Andrea Stajan-Ferkul is an artist who has had a strong relationship with color for as long as she can remember. She doesn’t have a single favorite color – it is her potential of creating new color combinations and mixing paint that can often be her inspiration, long before she decides on the subject matter. Her post-secondary studies began in Fashion Design, but she never got satisfaction in that field and ended up graduating from the Interpretive Illustration program at Sheridan College School of Art and Design. Andrea studied painting under Helen Lucas, a renowned Canadian artist. She says that Helen Lucas used to tell them that she was eager to get back home so she could tie her hair back and paint and that teaching was just a job. Andrea watched as Helen’s career took off and flourished. After her graduation, Andrea spent several years working as a fashion layout artist in the advertising industry. She was creating ads for magazines and newspapers.
This exposure influenced her greatly and continues to be a source of inspiration in her subject matter and style. Her style was further developed by several years of Graphic Design, as strong composition and dedication to detail shaped the future of her work. Her artwork work eventually took a back-seat during the many years she was busy raising her family. However, she feels that during this time her vision was broadened as she began to see things through the eyes of her children. She was also able to re-immerse herself into illustrating and painting during this time. She experimented with mixed mediums and textures to create dimension, as backgrounds became an integral part of each painting. Acrylic paint is her medium of choice.
