I have always had a passion for nature and art. Throughout my childhood I loved to draw animals and explore wild places. It was hard for me to decide to focus on art or biology, but a trip to the Hudson Bay Lowlands surveying birds while still in high school solidified my resolve to understand the things that I love to paint. I went to Trent University to study biology, and during that time held many jobs that gave me a great deal of fieldwork experience, providing me with an understanding of birds, plants and insects in their natural surroundings. After finishing my Bachelor's I completed a Master's degree studying how the birds of Algonquin Park's forests were, or were not, affected by logging. Since my Master's degree, I have worked for various government agencies and non-governmental organizations surveying birds and insects.
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Although I studied biology in university, I was always drawn to art, often being commissioned by individuals to provide specific paintings. I believe it is critical to understand the things you are painting or drawing, and have always had the goal of merging the disciplines of science and art. I first accomplished this with the illustration of a fisheries book and later a dragonfly identification booklet for Algonquin Park. The success of the dragonfly booklet called for an updated book, much larger and more extensive than the booklet, the first of its kind in Canada. In addition to the books, my art has been reproduced in a number of publications and magazines, including Birders Journal, Wildflower magazine, Ontario Birds, and Ontario Insects, among others. My art has also been used on greeting cards, T-shirts, information packages and as logos for programs and events for groups such as Bird Studies Canada.

My background as a biologist, naturalist and nature lover has given me a familiarity with the things I paint, something I feel is important.  Although I feel that no form of art can truly capture nature's beauty, I love the challenge of trying to  highlight some of its creatures.
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My work falls into three general categories: natural history paintings and illustration, abstract digital images of natural items, and wool felted animals (http://andreakingsley.wix.com/felted-wildlife). Although these various art forms are very different from one another each stems from a deep love and appreciation of nature and are my attempt to celebrate different ways of looking at the world (as a biologist who strives for accurate depictions of flora and fauna, spiritually through  abstract expressions of  natural items, and as a mother who wants to provide art and sustainable, hand-made, wool sculptures for both children and parents).

I am currently selling original pieces, high quality, signed, limited edition giclée prints, metal prints, and acrylic prints. I also can provide artwork for publications, individual commissioned paintings, and art classes to individuals or small groups.

Andrea Kingsley

Biography