Tanya Fenkell is a Toronto-based artist and writer working primarily in watercolour. Tanya holds a BA in English Literature from McGill University, an MA (in English) and an MIS from the University of Toronto. Tanya’s love of all things literary manifests in her poetry, which has appeared or is forthcoming in various small journals such as Eunoia Review, Rue Scribe, Forget Me Not Press, and Salt & Citrus. She has spent many years raising three sons, prior to which she worked as a Photo Librarian at The Globe and Mail and was later co-owner/designer for Cloud Cashmere, a line of ethically-made knits for women and children.

Throughout her life, Tanya has explored her artistic side through practice and study of various arts and fibre-related crafts, including knitting, drawing, sewing, embroidery and bookbinding; she has also been a knitting instructor. The solitude and isolation specific to raising small children allowed her to delve deeply into watercolour (so portable and quick-drying), her favourite medium for her moody landscapes and figures. Tanya exhibits her art regularly in Ontario and her work is held in several private collections in Canada and the United States.

Solitude and solitary spaces in the natural world are dominant preoccupations in Tanya’s art. Specifically, many of her paintings are inspired by the quietest parts of Baptiste Lake and its surrounding areas. “Emotional Landscapes” focuses on the positive and pensive feelings evoked by being in nature, especially those found in monochromatic, melancholy, early morning lake views. Tanya uses watercolour to semi-abstractly convey the deep, calming feelings evoked by the lake; forest bathing, the calming presence of water, and more generally, spending time in nature, all immeasurably increase human well-being. The comfort, loneliness and rapture felt when we are alone with nature is more compelling than ever as we have learned to cope with the strictures of life during a pandemic.