Biographies > Maureen Steward
Maureen Steward’s art is in a variety of media – acrylics, collage, woodblock and mono-print. She works most commonly in acrylics. Her work is influenced both by her deep love of her native Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and her adopted land of northern Ontario.
In Bulawayo, Maureen grew up with a love for drawing and colour. Maureen studied at the Bulawayo School of Art completing a three year course in art and design. After her college years, Maureen was employed in a cross-section of commercial art related positions in advertising, children’s book illustration, retail and department store art, promotional departments, and as a design manager at a national tableware manufacturer.
Married with three sons, she often found herself volunteering for school projects such as painting stage sets for plays, teaching art and designing exhibits. Painting outdoors with fellow artists surrounded by the wild beauty of the African bush was an activity that Maureen enjoyed since her teenage years.
In 1990, shortly after emigrating to Canada, Maureen, her husband and children settled in Haileybury, Ontario, where she found a place where she could fit in and pursue her art. She joined the Temiskaming Palette and Brush Club. During her years in Canada she has had works in the Northern Ontario Art Association, gained her NOAA letters, and won several awards. She and Lionel Venne had a joint exhibition that went to several galleries including the Kennedy Gallery in North Bay. More recently she had a show of prints with Janet Bourgeau and Penny Bateman, at Englehart Museum, Kirkland Lake Museum of Northern History, the Kennedy Gallery in North Bay and the Temiskaming Art Gallery. Maureen has been the Director/Curator of the Temiskaming Art Gallery for fifteen years. She also has taught many art workshops for all ages for the Gallery, the Temiskaming Palette and Brush Club and Cobalt Artists Colony among others. She continues to create art for exhibitions and for her own pleasure. TAG holds two works by Maureen, The House Dreams and Lost in this Moment.
Being an artist in northern Ontario. Immigrating to northern Ontario from Zimbabwe in 1990 changed my painting palette from the earth tones and brilliant sunbathed colours of my native country to soft blues and greens. On arriving here, I was delighted to find myself in a community where artists were active, willing to collaborate, share ideas and network with each other.
