Mandy Saile was born in North Bay , Ontario to a family of proud French and German Heritage. After spending her childhood in the city of her birth, Mandy spread her wings and left for the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto , Ontario . Four successful years later in 1999, Mandy graduated with an Associate & Honors standing. During her time in Toronto Mandy tried her hand at many artistic endeavors such as neighbourhood beautification through mural painting. Mandy also used this time to pursue some freelance illustration work while at the same time working in bookstores to support her avid book habit. As she will freely admit, a home just doesn't feel like a home unless there are books in it!

In 2000 Mandy and her partner Jonathan decided they had enough of the big city life for abit and headed for the sanctuary of northern Ontario . Once again in North Bay , also serendipitously where both their families live, Mandy's first welcome into the North Bay arts community was running a month long open-printmaking studio with Dave Carlin. In 2001 she becomes Gallery Coordinator for the WKP Kennedy Gallery and assistant to the gallery director, Dennis Geden. Mandy remained with the gallery until 2003, when she left to pursue her long-time dreams; freelance illustration and full-time mom for her furry critters.

Mandy's artistic career to date has had numerous highlights.  

Ø      Honours Graduate with Associate Standing from OCAD in 1999, minor in Communication & Design, major in Illustration

Ø      Neighborhood beautification through mural painting in Toronto June through August 1996.

Ø      Cover illustration for “Alternative Journal” in 2000

Ø      Post-Competition winner in the 2000 Lux Canada ’s national illustration & photography competition.

Ø      Co-organizer of an open printmaking studio in 2000 with master printmaker and artist Dave Carlin at the White Water Gallery.

Ø      Mandy's work can be found in private and corporate collections.

Ø      Artist in the group exhibition “Two Nations:  Works On Paper” a 3 year internationally touring exhibition which ended just last year with great reviews.

Ø      Solo exhibition “Whirl in Circles” at the White Water Gallery, North Bay 2004.

Ø      Children’s art class teacher from 2000 to 2003, for three different venues.

Ø      Coordinator of the WKP Kennedy Gallery from 2001-2003 and assistant to world renowned painter Dennis Geden.

Ø      Local invitational exhibitions and gallery fundraisers such as: “Home is where the Art Is 2003”, “The Art Market 2001-2003”, “Eat Your Art Out 2003”, “The Festival of Trees 2002”, “The Paddle Project 2001”  and most recently “Exposure 2004”.

Ø      Recipient of an OAC exhibition grant in 2003. 

Ø      Artist-In-Residence at the WKP Kennedy Gallery with painter Arlington Hoffman for 3 months in 2003. 

Ø      Feature Artist two times in 2005 at the "Little Shop" fine art and crafts shop, North Bay , ON .

Ø      Artist in the group exhibition "OPS Conserves " July-August 2005, at the John. B. Aird Gallery, Toronto , ON . The theme was energy conservation.

Mandy works primarily in coloured pencil and pastel, but she also loves to work with lino-cuts and sometimes graphite portraiture. Recently she has added large scale acrylic paintings and small watercolour pencil works to her repertoire. Mandy channels these media into her creations through a myriad of inspirations. Most of the time she just gets an image in her head that she knows she must share with people. She is also inspired by; music, books, magazine articles, movies, nature and animals, people's reactions to life situations, spirituality and the general on-goings of the world. She also has the ability to find inspiration in the very simplest of moments like watching a bird whiles she is washing the dishes!  Mandy thinks that art is just an incredible and universal way to share ideas and feelings, no matter how big or small, serious or light the topic may be. It is her heartfelt belief that there is always someone out there looking to connect, and when a connection is made through art, she feels that is a very powerful, positive and beautiful thing.

Mandy Strives towards illustrating children's books and illustrating her own stories.  She also wants to inter-mingle her work with animal conservancy awareness, and hopes to someday soon work closely with organizations such as PETA (of which she is a member), WWF, The Nature Conservancy, WSPA, IFAW, THS (all of which she is a sponsor) etc.. These are all causes extremely dear to her spirit. Some day down the road, Mandy aspires to open and run a rabbit sanctuary whose mandate would be to rescue rabbits from testing laboratories and any abusive/neglectful situations, regardless of health or age. Mandy dreams of someday doing her illustration from the center of her rabbit sanctuary, working whiles hundreds of happy rabbits run freely around her is definitely where it's at for this artist.

Below you will find other favourite asked questions about Mandy, her work and her process. If there are any questions unanswered here please feel free to contact Mandy at MandySaile@Bijouswhimsy.com

WHAT IS YOUR WORKING PROCESS AND SCHEDULE LIKE?

It is very important to have a discipline when you work from your home. I try to work everyday, whether it’s on my illustration or Gallery work and there is always maintenance of the office and files and business matters to attend to, so basically I never really have an excuse not to be working in the studio or office everyday. I usually don't feel too creative first thing in the morning so I try to get filing and business matters done in this time. Creative energies start flowing around 10 or 11am.  I take frequent breaks to re-energize and step back to look at the work.   Also it’s necessary to break when I am working on a piece that primarily coloured pencil because my hand gets very cramped.  I work until about 4:00 or so and more often than not I will go back to work for a couple of hours in the evening.  I try to keep working and not break the rhythm of creativity when I feel like I am on a roll.

As for the actual process of making an image; I start with the thumbnail/idea, I always have a notebook around me no matter where I go so I have stacks of books with ideas and from there I go through sheets and sheets of linears.  The first drawings are always so raw compared to the final linears but it’s always interesting and satisfying to see the development.  Once I am feeling happy with the linear I transfer it and I am off to the races!!!  When it comes to colour I try to complete one section at a time but I usually end up going back and bouncing all over the page adjusting colour slightly afterwards. When I am working on promotional pieces for illustration I like to spend a week or two just on linears and transferring them to the paper and then I can sit down for two or so weeks and work with the colour .

DO YOU FIND MUSIC ESSENTIAL TO CREATING AND WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO WHEN YOU WORK?

I must have music when I work, or at least the sound of one of my favorite movies!  I listen to such a wide variety of music but I guess when I am working it can be anything as long as I find it positive, energizing and soulful.  I love Peter Gabriel, Sting, U2, Cafe Del Mar, One Giant Leap...there are simply too many amazing groups out there to narrow my list down.  I am however especially in love with jazz, especially on rainy studio days. 

DID YOU ATTEND ART SCHOOL AND WAS IT ESSENTIAL TO THE ARTIST YOU ARE NOW?

I did go to art school, one of the best ones around, the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto.  I moved away from home and started there at the young age of 16.  I majored in illustration with a minor in graphic design and advertising and graduated in 1999 with honors and an associate standing.  I wouldn’t trade my school experience for anything although back then the curriculum was very much lacking in practical knowledge like business and marketing courses.  I had some wonderful teachers; Bob Berger and Muriel Wood come to mind immediately, they were always very positive in their critiques.  It was incredible to spend day in and day out with 20+ other artists creating simultaneously…it was very intimidating at first but in the latter years one learnt to thrive and grow on their independent styles and it was great.  I would say though that it is not necessary to attend a fancy college to become a successful artist, the trick really is to be very disciplined and give yourself projects, one after the other and just create and work every day.  It is through constant work that one finds their own style and where they want to go with it. 

 

WERE YOUR PARENTS AND FRIENDS SUPPORTIVE OF YOU BECOMING AN ARTIST?

I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil…when most kids were out playing with other kids I would be in my bedroom copying my favorite pictures and trying to learn that way because sadly pre-high school art lessons were very basic.  My parents always made sure I had the supplies I needed and pretty much left me to do my own thing with my pictures.  My dad is a master woodworker and taught me to make everything to the best of my ability and always with patience and nurturing.   And my mom was always busy with some kind of craft, paper tole, folk art painting, knitting etc…she taught me to just do things and not worry so much about the end result but have fun in the journey of whatever I was making.  My brother is quite the drawer/cartoonist himself and even my grandfather in Germany, inspired me for we had his wood carvings and metal works (reposee’) scattered through out our house.

Having a support system is essential for most artists.  Being an artist is not always easy and there are a lot of ups and downs, so to have people around you who are willing to take the ride as well are really important.  My husband, Jonathan is every artists dream and more, he has backed me up from the start and his support is not only mind boggling but unwavering and I couldn’t do without out.  Also here in North Bay the artist community is quite lovely, everyone generally looks out for everybody and there is a good exchange of ideas and information.

No one ever pushed me into pursuing art as a career; in fact I think they were convinced that going to art school was not a positive thing.  They were worried about me having a sustainable career.  Alas, here I am today, happy and proud to keep up the “artistic struggle”.

SO YOU LIVED IN TORONTO BUT ARE NOW BASED IN NORTH BAY?

I am currently based in North Bay and I love it.  My partner and I moved to Toronto to go to school because there were no illustration courses at our local college, nor any programs advanced enough for what he wanted to learn.  Plus, we really needed to escape the small town and experience something different.  We loved Toronto the first couple years and still love to visit it frequently but life just slowly became about making more money, having a more important job, spending your life in traffic etc…and I felt that we needed to get back to our roots and the small town life and nature.

DO YOU FIND LIVING IN A SMALL TOWN STIFLES YOUR CAREER ADVANCEMENT?

Well it may and it may not, I try not to worry about that.  If I were still living in Toronto I may not even be creating much art because I wouldn’t be in the right frame of mind.  Plus it was very important for me to be near family.  I travel to the bigger cities when work requires me too.  When it comes to illustration work, so far it seems to work just fine with phone, fax, email and burning images to cd’s or dvd’s and sending those to the art directors/clients/printers.  I am currently trying to create a body of work for Gallery Application and that side of things is great because mostly it doesn’t matter where you live.  As long as I escape North Bay often, I have been very content here and when I am content I create better artwork!

IS NATURE AND ANIMALS IMPORTANT TO YOUR WORK?

Well I was born here in 1977 and lived in the same house my whole childhood.  There was a huge forest behind my house, filled with all sorts of wildlife and I was enchanted to be so near all of them.  That enchantment lives on in me still and grows stronger in fact as I grow older.  I am just in awe of the power of nature and the beauty of animals.  I want to become a stronger animal advocate and I am hyper sensitive about animal abuse, I am a member of PETA and sponsor of groups such as IFAW and The Toronto Humane Society. I am a proud vegetarian and I try to only buy household products that are cruelty-free and I do not support companies who test on animals. I actually almost quit OCAD in my 3rd year to pursue a veterinarian career instead!  I am trying to do more work that shows animals, their beauty and magic as well as their more often than not horrible situations and treatment in this world.  I really hope to someday soon combine my art with animal conservancy awareness for both adults and children alike, especially for children because it seems that most adults are hopeless in changes their old views and seeing the importance of kindness towards animals. It really bugs me when people say "Oh I LOVE animals as much as the next person, blah blah blah" while they sit across from me stuffing their faces with meat! You love your dog right but wouldn't eat it, it's the same for every other creature, and I can't seem to get most people to realize this. People are very very ignorant of the whole meat industry and how animals are killed, what animals go through for that pretty new shade of lipstick, etc...people just need to be informed, it's a painfully slow process and I just hope that at the end of my life I've saved some animals, made people see reality and changed some minds. I think that there are so many people out there helping human needs but not enough pushing to help our fellow creatures. I don't want to live in a world where the only safe places for animals are in zoos. I will stop here for I could go on and on for hours!

WHAT INSPIRES YOUR WORK?

Oh my goodness, so many things, life in general really.  It always feels strange to answer this question because it is always so hard to pinpoint and explain.  Most of the time I get an image in my head and I just know I have to get it out for others to see, other times I am inspired by music, books, magazine articles, movies, nature and animals, peoples reactions to instances, to spirituality and spiritual strength, their general on-goings of the world and I am inspired by the very simplest of moments like watching a bird while washing the dishes!

WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR WORK TO CONVEY?

There is not one answer for that because each piece can differ so much from the last.  Also when it comes to commissioned illustration than the piece conveys whatever the art director needs it to.  But I guess for the most part, for my self-promotional work I want it to be whimsical and fantastical, unusual and unique.  I really think that nowadays life is so hectic and heavy and I would like my work to welcome people into another world and hopefully make them feel and/or think and I know it might sound cheesy but I just sometimes want my artwork to make people happy.  Art is just an incredible way to share ideas and feelings, no matter how big or small the topic may be, there is always someone out there looking to connect and it’s a lovely thing when that connection is made. As any other artists my job is to share my vision and opinions on various topics.  I love the quote “Art takes us away from the present, refreshes and reflects” that pretty much sums up my intentions.

PEOPLE ALWAYS COMMENT ON YOUR USE OF COLOUR, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?

I honestly think that people find my colour refreshing.   I do like to use bright colours; I even use bright colours when trying to convey heavier and darker topics/concepts.  It is just my thing, a reflection of my spirit if you will.  Putting the colour on the pieces is my favourite part of the creative process, aside from playing with shapes in the linear stage.  I just love playing with colour; I think it is one of life’s pleasures which is somewhat ironic because colour theory was my most hated subject in school. 

HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT DOING CHILDRENS BOOKS?

I am always told that my work would be great for kid’s stories and it is defiantly something I would like to try sometime soon.  My 3 year old niece comes to visit at my house and runs excitedly from painting to painting and I find it a compliment that my work grabs her eye.  I have also been playing around with a couple of my own ideas for stories.  Hopefully now that I have time to pursue my work fulltime I can get those ideas out of my head and out for everyone else to see.

WHAT MEDIUMS DO YOU USE PRIMARILY?

I began working in coloured pencil during my last two years of college and despite many professors saying that it was not a viable medium for final work, I proceeded with it and now coloured pencil makes up a large portion of my portfolio. In my soft pastel works, there is quite a bit of coloured pencil added as well.  As for linocuts, I have enjoyed printmaking since high school and always experiment with new processes.  When it comes to Acrylic painting, I’ve really just begun that but I really love it, working large is very freeing and incredibly fun.  I usually take my smaller illustrative pieces and use them as a colour study for larger acrylic versions.  I've also just started working with water-soluble pencils which I love.

WHAT ARTISTS/ILLUSTRATORS INSPIRE YOU?

So many people are amazing I couldn’t list them all but Artists I really love; Maxfield Parrish, Emily Carr, Gustav Klimt, Alfonso Mucha, Marc Chagall, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Frida Kahlo, Susan Seddon Boulet,  Dennis Geden and Dave Carlin…Those are just a few names.

There are so many illustrators whose work is just breathtaking and exciting. I love to keep an eye on the work of; David Shannon, Graeme Base, Pamela Silin-Palmer, Mary Englebreit, Jane Ray, Kinuko K.Craft, Cathie Shuttleworth, Donna Green, Charles Van Sandwyk, Josephine Wall, Matilda Harrison, Helen Ward, David Kirk, Jan Brett, Laszlo Gal and Valsta Van Kampen….just to mention a few of the contemporary illustrators.