Kelly Winsa is an instinctual painter. Her evocative depictions of everyday moments are distinguished by luminous tones, dreamy colour improvisations, atmospheric infusions of whimsy, and an airy mood of calm.

An artist all her life, Kelly only recently came to painting. Early on, her creativity found expression in the world of fashion. Born of Finnish/Irish parents and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Kelly gained her formal training indesign during the 1980s at Ryerson University in Toronto. This, she notes wryly, was merely the first step on the road to realizing her childhood dream of becoming the next Yves Saint Laurent. (It was an ambition she forged early, and with the help of her younger sister -the long-suffering “house model”- she coerced into donning her creations and posing for pictures in the backyard under the birch trees). During her time at Ryerson, Kelly met James Wesley Smith with whom she would go on to create Wesley and Winsa, an innovative and notable women’s wear label that was sold in stores across Canada.

By the early 90s, following a highly successful run,Wesley and Winsa went their separate ways in search of new adventures in fashion.Itwas then that Kelly established her own women’s wear label,Tequila Mockingbird (so named by her husband,the director Peter Henderson).And thus began a period of profound creative independence,a time when she was true to her design sensibility and free to experiment with the kinds of unconventional textiles and subtle embellishments that characterized her work. At her studio in 401 Richmond Street West she created timeless designs, tweaked to keep pace with changing trends, and in doing so found an appreciative audience of women.

But Kelly’s creative journey was far from over.When the designer closed her business in order to focus on family, she turned to another creative outlet. Inspired by the calm and spiritual nature of Hawaii, her adopted second home, Kelly gave herself over to a powerful compulsion to paint. Fusing the disciplines of drawing and design, her first series of watercolours — comprising several emotional images of the islands — reflected her untrained but instinctual ability.

In the last three years,Kelly has developed an extensive portfolio of works on paper featuring intimate images drawn from various inspirations (including homes in Toronto,Hawaii and Stony Lake,Ontario). She has mounted a series of shows,and continues to develop work that is richly personal and moving. Her use of radiant colour and light,and her decorative experimentations with line are fresh and familiar, the surprising synthesis of experience, emotion and insight.