At Renfrew Centre (Vancouver, BC), the walls now breathe with Millie’s vision of British Columbia – rugged, quiet, alive.
Her art isn’t just landscape. It’s a pulse, the fallen cedar, the snow-shadowed ridge, the river still whispering under thaw. Painted en plein air, her work carries the wild honesty of the land itself.
Trained in design, rooted in fine art, and raised by BC’s forests, Millie captures what it feels like to stand still in nature and be changed by it.
Hello Art
review from Millie McKinnon’s exhibit at Renfrew Centre, VancouverI was fortunate to come from a family who encouraged me to paint, draw, build, and create from a very young age. I have had opportunity to paint in Oils, Acrylic, Watercolour and Gouache. Today my medium of preference is Acrylic due partly to being quick drying for painting en plein air, and also for its transparency. I am now also returning to oils after a long hiatus.
I paint outdoors whenever possible. I prefer to BE outside as much as possible. Running, hiking, or just enjoying the forests, mountains, and water bodies of the lower mainland of British Columbia, I feel that I am in my element. I love the urgency that comes from trying to capture the ever changing light and conditions of my surroundings. If the weather is bad I will paint in my studio from sketches and photographs taken during hikes as I try to bring the outside world inside. The outdoors is where I find peace – and also where I feel the most alive.
My paintings remind me; I am in the right place; this is where I am meant to be.
Fun fact: I recently discovered that I have Prosopagnosia, (also called face blindness), this condition means I have difficulty recognizing people’s faces. I unconsciously adapted by focusing on details to help me recognize people: voice, gait, hair/eye colour, dress, names, – even tiny details like shape of ears would be committed to memory. The failure of this of course is when people change their hairstyle, remove their ballcaps, or are in an out of context location. After all there are many, many people who have similar grey-blue eyes with gold flecks around the iris…. Another coping mechanism I adopted is that I just pretend that I know everyone I encounter. I acknowledge people with a friendly wave, smile, and hello – this despite the fact that I am a natural introvert.
I graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University with a degree in Graphic Design, and followed that up with fine art classes in painting, drawing, sculpture and art history also from KPU. I have also had the opportunity to study under many local painters over the years.
