Virginia McClure - Giving expression to life

Virginia McClure fell in love with art when she was five years old. She was on a summer holiday with her family in Annisquam on the north shore of Boston. One day her mother took her to a house by the sea, where Virginia joined a group of children at a long table. Art materials were laid out for the children to use. It was Virginia's first exposure to art. She revelled in creating art every day for a week. 

Virginia has worked in a diverse range of media: clay, textiles, print-making, oil, acrylic and assemblage. She feels most comfortable drawing, as she's drawn all her life. She especially loves drawing models. 

For many years pottery was the most important focus in her creative life. She eventually gave it up when she moved from a house to an apartment, because she realized she couldn't bring her pottery kiln with her. She also felt she'd said everything she had to say in pottery. So she returned to drawing and painting, which are less demanding physically and take less time than pottery. 

She is a co-founder of the Visual Arts Centre in Westmount, Quebec. The Centre has been the perfect place for her to explore different media because of its wide range of courses. The Centre currently has an annual enrolment of 4,000 students. 

Inspiration often comes when she sees other artists' work at exhibitions. She gets an idea and then decides which medium she'll use to develop it. As she gets older, she's discovered she has the time to remember the details of things she's seen or things she's done and she can incorporate these ideas into her art.

David Hockney, Kiki Smith and Chuck Close are three contemporary artists whom she particularly admires. They're always stretching themselves and exploring different media.

Poetry is the medium she uses to express thoughts and emotions she can't communicate visually. All new ideas have to "sit inside" for a while, especially when she writes. When she's ready to compose a poem, she writes with her right hand, even though she's left-handed. She once read that you write more freely when you write with the other hand.

Always a social person, she enjoys doing things with other people. She sings in a choir and she also helps to organize groups and events. When she was younger, she enjoyed organizing courses and exhibitions at the Montreal Potters Club, the forerunner of the Visual Arts Centre. Her interest in art comes from her mother, and her organizing abilities come from her father.

Virginia never tires of art. She has a great feeling of accomplishment when she completes a work. She finds the color and the form of a finished piece compelling. For her next exhibition, she would like to show her paintings of flowers and still lifes.