Anita Utas was born in London, Ontario, and now resides in Ottawa. She received her honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History at Western University where she studied painting and drawing under the esteemed artists Paterson Ewen and Duncan de Kergommeaux. She went on to complete her Bachelor of Education, also at Western University.
After working as an art teacher with the public school board, Anita traveled overseas and spent seven years teaching in international schools in South East Asia and South America. She traveled extensively and soaked up the arts and culture in many countries before returning to Canada. She now lives in Ottawa and works as a full-time artist from her sunny studio in her home she shares with her husband and two cats.
Anita has been painting professionally for over 15 years. Her work is included in corporate and private collections in Canada, the U.S.A., and Europe.
Artist's Statement
The role of the artist, I believe, is to express what has significant meaning in our lives, and in doing so, inspire viewers to contemplate these concepts on a deeper level. Through my landscape paintings, I wish to offer a respite from our urban, tethered existence. We enter a work of art to divest ourselves of our physical limits; the closed spaces we have created in our lives and minds. A painting becomes a place where we can explore and experience what we are seeking, be it a communion with nature, or an inner dialogue that helps us come closer to an awareness of ourselves and our place in this world.
It is mainly the Canadian landscape that I draw upon for inspiration. I have camped and hiked in numerous locations, and I always take a feeling or memory of that landscape home with me. This connection to the essence of that place, the atmospheric, ethereal qualities, are expressed in my paintings. I am drawn to the calming forces of far off vistas; landscapes that are beyond simple visual identification.
A note about my animal paintings: A report from the World Wildlife Foundation revealed that over the past 50 years, wildlife populations have shrunk by 73 percent due to habitat loss caused by unsustainable agriculture, with a whopping 82 percent of all farmland used for grazing or growing feed for livestock. In Canada, more than half of the monitored wildlife species declined in abundance. I want to raise awareness about the plight of our beautiful wildlife and help the organizations that protect them. I also want to help farm sanctuaries that rescue many domestic animals from slaughter, abuse and tormented lives in factory farms. A portion of sales of all animal and bird paintings is donated to animal sanctuaries, or organizations that educate people about coexistence and animal causes. I also donate paintings to animal organization fundraisers. Please contact me for more information.
CV
Education
1993 Bachelor of Education, Western University, London, Ontario
1988 B.A. (Honours), Art History, Western University, London, Ontario
Solo or Small Group Exhibitions
2021 Santini Gallery - Letting of Water - solo collection
2021 Electric Street Gallery - Featured Artist - Wildlife Benefit for Rideau Valley Wildlife Santuary
2020-2025 Gallery Raymond - Women Artists of Gallery Raymond - group show
2019 Studio 87 - Works by Anita Utas/Aili Curtis/Cristina Del Sol/Violeta Borisonik
2019 Santini Gallery - In Your Eyes - solo exhibition/fundraiser for Animal Justice
2018 Orange Art Gallery - Tranquil Places - solo exhibition
2017 Orange Art Gallery - Luminous - solo exhibition
2012 Orange Art Gallery - Primordial - solo exhibition
2011 Orange Art Gallery - The View From Here, works by Anita Utas & Julie Berthelot
2011 Foyer Gallery - Harmonics - group show
2011 Trinity Gallery - Poetic Landscapes, City of Ottawa solo exhibition, Shenkman Arts Centre
2009 Foyer Gallery - Genesis - group show
Selected Exhibitions and Events
2022 Wall Candy Noir Art Expo - Ottawa (juried)
2022-2024 Fur Bearers online auction fundraiser
2021-2024 Koyman Galleries - Holiday Exhibition Smalls Show
2021 Electric Street Gallery - Snow Show - group show
2020 Santini Gallery - Small | Medium | Large - group show
2020 Electric Street Gallery - Birds, Bees, Butterflies - group show
2020-2024 Paul White Diamond Gallery - The Square Foot Show
2020-2021, 2024 Paula White Diamond Gallery - Big Ideas Show
2020-2024 Gallery Raymond - Annual Open House - group show
2020 The Manx, Ottawa - Wildlife Art for the Ottawa Carleton Wildlife Centre
2020-2023 Pacific Wild online auction fundraiser, pacificwild.org, Save the B.C. Wolves - British Columbia
2020-2021 For the Love of Birds art fundraiser - Ottawa Wild Bird Care Center, organizer and contributor
2019 Wall Candy Art Expo - Ottawa
2019-2023 The Kenya Initiative fundraiser - Gallery Raymond
2012 The New Art Festival - Central Park, Ottawa
2011 Cube Gallery - Great Big Smalls VII
2011 Britannia Gallery Ottawa - Small Wonders VII
2010 Orange Art Gallery - Orange Peel
2010 Avenue Art Gallery Montreal - The Brush Off, juried
2009 Robert Macklin Gallery Kingston - The Barns of Wolfe Island & Other Landscapes
2009 Cube Gallery - Great Big Smalls V
2009 Carleton University Ottawa, Celebration: Canadian Visual Artists of Slavic Heritage
Awards and Fellowships
1988 R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
1985 Faculty of Arts Scholarship, Western University