masks in hockey history.

Ken Dryden wearing the Target Mask

In Saturley’s painting Habitant, the Target Mask takes centre stage. The work references the Indigenous origins of hockey through feather-like forms surrounding the collar of the mask, while also acknowledging the cultural roots of the Montreal Canadiens. The nickname “Habs” derives from “Les Habitants,” referring to the early French settlers of New France and the team’s enduring French-Canadian identity. The painting’s energetic background of scratches, fingerprints, and expressive marks echoes the physical intensity and emotional friction of hockey itself, transforming the canvas into a battleground of memory, culture, and national identity.

Habitant, c. 2021 Acrylic 60 x 48 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

Through her hockey paintings and broader body of Canadian pop art, Brandy Saturley continues to transform familiar symbols into layered visual stories about identity, memory, and place. From goalie masks and Canadian flags to landscapes, roadside icons, and cultural mythology, her work invites viewers to see Canada through a more personal and emotional lens. Explore more paintings by Brandy Saturley and discover a vivid collection of artworks that celebrate the beauty, contradictions, nostalgia, and spirit of Canada.

May 28, 2026

Evolution of Brandy Saturley

Art Career

20 Years Painting Canada: The Evolution of Canadian Artist Brandy Saturley

Evolution of Brandy Saturley: As I near two decades of working full-time as an artist, I find myself looking back at the defining moments that have shaped my career so far. What began as an exploration of Canadian popular culture gradually evolved into a deeper quest to understand the intimate details of what it means to be Canadian.

The journey began with hockey symbolism, most notably a goaltender’s mask set against the Canadian flag. From there, the work expanded into storytelling rooted in memory, landscape, identity, and the shared experiences that connect Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Below is a timeline of highlights from the trajectory of my art career so far.

Goalie’s Mask: red, white & Dryden (The Goalies Mask Painting), c. 2011 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 36 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

Career Highlights Timeline

2011
The Goalie’s Mask painting is born: a painting of Ken Dryden’s pretzel mask set against a Canadian flag divided by a blue line. The work encapsulated what I wanted to say about Canada at the time and became a turning point in my practice.

2012
Later that year, the painting found a home in the Hockey Gallery at Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, where it remained on display until Fall 2013. The website goaliesmaskpainting.com was launched with support from the Hall, and 29 limited edition metallic photo prints were sold, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the institution.

2013
#ICONICCANUCK was born: a Twitter handle that became an ongoing platform for engaging with Canadians online about culture, identity, and art. That same year, I presented a solo exhibition at CARFAC Alberta.

2014
The Goalie’s Mask painting was shortlisted for the Olympic Trophy in Sport Art and shipped to Toronto for exhibition at Canadian Olympic Committee headquarters.

Vimy Jam Acrylic 30 x 24 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

2014
The People of Canada Portrait Project was launched, bringing together everyday Canadians who submitted photographs and answered a series of questions that informed unique painted portraits. The project ultimately resulted in 20 portraits exploring stories of the Canadian experience.

2015
A painting centered on rival Canadian hockey teams and a love story between a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and a Montreal Canadiens fan became a standout work.

2016
I took my studio on the road, travelling across Canada while creating art and speaking about my work. The journey included Vancouver, Yellowknife, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.

2016
The painting Let Your Backbone Rise was created and later sold to a private collector in Quebec. The work was subsequently written about in a text by the University of New Brunswick.

Let Your Backbone Rise, c. 2016 Acrylic 36 x 36 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

2017
As Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary, my work toured in solo exhibitions across Edmonton and Calgary. Canadianisms: A Half Decade Painting Canada opened at Strathcona County Gallery@501 and Okotoks Art Gallery.

2017
An important self-portrait was created featuring the artist in a Hudson’s Bay toque and plaid shirt, posed in the spirit of Rosie the Riveter with a heart on the sleeve, set against a Lawren Harris-inspired sky. The image became closely associated with #ICONICCANUCK.

Hearts On Our Sleeves, 2017 Acrylic On Canvas 40 x 30 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

2018
An iconic portrait painting of Gord Downie was created and joined a private collection in Ontario.

2019
I travelled to London to attend the Contemporary Art Summer School at the Royal College of Art in Battersea, culminating in a group exhibition at the Dyson Gallery.

2020
The documentary film The Iconic Canuck was released online, exploring the origins of the hockey paintings and the evolution of my work following my return from England.

The Iconic Canuck – artist documentary film, 2020 featuring Brandy Saturley

2020
A self-portrait featuring the artist wearing a Mountie red coat, crouched on one knee with poppies across the back, became a defining image of the year.

2021
My work began moving beyond popular culture and deeper into personal visual storytelling about Canada. Paintings of outdoor hockey rinks and colourfully dressed boys playing pond hockey emerged as audience favourites.

2021
The Polar Bear King emerged as a recurring character and storytelling vehicle within my practice. The series explored themes of displacement, belonging, and Canadian consciousness through the image of a wandering polar bear.

King of The Polar Bears, c. 2021 Acrylic On Canvas 36 x 48 x 1.5 in – Brandy Saturley

2022
Figures within the Canadian landscape continued to populate my canvases. A new self-portrait featured the artist in red plaid with a crown of flowers, referencing Ukrainian heritage, posed against a wheat field and prairie sky.

2022
I was invited to attend an artist residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity as the recipient of a Fleck Fellowship, where a new body of large-scale work was created.

2022
I joined the artist roster at Willock & Sax Gallery.

2023
The Polar Bear King continued to reign over my practice as I completed 12 additional polar bear paintings.

2023
I was invited to the artist residency at Pouch Cove Foundation, spending a month creating large-scale paintings inspired by Newfoundland and its culture.

Pouch Cove Foundation Artist Residency – 2023 – Brandy Saturley

2024
An entire series of 25 paintings emerged from the Newfoundland residency experience.

2024
I created a series of small mountain paintings for Willock & Sax Gallery.

2024
Became an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists

2024
I was contracted by Highness Global to exhibit artwork on large-scale LED screens at 2 Bloor West in Toronto, with multiple installations planned over the coming years.

Winteractive Boston, 2025, Brandy Saturley

2025
I was invited to participate in the annual Winteractive Outdoor Art Exhibition.

2025
I published my artist monograph, Painting Canada, a 112-page limited edition publication of 100 copies.

2025
A solo exhibition of Newfoundland paintings opened at James Baird Gallery.

2025
I returned to Pouch Cove Foundation for a second residency, producing five new Newfoundland paintings.

2025
I joined the artist roster at James Baird Gallery.

2025
I created a new series of small polar bear and moose paintings for Willock & Sax Gallery.

2025
A collaboration with Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip resulted in an original painting commission and 175 limited edition prints.

2025
My solo exhibition The Wild Life opened at Miller Art Gallery.

“Newfoundland Impressions” Opening James Baird Gallery, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

2026
I joined the artist roster at Nicholas Penn Fine Art.

2026
A solo exhibition with Willock & Sax Gallery featured new skiing paintings and mountain landscapes.

Evolution of Brandy Saturley: 20 Years Painting Canada

Over the last two decades, I have created nearly 500 paintings. My work has entered private collections around the world as well as public and corporate collections including the Peck Collection, Colart Collection, Canadian Tire, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and Banff Lake Louise Tourism.

I am currently represented by Willock & Sax Gallery, James Baird Gallery, and Nicholas Penn Fine Art, and my work is also featured on Artsy.

My work has been featured by Forbes, CBC Arts, Our Canada, Galleries West, Canadian Art, and Whitehot Magazine. Self-published works are on file with Artexte and the Artist File at the National Gallery of Canada Library. Wikipedia.

Canadianisms: A Half Decade Painting Canada, 2017, Gallery @501, Brandy Saturley

Looking back across these years of painting, travel, residencies, collaborations, and exhibitions, I see not only the evolution of an art practice, but an ongoing conversation with Canada itself. Each painting has become a way of documenting atmosphere, memory, symbolism, and the emotional landscapes that connect us. What began with a goalie’s mask and a fascination with Canadian iconography has grown into a larger body of work rooted in storytelling and lived experience. As I move into the next chapter of my career, I remain committed to exploring this country through paint, continuing to gather stories from the road, and creating work that reflects the beauty, complexity, humour, resilience, and poetry of Canada.

2017 – Brandy Saturley on her hand-painted art crates

May 19, 2026

Behind the Paintings

Art Career, Artist Process

Behind the Paintings: Why I Travel Canada to Make This Work

Canada is a country that reveals itself slowly. You cannot understand it from a map or a photograph alone. It unfolds through miles of highway, conversations with strangers, quiet landscapes, and small cultural details that begin to accumulate over time. For me, travel has become an essential part of my painting practice.

A Long and Winding Road, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30 x 1.5 inches (60.96 x 76.2 x 3.81 cm – Brandy Saturley

My work is rooted in Canadian identity. The symbols, landscapes, and everyday moments that shape how we see ourselves as a country. But those ideas do not appear in the studio by accident. They are gathered out in the world. Over the past two decades I have traveled across Canada, spending time in cities and remote communities alike. From the wide skies of the prairies to the rugged coastline of Newfoundland, from northern territories to mountain towns like Banff, each place carries its own character and visual language.

Love on The Rock, Acrylic On Canvas 18 x 36 x 1.5 in (45.72 x 91.44 x 3.81 cm) – Brandy Saturley

When I travel, I am constantly collecting material. Sometimes it is a photograph taken along the side of the road. Sometimes it is a quick sketch in a notebook, or a phrase written down after a conversation. Other times it is simply a colour in the landscape or a piece of clothing someone is wearing that captures something unmistakably Canadian.

The Barn, Acrylic on canvas 24 x 30 x 1.5 in (60.96 x 76.2 x 3.81 cm)

Behind the Paintings – These fragments eventually find their way into the paintings.

A plaid shirt hanging on a wall.
A denim jacket with a poppy pinned to the pocket.
A winter road disappearing into a mountain valley.
A polar bear moving through the landscapes of North America

Come On Just Let’s Go, 2024 Acrylic on Canvas 48 x 30 in – Brandy Saturley

Each image begins as an observation but becomes something larger in the studio. When I return home to paint, those collected experiences begin to merge into visual stories that reflect how Canada feels rather than simply how it looks. Travel also reminds me that Canada is not one single story. It is many stories layered across geography and culture. Every region offers its own rhythm, its own humour, its own symbols that quietly define local life.

The Kiss, Acrylic On Canvas 36 x 48 x 1.5 in (91.44 x 121.92 x 3.81 cm) – Brandy Saturley

By spending time in these places, I gain a deeper understanding of the country I am painting. For collectors, these journeys become part of the artwork itself. The paintings are not imagined from afar. They are shaped by real landscapes, real experiences, and the people who inhabit them. In many ways, my studio becomes a meeting point where these travels converge. Northern wilderness, coastal mornings, winter rituals, and cultural symbols all begin to interact on the canvas. What emerges is a visual narrative about Canada as I experience it.

Looking for The Icebergs, Acrylic On Canvas 30 x 48 x 1.5 in (76.2 x 121.92 x 3.81 cm) – Brandy Saturley

Travel continues to fuel this process. Each new place offers new imagery, new stories, and new questions about what defines Canadian identity today. Those discoveries eventually become the foundation for future paintings and exhibitions.

Rocky Mountains Higher, Acrylic on canvas 36 x 48 x 1.5 in (91.44 x 121.92 x 3.81 cm) – Brandy Saturley

For collectors who live with these works, the paintings carry those journeys within them. They hold the memory of a landscape, a moment of light, or a symbol that feels familiar. Art has always been, for me, a way of giving something back. A way of reflecting the places that shape us and inviting viewers to see those places with fresh attention.

When I Go to SEE, Acrylic On Canvas 30 x 60 x 1.5 in (76.2 x 152.4 x 3.81 cm) – Brandy Saturley

Canada is vast, complex, and endlessly inspiring.

The road simply helps me find the stories worth painting.

Brandy Saturley Studio in Victoria BC

March 9, 2026

Alberta Art Exhibitions

Art Career, Art Show

Looking Back at Art Exhibitions in Alberta – Painting Canada

I have presented several solo art exhibitions in Alberta over the past fifteen years. While my home and studio are based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, I have developed a strong and loyal following in Alberta. Traveling coast to coast to coast across Canada deeply informs my practice, and exhibiting nationally allows me to share this work with Canadians while introducing it to new audiences and collectors.

2013 #ICONICCANUCK at CARFAC Alberta Gallery A at Harcourt House – Brandy Saturley

The first time I introduced my work to Alberta audiences was in late 2013, with a solo exhibition titled #ICONICCANUCK. The exhibition marked my first solo presentation and featured paintings largely inspired by Canada’s hockey culture. #ICONICCANUCK emerged as a pseudonym through my engagement with Canadian popular culture and my interactions on social media, particularly Twitter at the time.

The work carried layered stories of hockey culture and its influence on the Canadian psyche. The hashtag came to define a genre within my practice, often referred to as “Pop Canadianisms,” exploring Canadian identity, culture, and history through a contemporary, accessible, and often humorous lens. A small companion book was published alongside the exhibition, featuring 15 paintings from the show.

#ICONICCANUCK was presented at the CARFAC Alberta Gallery in the Harcourt House Arts building in Edmonton, Alberta.

2013 #ICONICCANUCK at CARFAC Alberta Gallery A at Harcourt House – Brandy Saturley

The work continued to grow and evolve, and in 2016 I set out on the road once again to immerse myself in Canadian culture, landscapes, and art communities across the country. That year took me north to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, where I finally reached the edge of the Arctic Circle and gathered scenes and stories from this remote and strikingly beautiful region of Canada.

From there, my travels continued through Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. In each city, I spent time visiting local galleries, sharing meals with artists, and engaging with the communities I was exploring. These encounters became an essential part of my research and process.

2016 was a pivotal building year, laying the groundwork for a series of solo exhibitions in 2017 and solidifying the national scope of my practice.

2017 Canadianisms: A Half Decade Painting Canada – Gallery @501 Sherwood Park – Brandy Saturley

Entering 2017, the year began with a solo exhibition in Edmonton. Titled Canadianisms: A Half Decade Painting Canada, the exhibition opened in January at Gallery@501 at Strathcona County in Sherwood Park. Building on the momentum of my 2013 exhibition, the show featured over 30 paintings, along with my hand-painted art crates displayed in the gallery’s front window. A small companion book was published to accompany the exhibition.

The exhibition included select works from #ICONICCANUCK and traced a clear progression into my most recent paintings, incorporating collage alongside figurative landscapes and still lifes. While hockey remained a recurring theme, the exhibition broadened its focus to include visual narratives shaped by my travels across Canada.

2017 Canadianisms: A Half Decade Painting Canada – Gallery @501 Sherwood Park – Brandy Saturley

From the Edmonton area, the work travelled south to the Calgary region, where my next solo exhibition opened in July at the Okotoks Art Gallery. This presentation was a more intimate iteration of the Sherwood Park exhibition, featuring fewer than 20 paintings, with my hand-painted art crates installed at the centre of the gallery space.

The exhibition continued as a five-year retrospective of work created under #ICONICCANUCK, bringing together select portraits and figurative works reflecting Canadian identity, alongside new paintings produced following the January exhibition.

2017 Canadianisms: A Half Decade Painting Canada – Okotoks Art Gallery – Brandy Saturley

Following 2017, I continued painting stories of Canada, with my focus shifting increasingly toward landscapes and rural narratives. In 2022, I was an artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. As a guest in the Leighton Studios, supported by a Fleck Fellowship, I spent two weeks painting in place and exploring the surrounding mountain environment.

That same year, I expanded my professional representation in Alberta when Willock & Sax in Banff began representing The Art of Brandy Saturley.

2022 Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity – Thom Studio – Brandy Saturley

In 2023 and again in 2025, I expanded my view of Canada through invitation-only artist residencies at the Pouch Cove Foundation in Newfoundland. Each residency lasted one month and allowed me to develop work rooted in place, shaped by my experience as a “come from away.” In 2025, I also presented a solo exhibition in Newfoundland, marking a moment when my work, not just myself, had fully landed in another region of Canada.

Later in 2025, I returned to Edmonton, Alberta, with a solo exhibition at the Miller Art Gallery on 124 Street. It was my first solo exhibition in Alberta since 2017, and I arrived with a significant body of new work. Titled The Wild Life, the exhibition featured paintings of polar bears and people, alongside a commissioned work created for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. Sharing the continued evolution of my “Pop Canadianisms” with Alberta audiences was both meaningful and affirming.

2025 The Wild Life at Miller Art Gallery – Edmonton, Alberta – Brandy Saturley

Alberta Art Exhibitions – The Art of Brandy Saturley

Across provinces and over more than a decade, my practice has been shaped by movement, immersion, and conversation with place. Alberta, in particular, has played a significant role in this journey, with collectors, institutions, and communities supporting and collecting my work for nearly fifteen years. From urban centres to rural landscapes, coastlines to mountains, each exhibition and residency has added another layer to an evolving visual language rooted in Canadian experience. Sharing this work nationally continues to feel both purposeful and generous, allowing the stories within my paintings to meet new audiences while remaining grounded in the places that have championed them.

2025 – The Wild Life – Miller Art Gallery, Edmonton Alberta – Brandy Saturley

February 10, 2026

20 Years Painting Canada

Art Career

What Nearly 20 Years of Painting Canada Has Taught Me

After nearly two decades of painting my way across Canada, one thing has become abundantly clear: Canada is not one art scene. It never was. After nearly 20 years painting Canada one thing is clear – Regionalism is alive and well, quietly shaping subject matter, price points, conversations, and even how artists and collectors relate to one another.

Every province carries its own visual accent.

The Wild Life – Miller Art Gallery, Edmonton AB – 2025 – Brandy Saturley

The landscapes change, yes, but so does the emotional temperature of the work. The West leans into space, light, and openness. The Prairies carry restraint, repetition, and horizon lines that stretch patience and perspective. Ontario often balances concept with commerce. Quebec moves confidently between tradition and experimentation. Atlantic Canada holds history close, with work that feels weathered, human, and deeply rooted. The North resists simplification altogether.

These regional differences still matter. They inform what gets painted and what gets collected.

The East Coast: Negotiation and Personal Connection

I’ve also learned that price points are not universal across the country. What feels reasonable in one region can feel ambitious in another. On the East Coast especially, there’s more conversation around price, more negotiation, and more relationship-building involved in the sale. This isn’t a criticism. It’s cultural. Art there is personal. It’s tied to community, story, and often survival. Sales are slower, but often deeper.

Newfoundland Paintings – Brandy Saturley – 2024

Alberta: Decisive Collectors, Immediate Connection

One of the most striking collector cultures I’ve encountered is in Alberta. There’s a directness there that feels refreshing and unapologetic. Alberta collectors often buy on the spot. When the connection is made, the decision follows quickly, without prolonged hesitation or extended negotiation.

These collectors tend to trust their instincts. They respond to scale, confidence, and clarity of vision. There’s an appreciation for work that knows what it is and stands firmly behind it. Conversations happen, of course, but they’re efficient. The artwork either resonates, or it doesn’t.

This decisiveness doesn’t feel transactional. It feels practical. Art is valued as something to live with, not endlessly deliberate over. The result is a market that rewards artists who show up prepared, present their work clearly, and stand behind their pricing.

After years of painting and exhibiting across the country, Alberta remains one of the places where I’ve felt the least friction between artist and collector. When the work connects, the answer is often simply yes.

Alberta paintings – Brandy Saturley – 2025

Vancouver: Small, Abstract, and a Little Bit Shiny

Vancouver has long favoured a quieter kind of confidence. Collectors there tend to gravitate toward smaller-scale works, abstraction, and surfaces that carry a sense of refinement or subtle polish. There’s an attentiveness to finish, material, and atmosphere. The work doesn’t need to announce itself loudly. It needs to hum.

Abstraction plays well in Vancouver, especially when it leans contemplative rather than confrontational. Shifts in tone, light, and texture often matter more than overt narrative. There’s also an openness to work that feels elevated or luminous, pieces that reflect light, carry sheen, or reward close looking over time.

This collecting culture aligns closely with the city itself. Dense, design-aware, and visually restrained, Vancouver values art that integrates seamlessly into living spaces while still holding conceptual depth. The emphasis is less on declaration and more on resonance.

For an artist, Vancouver rewards precision. The work needs to be resolved, intentional, and confident in its quietness. When it is, collectors notice.

Vancouver Island Paintings – Brandy Saturley – 2025

20 Years Painting Canada

Across Canada, however, landscape painting continues to hold. Despite decades of predictions about its decline, collectors still respond to place. Not postcard versions of Canada, but lived-in ones. Weather, distance, memory, solitude. Landscape remains a shared language, even as the dialect changes from province to province.

Rocky Mountains Higher – Brandy Saturley – 2017

In recent years, I’ve witnessed Indigenous art command long-overdue attention and market strength. This visibility matters, though it also brings responsibility. Institutions, collectors, and artists alike must approach Indigenous work with care, context, and respect, not trend-chasing. The depth, diversity, and regional specificity within Indigenous art resists any single narrative, much like Canada itself.

Monarch of The Arctic Realms, Brandy Saturley, 2024

Another noticeable shift has been the increased visibility of women artists. There’s more space now, more recognition, and more leadership. While equity is still a work in progress, the conversation has changed. Women’s voices are no longer peripheral. They’re shaping the centre.

With Hearts On Our Sleeves, Brandy Saturley, 2017

What painting Canada for nearly twenty years has taught me most is this: the country reveals itself slowly. It resists shortcuts. You have to show up, travel it, listen to it, and let the regions speak for themselves.

Canada isn’t one story. It’s many, told in different accents, under different skies, at different price points, with different expectations. Painting my way through it has been less about defining Canada and more about paying attention to its nuances.

And that, I think, is where the real work lives. See more Canadian Paintings here.

Brandy Saturley with her art shipping crates, 2017

January 12, 2026

2025 Art in Review

Art Career

2025 Art in Review

As I look back on 2025, I’m struck by the momentum, travel, and creative expansion that shaped this year. From major exhibitions and artist residencies to new publications, commissions, and cross-Canada collaborations, it has been a year defined by movement, storytelling, and deep engagement with place. Here is my 2025 Art in review on a remarkable year in the studio and on the road.

January — Boston, USA

The Art of Brandy Saturley at Winteractive Boston, 2025

The year began with an invitation to present my mural work at Boston’s WINTERACTIVE festival. Now in its second year, the outdoor art celebration brought together public artworks and interactive installations across 17 sites, presented by the Downtown Boston Alliance. Participating in this event reaffirmed my commitment to bringing art into public space and engaging audiences of all ages.

**February — Painting Canada Book Release**

Book Release – Painting Canada by Brandy Saturley, 2025

February marked the publication of Painting Canada, a 112-page book spanning nearly two decades of my work. The book traces my evolution as a painter and storyteller, exploring how Canadian culture, landscape, and collective identity shape my artistic voice.

March — Waterton Lakes, Alberta

Paintings of Waterton Lakes National Park by Brandy Saturley

In March, I created a suite of landscape paintings for Gust Gallery in Waterton Lakes National Park. These five works honour the park’s dramatic scenery, wildlife, flora, and fauna. I also began preparing artwork and research materials for my upcoming April residency in Newfoundland.

April — Residency in Newfoundland

Artist in Residence at Pouch Cove Foundation, Newfoundland Canada

April took me to Newfoundland for a residency at the Pouch Cove Foundation. During my time on the rugged Atlantic coast, I created five new paintings that later appeared in my solo exhibition Newfoundland Impressions. The month also included the official book launch for Painting Canada.

May — Polar Bear Kings Return in Banff

Back in the studio in May, I created a new series of small “Polar Bear King” paintings for Willock & Sax Gallery in Banff, Alberta. This collection introduced a new character, a moose, expanding the narrative world of the polar bear king and adding a new layer of playfulness and symbolism.

2025 Art in Review: June — Digital Display in Toronto

Brandy Saturley @ 2 Bloor West

In June, my artwork lit up Toronto on a large-scale LED billboard at 2 Bloor West, bringing contemporary Canadian iconography into the heart of the city.

July — Fundraiser & New Commission – Canada Day feature

The digital display continued through July. I also completed a painting for the ArtAttack fundraiser at Miller Art Gallery in Edmonton and began work on a special commission for The Tragically Hip—an exciting creative milestone. On Canada Day Willock & Sax Gallery in Banff featured my new polar bear king paintings.

August — Five New Works & Studio Pack-Up

August brought five new small paintings and the start of a major transition as I packed up my studio in preparation for a move.

September — New Studio in Parksville

Brandy Saturley Studio – Parksville, BC

In September, I relocated to Parksville on Vancouver Island and set up my new studio. With the beach only steps away, the landscape immediately began to influence my work.

October — A New Coastal Series

Macdonald Realty calendar by Brandy Saturley

October marked the beginning of a new series of paintings inspired by the beaches and rhythms of Parksville. I also collaborated with Macdonald Realty on a calendar project and shipped new paintings to Edmonton for my November exhibition.

November — Remembrance Day Display & Solo Show Opening

Brandy Saturley signing prints for The Tragically Hip Poster Cellar at Mitchell Press – Burnaby, BC

My Remembrance Day digital artwork appeared on the 2 Bloor West LED billboard once again this year. I also travelled to Vancouver to sign 175 limited-edition prints with Mitchell Press for The Tragically Hip Poster Cellar Strictly Limited Series. The month concluded with the opening of my solo exhibition The Wild Life at Miller Art Gallery in Edmonton.

I licensed an image of my Rundle mountain painting to the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine for the cover of their Fall 2025 issue.

December — Closing the Year With a West Coast Focus

The Wild Life by Brandy Saturley at Miller Art Gallery – Edmonton, Alberta

I wrapped up the year by completing a new series of eight beach- and West Coast-inspired paintings. Miller Art Gallery hosts a Curators Talk supporting The Wild Life, a fitting way to reflect on a year of creative exploration and national engagement.

December 2, 2025