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West Coast Still Life

Painting on the Left Coast – West Coast Still Life

We recently moved our home and my studio to the seaside city of Parksville, British Columbia – leaving my hometown of Victoria behind for a serene and immersive locale. After just one month, the studio is finally feeling like my own, and the paintings are flowing again. Five new works are already complete. It feels somewhat like being on an artist residency, and I’ve been treating these first few weeks as such.

The beach at low tide in Parksville BC – Canada

Though I’ve lived on Vancouver Island my entire life and traveled across Canada to make and show my art, I’ve rarely turned my focus to painting the West Coast itself. Since moving here, I’ve learned that many locals affectionately refer to it as the “Left Coast.” The phrase plays on geography, our coast lies on the left of the map, but also carries a certain spirit of independence and creative energy that defines this region.

The desire that once drove me to travel and connect with the rest of Canada came largely from feeling isolated from the national identity and the stereotypes of “Canadiana.” British Columbia has always stood apart. When British poet Rupert Brooke arrived in Vancouver after a cross-Canada journey in 1913, he wrote home: “It’s a queer place, rather different from the rest of Canada.” While others may have viewed BC as a rain-sodden outpost, those who live here understand that “Super, Natural British Columbia” is far closer to the truth. As humorist Eric Nicol once quipped, “British Columbians like to think of their province as a large body of land entirely surrounded by envy.”

The Beach in Parksville, BC – Canada

I’ve often said that we live in our own biosphere here on the coast. BC is undeniably part of Canada, yet it feels like its own realm, a place of unique rhythms and light. If, as historian Jean Barman suggested, “British Columbia is not so much a place as a state of mind,” then I find myself now immersed in exploring what that state of mind truly means.

Here in Parksville, I’ve been walking the endless sandy beaches, observing wildlife, flora, and the play of tide and wind. I find myself looking more closely than ever before, perhaps it’s that residency mindset taking hold. Beyond the beaches, I’ve explored the wetlands and railway tracks, visited the local MacMillan Arts Centre, and joined the Oceanside Arts Council, connecting with the vibrant creative community of Oceanside, Qualicum Beach, Nanoose Bay, and Nanaimo.

New Paintings – West Coast Still Life

This exploration has already inspired two new paintings, visual stories of life by the ocean. The palette of these works draws directly from the coast: green-golds, blues, Payne’s grey, and raw sienna. They are part still life, part landscape, inviting the viewer to look closely at the natural details that define this place. Rocks and shells float serenely within these compositions, much as I feel when walking along the shore, listening to the rhythm of the waves.

Unusual Oyster shell in Parksville, BC

The World Is Your Oyster reveals a uniquely shaped oyster shell shimmering above a beach landscape at low tide, while a Great Blue Heron stands silhouetted in the distance. The sundown sky glows with yellows and greys, a quiet tribute to the poetic solitude of the coast.

The World is Your Oyster, 30×30 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2025, Brandy Saturley

Sumo tells another West Coast story. A stack of stones, balanced like an inukshuk, takes on the presence of a Sumo wrestler, strong, grounded, and immovable, set against a moody sky of blues and greys with a lush outcropping of green trees in the distance.

Sumo, 16×16 inches, acrylic on canvas, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

These paintings are undeniably Left Coast – rooted in place and mood. As I continue this residency-like chapter of my practice, I look forward to seeing how this new home will shape the stories I tell through paint.

See more paintings of Canada here.

October 20, 2025

What is Canada?

Art Career

Painting Canada Asks Me to Question, What is Canada?

When I began down a path fueled by an Olympic Games to answer the question, What is Canada to me? I never thought I would find myself nearly two decades later still working to express my thoughts of this country on canvas.

The 2010 Olympics in Vancouver were loud and rife with stereotype: giant igloos and Inukshuk, beer and moose. I became curious about what the West Coast was trying to say about itself and how it was representing all of us on the world stage. Canadians are known for our quirky, self-deprecating sense of humour, and for gleefully making fun of ourselves at our own expense. When I began thinking about my impressions of Canada, I too began with stereotype and popular culture. It felt like the most natural place to start.

I began painting hockey masks floating above the landscape, stories of hockey on canvas, and cultural icons reimagined through paint. I placed the Stanley Cup in the serene lounge of Château Lake Louise and set a giant cup of Tim Hortons coffee and donut holes on a frozen rink surrounded by skaters. I painted a Mountie with a thumbs up like The Fonz, riding a horse with a maple leaf tattoo on its flank that read “Eh.” I painted Pamela Anderson, clad in a bikini, reclining on top of a Macintosh’s Toffee Bar at Peggy’s Cove, and a portrait of everyday Canadians posed in front of the original Forum building, hockey stick in hand, wearing the same stoic expressions as American Gothic.

In 2016 I set out on a series of journeys that would take me across Canada and into the Northern Territories. Through residencies, exhibitions, and planned excursions, I began to ask a deeper question: Who are Canadians? What began as a playful exploration of symbols and stereotypes evolved into a profound investigation of identity, geography, and collective consciousness.

The question “What is Canada?” became not a single answer but a lifelong dialogue.

It became about experience and connection, about gathering impressions and stories, then filtering them through paint, memory, and emotion.

Nearly twenty years later, my visual stories of Canada now encompass people, landscapes, myth, and Mother Nature herself. My work has become a conversation between the land and the people, between history and the present moment. From coast to coast to coast, each painting tells part of the story of how this vast and complex country shapes those who live within it.

Writers such as Margaret Atwood, Louise Penny, Mike Myers, and Will Ferguson have wrestled with similar questions in their work. In Ferguson’s Why I Hate Canadians, he writes with both affection and frustration about our national character – our politeness, our contradictions, and our quiet pride. Like these authors, I too am searching for Canada, not as a fixed image, but as an evolving reflection of its people and places.

Through painting, I have learned that Canada is not one story but many. It is the laughter echoing from a rink in small-town Saskatchewan, the vast silence of the Arctic, the salt air of the Atlantic, and the rain-soaked forests of the Pacific. It is our symbols, our humour, and our shared moments of awe in nature’s company.

To paint Canada is to keep asking the question. And in doing so, I continue to discover a country that reveals itself one brushstroke at a time. For collectors, each painting in this ongoing series offers a piece of that discovery – a visual story of Canada seen through the eyes of an artist who has spent decades exploring its symbols, spirit, and soul.

See more Canadian paintings by Brandy Saturley.

October 14, 2025

Bowler Hat Painting

New Paintings

She Was Knocking On The Sky – A New Painting with a Bowler Hat

My painting process has always been rooted in storytelling. It begins with collecting, taking numerous photo references from my travels across Canada and collaging them together into a single narrative or scene. These photos might come from moments in nature or from the controlled light of my studio. Often, they sit in my archive for years before revealing their purpose. This is the story of a painting with a bowler hat.

Canadian Artist Brandy Saturley wearing Lilliput Hats Bowler Hat

The latest painting began with two familiar objects: a bowler hat custom-made for me by Karen Ruiz of Lilliput Hats, and a flannel shirt from Dixxon Flannels Canada – a combination that has become part of my #ICONICCANUCK persona. Over the past two decades, this persona has found its way into several of my self-portraits – a recurring figure set against landscapes that echo the abstracted forms of Lawren Harris. These works merge the real and the surreal, blending lived experience with imagined topographies.

Let Your Backbone Rise, 36×36 acrylic on canvas, 2016 – Brandy Saturley

In this new painting, I return to those themes – idealized forms, undulating skies, filtered light, and softly rounded island shapes. The figure wears a purple bowler hat and a plaid shirt, her long brown hair moving with the wind. She is a wanderer, never home long, drawn to the road and to the horizon beyond.

Inside Brandy Saturley Studio

The title and spirit of the piece come from a Buddhist proverb: “Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.” It speaks to the act of seeking- of listening deeply to nature, to intuition, to the world’s quiet messages. In this painting, “knocking on the sky” becomes both a poetic and spiritual gesture, a moment of connection between self and landscape.

Knocking On The Sky, 30×30 acrylic on canvas, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

The girl with the bowler hat is, in many ways, me, and all who search for meaning in the beauty of the unknown.

The Bowler Hat in Art History

The bowler hat has a rich and layered symbolism in art history, a small object that has come to represent much larger ideas about identity, class, conformity, and individuality.

Originating in 19th-century England as practical headwear for working-class men, the bowler quickly crossed class boundaries. By the mid-20th century, it became synonymous with the British middle class, the uniform of bankers and city workers, a symbol of respectability and social order.

In art, however, the bowler hat took on more surreal and philosophical meanings. Most notably, René Magritte used the bowler repeatedly in his paintings as a stand-in for the “everyman” – a faceless, anonymous figure navigating dreamlike realities (The Son of Man, Golconda, The Man in the Bowler Hat). Magritte’s use of the hat stripped it of social hierarchy and turned it into a symbol of mystery, anonymity, and the tension between appearance and reality.

Later artists and filmmakers have drawn on the bowler’s visual and cultural weight to explore ideas of duality, between individuality and conformity, reality and illusion, the seen and unseen self.

In your own work, the purple bowler hat subverts this history. It becomes personal rather than anonymous – a symbol of self-definition instead of conformity. By placing it within a natural, Canadian landscape rather than an urban or surrealist setting, you transform the hat from a marker of class or mystery into a poetic emblem of identity, curiosity, and connection to place. Having the woman wearing a plaid shirt, the uniform of the working class everyman, further echoes the sentiments of Magritte.

October 9, 2025

A West Coast Painting

New Paintings

Inspired by The Beach – A West Coast Painting

Just a few weeks ago, we packed up our lives and moved to a charming seaside city called Parksville. With that came the task of dismantling my Victoria studio and setting up anew. While moving is rarely easy, my experiences with artist residencies over the years have prepared me well for transitions like this. When you spend a month creating in an unfamiliar place, you quickly learn how to adapt – how to set up your tools, find your rhythm, and create as though you’ve always been there.

The beach in Parksville, BC

This time, my new environment has brought me closer to the sea, and it didn’t take long before that influence found its way onto the canvas. My first painting created here feels distinctly West Coast and rooted in the rhythms, textures, and moods of the shoreline.

The beach in Parksville, BC

Studio moves can be disruptive, but I’ve come to see disruption as a gift. Shifting environments keeps me alert, curious, and responsive. Routine can make an artist complacent, while change stirs creativity. It’s why travel and residencies have been such an essential part of my practice, from coast to coast to coast across Canada, and even further afield, like my month spent painting at the Royal College of Art in London, England. Each new place challenges my eye and my adaptability.

Brandy Saturley in studio residency at Pouch Cove Foundation, Newfoundland Canada

One of my favourite artists, Georgia O’Keeffe, was deeply influenced by her travels. She painted across more than forty-nine countries in her lifetime. I share her belief that travel not only shapes an artist’s work but also helps reveal one’s fullest potential as a human being.

Though the transition to Parksville took a few weeks, I continued painting while setting up the new studio. My daily walks along the beach have become a source of constant inspiration, where the air smells of salt and seaweed, where herons, crows, and gulls punctuate the quiet, and where driftwood sculptures rise like monuments to impermanence. The landscape of sand and tide shifts daily, and with it, so does my perception.

Great Blue Heron

This brings me to my first painting completed here, in this still-settling space. When I Go To SEE is a visual story of my daily walks to the shore. It captures that moment when the senses awaken when observation turns into immersion, and I become not just a viewer of nature, but a part of it.

Detail View, When I Go To See, acrylic painting on canvas by Brandy Saturley, 2025

When I Go To SEE marks the beginning of a new chapter in my West Coast story, painted by the sea, inspired by daily encounters with light, tide, and transformation. Rendered in my signature pop modernism style and with a vivid palette. This new work is now available to view and collect through my website. For those who have followed my visual journey across Canada, this painting represents a fresh horizon and a deepening connection to place, one that invites you to see, feel, and breathe the Pacific.

When I Got to SEE, acrylic on canvas painting, 30×60 inches, 2025, Brandy Saturley

October 6, 2025

Rise of Regional Artists

Advice for Art Collectors

The Rise of Regional Artists: Collecting Canadian Art Outside the Big Three Cities Matters

When we talk about Canadian art, the conversation too often circles back to the same three cities; Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. These cultural hubs have long held the spotlight, with their galleries, art fairs, and institutional backing. But across this vast and varied country, a quieter shift is underway. Collectors and curators are beginning to look beyond the urban centres, seeking out fresh voices and authentic stories rooted in place. Regional Artists are on the rise.

As a Canadian artist whose practice has taken me from coast to coast to coast, I’ve spent years painting the spirit of this country, not from a single vantage point, but from deep within its regions. Whether in the Arctic stillness of Yellowknife, the salt air of Newfoundland, or the wide-open skies of the Prairies, I’ve immersed myself in local culture, letting the land and its people guide my brush. The result is a body of work that is undeniably Canadian, yet unbound by stereotype or geography.

My paintings are part pop modernism, part documentary and often feature the iconography of everyday Canadian life: plaid shirts, canoes, wildlife, poppies, denim jackets, and patriotic hues. But beneath the surface, they carry the stories of real places, from remote fishing villages to mountain passes to small-town arenas. This is the Canada I’ve come to know, not just through travel, but through conversation, observation, and creation.

What I’ve noticed lately is that collectors and curators are hungry for this kind of work. They’re no longer looking just for names stamped by the urban art machine. They want connection, story, and authenticity. They want art that reflects Canada in its full diversity and not just culturally, but geographically.

Art Apprecaition: Rise of Regional Artists

We’re witnessing a rise in appreciation for regional perspectives. Curators are expanding collections to include artists from smaller towns, Indigenous communities, and northern regions. Collectors are realizing that acquiring work by artists living and working in these areas offers something rare: a direct link to places and experiences that are often underrepresented in mainstream narratives.

For those looking to build meaningful, future-facing collections of Canadian art, now is the time to look outward – to the maritimes, to the Yukon, to the heart of the prairies, and to the west coast islands. The art being made in these places is powerful, thoughtful, and deeply rooted in lived experience.

My own studio practice, based on Vancouver Island, continues to grow from the momentum of residencies and exhibitions in places like Newfoundland, Alberta, and soon, the Maritimes. Every piece I create is informed by these journeys, and by the desire to paint not just the physical landscape of Canada, but the emotional and cultural one, too.

To collect Canadian art today is to participate in shaping its future. By embracing regional voices, you’re not just acquiring work; you’re investing in a fuller, richer picture of what it means to be Canadian.

See more paintings by Brandy Saturley here.

August 5, 2025

Art with a Narrative

Advice for Art Collectors

Story-Driven Collecting: Art with a Narrative Edge is In

In a world oversaturated with fleeting images and AI-generated content, collectors are returning to what truly moves them: story. More than ever, today’s art collectors are seeking work that doesn’t just look beautiful on a wall, but that tells a story, sparks conversation, and holds deeper meaning. We’re in the era of story-driven collecting, and it’s reshaping what people choose to live with, invest in, and pass down. Art with a Narrative.

As a painter deeply influenced by the Canadian experience, storytelling has always been at the core of my work. Whether it’s a denim jacket with a Remembrance Day poppy, a plaid shirt hanging in quiet symbolism, or a polar bear wandering through the shifting north, my paintings aim to capture moments that speak to who we are as Canadians and who we are becoming.

Why Narrative Matters to Today’s Collector

In a digital age where everything is quick and curated, collectors are gravitating toward works that anchor them to a sense of place, memory, and emotion. Art with a narrative edge offers:

Connection: A painting with a story allows collectors to form a deeper bond with the work and the artist.
Conversation: Story-based art becomes a talking point in the home or office, sparking dialogue about place, identity, or history.
Legacy: A collector isn’t just buying a work they’re preserving a moment in time. Narrative artwork carries cultural and emotional value that lasts generations.

Narrative in Art: Pop Modernism Meets the Canadian Story

My own artistic language – what I call pop modernism – blends the boldness of pop art with the layered complexity of personal and national stories. I use symbolism, composition, and familiar iconography to tell Canadian stories in a way that feels both contemporary and timeless.

Collectors often tell me they’re drawn to the story within the image, two plaid shirts hanging in a pop art sky, or a polar bear wearing perched atop an iceberg. These are works that ask questions and invite interpretation. They become part of the collector’s story too.

Art with a Narrative: Art as a Mirror—and a Chronicle

Art with a narrative edge acts as a mirror of our individual experience and a chronicle of collective identity. For Canadian collectors especially, the desire to own and support art that reflects the land, people, and stories of Canada is stronger than ever. It’s not about decoration; it’s about meaning.

As story-driven collecting continues to rise, I’m honoured to be part of this movement – a visual storyteller reflecting the quirks, the heart, and the vast beauty of Canada, one canvas at a time.

Ready to Collect a Story?

If you’re looking to add meaningful, story-rich Canadian artwork to your collection, I invite you to explore my latest paintings. Each piece is a window into a place, a feeling, and a shared national experience.

👉 Browse Available Artworks

Bring home a piece of the Canadian story told in paint, heart, and soul.

June 24, 2025

New Paintings 2025

New Paintings

Painting Canada – New Paintings Made in the First 6 Months of 2025

Painting Canada is something I’ve been doing for nearly two decades now, an ongoing visual journey that traverses provinces, symbols, and stories across this vast and layered country. Every year, I take a moment to pause halfway through and reflect on new paintings that have emerged from the first six months of 2025. It’s part self-check-in, part celebration, and always an exercise in understanding where the brush has taken me, and where it wants to go next.

On average, I complete between 25 to 35 new paintings annually, each one contributing to the broader narrative of Canadian identity, place, and imagination. This year, however, feels different. I’m on track to produce a particularly large and ambitious body of work – one that spans geography, mythology, memory, and the daily poetry of life in Canada.

In 2025, I’ve continued developing the Polar Bear King series – paintings that follow a solitary polar bear as he journeys across North America in search of a new home. These works are part allegory, part environmental commentary, and part personal myth-making. The Polar Bear King has taken on a life of his own, becoming a kind of nomadic hero navigating changing landscapes with quiet resilience.

Alongside the polar bear’s travels, I’ve returned to some familiar yet ever-evolving territories – painting the dramatic skies and rolling foothills of Alberta, and the rugged coastal beauty of Newfoundland. Each landscape painting captures more than topography – it holds a mood, a memory, and a sense of national character seen through my eyes.

I’ve also woven in symbols of identity and seasonality: Canada flags rendered in unexpected contexts, floral still life’s infused with a pop-modernist palette, and compositions that combine realism with abstraction, celebration with critique.

This year’s paintings are bursting with colour and story. They continue to build on a narrative I’ve been telling for years: one that invites the viewer to reflect, dream, and perhaps see their own Canadian experience mirrored back in paint.

Here are my Top 10 Paintings of 2025 (so far) a mid-year highlight reel of what’s come to life in the studio.

Please Stand By

Please Stand By, Acrylic On Canvas, 30 x 40 inches, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

2. Heartbeats Hum

Heartbeats Hum, Oil and Acrylic on Wood Panel, 36 x 36 x 1 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

3. Float Away With Me

Float Away With Me, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, 12×9 inches, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

4. Red Rocks

Red Rocks, Acrylic on wood panel, 18 x 24 x 2 inches, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

5. The Beach

The Beach, Acrylic on wood panel, 18 x 24 x 2 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

6. Wild Rose Country

Wild Rose Country, Acrylic On Canvas, 24 x 12 x 1.5 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

7. Hello Poppy!

Hello Poppy!, Acrylic On Canvas, 36 x 48 x 1.5 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

8. Lovers in A Dangerous Time

Lovers in a Dangerous Time (2025), Acrylic on wood panel, 18 x 24 x 1.5 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

9. Easy, Breezy, Beautiful

Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, Acrylic On Canvas, 39 x 51 x 1.5 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

10. Hanging On a Cloud

Hanging On A Cloud, Acrylic On Canvas, 52 x 25 x 1.5 in, 2025 – Brandy Saturley

Currently paintings by Brandy Saturley are available through James Baird Gallery in Newfoundland, Gust Gallery in Waterton Lakes, Willock & Sax Gallery in Banff and through the artist directly through this website.

June 2, 2025

Beyond the Group of Seven

Canadian Art

Beyond the Group of Seven: Reimagining Canadian Iconography

When we think of Canadian art, the first images that often come to mind are sweeping wilderness landscapes – windswept pines, rocky shorelines, and snow-covered peaks – painted nearly a century ago by the Group of Seven.

Also sometimes known as the Algonquin School, the Group of Seven was a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920 to 1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A. Y. Jackson , Frank Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J. E. H. MacDonald , and Frederick Varley . Later, A. J. Casson was invited to join in 1926, Edwin Holgate became a member in 1930, and LeMoine FitzGerald joined in 1932. Two artists commonly associated with the group are Tom Thomson and Emily Carr.

Their work defined a national visual identity at a time when Canada was still shaping its cultural voice. But what does Canadian iconography look like today?

Three Sisters, Oil and Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 48 x 1.5 in, 2024 Brandy Saturley

As a contemporary Canadian artist, I’ve long wrestled with this question. My practice has taken me across this country – from the remote reaches of the Northwest Territories to the coastal charm of Newfoundland – and with every province and territory, I’ve found new stories, symbols, and subtleties that challenge the traditional, postcard-ready view of Canada.

Rocky Mountains Higher, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 x 1.5 in, 2017 Brandy Saturley

Yes, our landscapes are still powerful, but Canadian identity is no longer bound to pristine nature. It lives in roadside diners, hockey rinks, plaid shirts, protest signs, denim jackets pinned with poppies, and the layered histories of our cities and small towns. It’s in the music of The Tragically Hip, the quiet endurance of the everyman, and the vibrant resurgence of Indigenous visual language.

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

In my work, I often revisit symbols like the maple leaf, the beaver, or the canoe – not to replicate them, but to reframe them through a modern lens. Sometimes I juxtapose these icons with pop culture references, or place them in surreal, unexpected settings. I’m interested in how familiarity can invite deeper reflection when viewed from a new angle.

Peace, Love, Canada, 2023, Acrylic and gouache on canvas, 30 x 40 x 1.5 in, 2023, Brandy Saturley

Reimagining Canadian iconography is about more than updating old motifs. It’s about listening to voices that were left out of the original canon. It’s about including urban stories, immigrant experiences, queer narratives, and Indigenous perspectives – not as sidebars, but as central to the ongoing story of this country.

Imagine Canoe, Acrylic and gouache, 48 x 60 x 1.5 in, 2022, Brandy Saturley

The Group of Seven gave us a foundation. They helped establish a sense of place. But it’s time we build on that legacy with a richer, more inclusive visual language – one that reflects who we are now and where we’re going.

Ride My Wake, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 48 x 1.5 in, 2014, Brandy Saturley

I believe Canadian art today is about complexity. It’s about contradictions, conversations, and connections. And maybe that’s our most iconic trait of all. See more of my paintings here.

Let Your Backbone Rise, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 x 1.5 in, 2016, Brandy Saturley

May 28, 2025

Painting Canada 500 Paintings

Buy Canadian, Canadian Art

Painting Canada: Brandy Saturley and Nearly 500 Paintings

“We lived in a continuous blaze of enthusiasm…above all we loved this country (Canada) and loved exploring and painting it…” Brandy Saturley is a celebrated contemporary Canadian visual artist renowned for her powerful portrayals of Canadian culture, landscapes, wildlife, and iconic symbols—from hockey and nature to the people and places that define our nation. Often called ‘the Voice of Canadian Pop Art,’ Saturley’s work reflects her unique vision and deep connection to Canada’s spirit. Over the years, she has created nearly 500 paintings, all offering a distinct perspective on Canadian identity.

Canadianisms at Okotoks Art Gallery, 2017 Brandy Saturley

Saturley’s paintings not only embrace a sense of humour but also reference famous works of art, creating layered narratives that explore what it means to be Canadian. The artworks found in Canadianisms: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada open a dialogue informed by our national iconography, passion, humour, tolerance, and kindness. These paintings challenge and celebrate the evolving story of Canada, offering fresh perspectives on familiar symbols and moments in our shared history.

Canadianisms: A Half Decade Inspired by Canada – Strathcona County Gallery @501, January 2017

Saturley is celebrated for her Canadiana-inspired acrylic paintings and is recognized as a leading Canadian visual artist. Her vibrant art collection captures the essence of Canada, featuring iconic landscapes, Tim Hortons cups, and well-known figures like Gord Downie and a hockey stick-wielding Shania Twain. Her work reflects a rich tapestry of Canadian culture: from a Mi’kmaq performer alongside an RCMP officer at the Vimy Ridge 100th anniversary to a veteran standing solemnly above a field of red poppies. In one piece, a couple stands outside the Montreal Forum, posed in homage to Grant Wood’s American Gothic. The term #IconicCanuck, coined for her first public gallery exhibition, has since become synonymous with her work.

#ICONICCANUCK art crate and painting Saint Kanata by Brandy Saturley, 2017

Growing up on Vancouver Island, Saturley developed a deep connection to Canada’s landscapes and cultural diversity. The island, separated from the mainland by ocean and distinct weather patterns, fostered her unique perspective on Canadian identity. Her style—often described as ‘Canadian Pop Art,’ ‘Pop Realism,’ or more recently ‘Pop Modernism’—is unmistakable, characterized by bold colors, crisp lines, and a distinct approach to visual storytelling.

Canadianisms Exhibition at Okotoks Art Gallery, 2017 Brandy Saturley

Confronting the enormity of the landscape has become a crucial aspect of Canadian identity and is another recurring theme in Saturley’s work. Her well-regarded Canadianisms series, while sometimes still grounded in the landscape, also references famous works of art, reinterpreting them to examine the construction of Canadian identity. Many old masters are identifiable in her compositions, including Jacques-Louis David, René Magritte, and Grant Wood. By evoking these famous compositions within her exploration of Canadian cultural symbols, the series reminds us that identity has always been constructed through a symbolic visual language—one that we actively participate in by recognizing and reinterpreting it.

#ICONICCANUCK at CARFAC Alberta, 2013 Brandy Saturley

Saturley’s narratives on canvas oscillate between graphic realism—used for Canada’s famous mountain peaks and forest lakes—and the abstractness of colorful, even psychedelic backgrounds. The sincerity of her celebration keeps her work from veering into kitsch; instead, they are otherworldly and transportive, playful yet deeply reflective. Her paintings capture the collective Canadian consciousness, offering viewers a chance to see themselves within the layers of symbolism, history, and contemporary culture that shape this country.

With Hearts on Our Sleeves, Brandy Saturley, 2017

Painting Canada 500 Paintings: Art Crates & Collaborations

During this time Saturley also became known for her hand-painted art shipping crates which were part of her Canada150 art exhibitions, and also the crates her collectors receive when buying an original painting. You can see these crates in collections across Canada. Her paintings have been licensed for use with brands and on products from chocolates to reading glasses.

CANADA150 Chocolate by Blossom Spice, Vancouver BC

In January 2025, Saturley published her first Art Book featuring paintings spanning 15 years, ‘Painting Canada’ will be launched at her upcoming solo exhibition in Newfoundland with James Baird Gallery.

Brandy Saturley with her Art Book, Painting Canada

With nearly two decades of artistic exploration and an ever-growing body of work, Brandy Saturley continues to paint Canada with an unparalleled passion and vision. Her art invites us all to engage with the symbols, landscapes, and stories that define what it means to be Canadian.

Canadian Artist Brandy Saturley with her Art Shipping Crates, 2017

See More Canadian Art Collections by Brandy Saturley.

Brandy Saturley with her art shipping crates, 2013

February 10, 2025

10 Best Paintings 2024

New Paintings

My Year in Paintings, the 10 Best of 2024

With every year I begin with the goal of creating 25 new paintings, while also working on a myriad of opportunities to show and sell my work. Each year I take time to look back on the year in Canadian Art, and select my 10 best paintings of the year. These are paintings that worked out not only in subject and deliver on an emotional level, but they are also technically great artworks. In 2024, my artist lens was focused on both western Canada and the landscape of the Rocky Mountains, as well as Canada’s east coast and stories of Newfoundland. Here are my 10 best Canadian paintings of 2024.

10.

High on Canada Drive, 12×36, acrylic and oil on wood, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Love on The Rock, 18×36, acrylic and oil on wood, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Downside Up, 18×24, acrylic and oil on wood, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Quidi on the Vidi, 24×18, acrylic and oil on wood, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

High Tide, 36×48, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Come On Just Let’s Go, 48×30, acrylic on canvas, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Say a Little Prayer, 48×30, acrylic on canvas, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Minnewanka Muse, 12×24, acrylic on canvas, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Three Sisters, 24×48, acrylic on canvas, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

Little Red Saltbox, 18×24, acrylic on canvas, 2024 – Brandy Saturley

These 10 Best Paintings of 2024 are not just my favorites; they represent milestones in my ongoing journey of capturing the essence of Canada through art. Each piece adds a layer to the evolving narrative I’ve been crafting since 2010, celebrating the landscapes, people, and symbols that define this vast and diverse nation. Through these works, I aim to inspire viewers to see Canada not just as a place, but as a rich tapestry of stories, emotions, and connections that we all share.

Sincerely Yours,

Brandy Saturley

December 30, 2024