At first, I found it difficult to end up with colour with watercolour but I learned how by trial and error. I switch between watercolours and acrylics- usually depending on the size required. Years back I began with oils but that was when I was bothered by their strong odours so I switched to acrylics. Oil painting is no longer such a smelly affair and it is satisfying to use buttery paint on a canvas surface. I also love drawing with pen or pencil and enhancing the image with colour washes. There are so many new products and I look forward to experimenting more with them all.

The attraction I feel towards vibrant colours and their interaction is one of the reasons I paint as well as having a personal reason to relate to the subject matter. But I don’t really have an absolute favorite subject. I enjoy painting buildings, people or coastal scenes. An image will just appeal to me because of an emotional connection, or lighting, or composition and I want to try and capture how I feel about it.

I always liked drawing and loved doing special covers for my school assignments. Later on as a teacher and before I had children, I used four summer vacations (1968-1971) to take 16 full-time art studio courses at NSCAD (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) and looked forward to those courses all year. For a number of busy years I was teaching, studying and raising our two sons so I had little time to do any art but at least I could go to galleries and look at paintings. In the meantime I used my camera to capture images that I might paint later on. I would file these away and I do look at my photos for inspiration.

Years later I opted to take a two-year leave of absence from teaching in order to immerse myself in 46 full-term studio art courses with talented professors at the University of Alberta Fine Arts Extension Department (1989-1992) plus many other art courses and workshops with professional artists over the years since.

Most of my watercolour originals are painted on Arches Cold pressed 140 pound paper and usually on a "quarter sheet" (10 by 14). With the addition of a 3 inch watercolor mat, these images fit into a standard sized 16 by 20 frame with glass.

Acrylic and oil originals have been painted on various sizes of canvas, or prepared masonite board. Gallery canvases which are thicker do not need to be framed.

I have made reproductions of many originals using a variety of methods including 4 colour separation printing and good quality reproductions. If the original has been sold it will say "unavailable" but there may be printed, reproduced copies available. The size of a reproduction is either 5 by 7 or 10 by 14.

I have organized my paintings into several categories to make finding a subject that appeals to you easier.

Browse my many galleries and refer to the next section to provide details about the painting of interest.

This website is constantly being updated to show current availability. Many originals have already been sold but reproductions may be available. If you prefer an original painting on my site, please order promptly or I can be commissioned to paint an original just for you.

In order to see my latest work, please sign up to be on my  email list and I will keep you informed about new paintings as they are added to the website.

An invoice will be sent and payment to me (Laurie Mireau or MireauArt) can be made via e-transfer (preferred method-with security question and answer). PayPal and Visa/Mastercard are also accepted.

A watercolour or a reproduction can be carefully rolled up and mailed in a tube. A painting on canvas or hard surface (or a framed original or print piece) can be picked up or delivered in my local area. If this is not feasible, I will deliver it to a courier depot and you can deal with them directly to have it safely packaged and sent to you.

A personalized painting can be a wonderful and meaningful gift for the recipient.

A phone conversation gives me a better understanding of what you are looking for because important details need to be discussed. This is time well-spent in order to make it a unique painting.

I can work with high quality photo reference material. If not available, I may need to take high resolution photos to work from. As I work on your painting, I will send you progress shots so you can see how it is coming along. If a change needs to be made in oil or acrylic, I can make a minor modification in the early stages, which is not as easy to do with watercolour.

The first question always is "What does it cost?" and my answer is always "It depends".

I need to find out what you have in mind, what size, and how complicated the painting will be. Do you want a painting on watercolour paper? Do you prefer acrylic or an oil painting? Is the piece going to be framed eventually or done on thick canvas that doesn’t require framing? And, of course, when do you need it?

Once we have figured out the answers to important questions I can set the price plus HST. I require a 30% downpayment and a signed contract and we can get started on the project. The downpayment and final payment can be made by e-transfer and then we can sort out how you can receive your finished painting.

I offer drawing and painting lessons for adults especially those who have been waiting for free time or retirement so they can start. I conduct art classes in my studio classroom in my home as well as private instruction and I can be booked by phone or email to present a workshop day here or at another location.

I often work with a group to organize a day-long workshop. For instance, it could be entirely focussed on a painting medium or on a topic of interest. Perhaps the purpose is to refine drawing ability with guided exercises to sharpen perception. I can bring physical objects to class as well as photographs so we can examine and analyze relative sizes and negative spaces and other principles to enhance drawing skills.

I also offer watercolour workshops and if it is a one-day session I can direct the participants so that we can each complete a painting by the end of the session. This is true for an acrylic/oil workshop as well. We can refine a particular skill of interest and integrate it into a guided painting or into your individual student work.

I offer a series of courses (drawing, watercolour, or acrylic/oil) which are five or six weeks long where we can build on a series of skills over time through in-class exercises culminating in more finished paintings. I will select a group focus or participants can decide what they want to work on individually and I will provide coaching and encouragement. Course classes are typically two hours long each week and I usually assign homework exercises to be brought in for examination and discussion the following week.

I can conduct these courses in my studio classroom here in Hubbards or move to an alternate location if an existing group wants to meet elsewhere in my local area.