Artist and author creates a storm

Patricia Trudeau doesn’t have any plans to slow down any time soon. The 80-year-old retired teacher is still keeping busy with her gardening on the days when the rain abates.

But when it’s pouring, you can find her inside her book-filled townhouse painting to her heart’s delight or writing up a storm (the multi-talented St. Albert resident published her third novel in the Agnes Carroll detective series last year). Since then she has been preparing to participate in a group show that opened yesterday.

Trudeau is a member of the Centre d’arts visuels de l’Alberta in Edmonton. The francophone cultural institution hosts its members’ art exhibits at various intervals throughout the year and she is just one of several prominent local painters who show their work at the venue. Others including Karen Blanchet, Doris Charest and Laura Watmough, have already had their works grace the walls at the centre.

When summer comes around, it’s my turn to shine, Trudeau says.

“I’ve been painting a very long time,” she stated. “When I was teaching, I taught art. Of course, then you’re so busy you don’t get much time to do much art yourself except for demonstrations and so on.”

She remembers that when she retired, local painter Peg McPherson formed a group. It gave her and many other practising artists the chance to brush up on their skills in a supportive environment.

Trudeau doesn’t even remember the year she got involved with the St. Albert Painters’ Guild but says that it’s been so long she’s a lifetime member. It would be difficult to figure out exactly how many times she has exhibited with the group or in the other shows she’s participated in.

Does it still thrill her to be a headliner?

“No, not usually,” she says. “It’s just that I have to load up all these paintings and bring them there. I don’t like to cart things around in the wintertime, especially with the winter we’ve had.”

Her spotlight at the francophone centre usually comes around at the end of May or start of June. Working in pastels and watercolours, she has put together about 10 pieces for the show, and with a good selection of floral still life subjects and landscapes including scenes of villages from her travels, plus a few portraits.

Not one to waste time, she’ll probably be out tending to her flower garden this weekend if the nice weather holds. But she’ll be back at work indoors again soon enough, either prepping a new canvas or writing a new adventure for her amateur sleuth. At last check, another novel has been drafted but no publication date has yet been announced.