Lena Shugar
As a child, Lena Shugar, artist, designer and teacher, moved from Poland to Russia, fled Russia to West Berlin and finally settled in Norway. Art represented continuity in her frequently changing life. Paper was scarce and she used the edges of old newspapers to draw the world for which she longed.
Lena arrived in Canada as a young adolescent with a passion for colour, fantasy and imagery. Not speaking English, she sought solace in her art and soon after her arrival in Canada, Lena came under the tutelage of one of Canada’s foremost artists, Doris McCarthy, at Central Technical School.
Lena’s early work and her artistic interests centred on colour and design. She became the head of the Canadian Industries Limited Colour Studio (CIL) and was later a successful independent design consultant. Spending more than forty years developing her craft through study and experimentation, Lena was first persuaded
to exhibit in 1990 and since then, has successfully exhibited in many countries, including Sweden, Israel and Canada. Lena’s works are in numerous private and corporate collections.
Her strong sense of design and her use of intense colour, are integral to her paintings. Lena’s art fuels the viewer’s imagination. This is not by obvious imitation of the subject, but through a flow of energy and movement created by the artist. The viewer is infused with a sense of well-being through Lena’s use of colour, texture, form and subject. Her art impresses the viewer with its originality and clarity.
Lena works in her Toronto studio during the winter and in her Kawartha studio during the summer months.