Judy Cheng was more than 50 years old when she received her introduction to painting.
She'd met the late, English-born Canadian artist Gordon A. Smith in his eighties. They became friends, and Smith opened her eyes to how compelling the visual arts could be. One friendly "paint date" led to another, and eventually to a midlife career change.
"He was very patient and very encouraging," Cheng says about Smith. "He just wanted to take me under his wing and I really enjoyed his company. We got to know each other quite well, and I wasn't pursuing a career in painting at all. I was just enjoying my time as a painter, but one day he just told me that I was ready to go [to a] gallery. That really surprised me.
"I guess the timing was pretty well right for me. I believe timing is everything, and I probably wouldn't have been able to do that earlier in my life."
Cheng hails from Saskatchewan and moved out to British Columbia in the 1970s to pursue higher education. She found the adjustment from a rural prairie town to metropolitan Vancouver overwhelming at first, but landed a job in the airline industry until she and her husband started a family.
Smith passed away in 2020 at the age of 100, and Cheng began to pivot towards life as an artist. She often tries to depict the majesty of nature between Vancouver and Whistler, with themes of place, atmosphere, light and contemplation frequently featured in her work.
"That's what moves me when I'm painting. It's an interpretation that I feel like I can express freely … perception of the colours and the shapes, the textures of nature," Cheng remarks. "The creative process is understanding what lies beneath the paint, and the more you see the more you want to be in it. When you're finished, the painting is not just what you see on the surface, but it's what you built to the finish so there's a lot of layers involved."
'I'm just very appreciative that people actually enjoy my work'
Cheng and her family own a residence in Whistler, and did their fair share of skiing in the past. Nowadays they don't hit the slopes much anymore, but she still looks forward to driving up Highway 99 and partnering with the Whistler Contemporary Gallery (WCG).
"They're a good gallery. They approached me and I thought I would give it a try," says the Vancouverite. "We have a very good working relationship."
That sentiment is mutual. Joanna Woronowicz, marketing manager for Off Piste Fine Arts (which owns and operates the WCG), described Cheng as "an incredibly talented artist" in an email to Pique.
Cheng adds: "I'm just very appreciative that people actually enjoy my work. I want to meet some of the people [in Whistler] and see how they enjoy my work, see what they feel and what their lifestyles are. I've never had a chance to meet anyone from the gallery, so it's my opportunity to say hello.
"I just hope I can keep [painting]. Being an artist is a very difficult career, and I understand how some people really struggle. You can just lose your focus very easily, or if someone says something negatively, it intimidates you. Those things really come into play, too. You just have to keep [perservering], enjoy it, be yourself and don't think too much about it. Just let your feelings go."
Folks interested in learning more about Cheng's portfolio can swing by the Hilton Whistler on July 5 at 4 p.m. Expect a laid-back event with cocktails and no formal presentation: just conversations with the artist and other guests. Visit whistlerart.com/show/whistler-contemporary-gallery-meet-greet-cocktail-event-with-judy-cheng for details.
