About the Artist

Kathleen Bignell was born in Laval, Quebec in 1955. From an early age, she found joy in drawing, painting, and exploring the forests near her childhood home. This deep connection to both nature and creativity has remained a guiding force throughout her life.

For over 30 years, Kathleen devoted herself to a fulfilling career in education, nurturing the minds and imaginations of her students. Throughout those years, her passion for the arts never faded, it simply waited patiently. Now retired, she is embracing a new chapter that brings together her love of painting, travel, and the natural world.

Retirement has also opened the door to travel, and with it, a broader view of what's worth painting. Trips abroad have pulled her attention beyond the forests of her childhood toward the layered textures of old cities and unfamiliar landscapes, so her recent work moves easily between quiet studies of the natural world and the weathered, human-made places she encounters along the way.

Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University and a teaching degree from McGill University in Montreal. She now lives in Acton, Ontario, and works from home and from her studio at the Norval Studios and Gallery, where she continues to explore and express the beauty and fragility of nature through her art.