AirdrieLIFE::Where the Art Is

I was going through my portfolio and stumbled upon this article that was published in AirdrieLIFE magazine in 2008.  Though it wasn't the first time I was featured in a publication or even television, it was the first time to be featured in a local magazine and  one of great distinction.  I am still grateful to the writer of the article, Ellen Kelly, to the photographer, Kristy Reimer, and to the publisher, Sherry Shaw-Froggatt, as they all made me realize that interviews were just conversations and helped me to be comfortable in that area of my creative life.  They have all become dear friends.

     "Life's everyday comforts are the essence of Veronica Funk's art.  Her warm, colourful acrylic paintings of overstuffed sofas, wingback chairs, books, coffee cups and other familiar objects produce a welcoming, secure feeling that all is right with the world.
  Funk was raised in northern Manitoba - Leaf Rapids, the end of the road. 'When we first moved there,' Funk recalls, 'we had to take the train.  There was no road.'  As isolated as it was, Leaf Rapids had an amazing town centre that included a library and arts education centre.  'They brought in original artwork and artists, and poets would visit.  Lynn Johnson taught us how to cartoon.  I loved the arts centre.'
     As a child, Funk knew she was an artist, but her formal fine art education began in high school in Edson, Alberta.  'The Art program had a profound influence,' she says.  'I had a great teacher who really extolled the basic principals of art - to draw properly, pay attention to line, form, shade, colour,' she says.  'I learned more from her than from any teacher since.'
     Following high school, Funk attended Red Deer College where she was influenced by such artists as Mary Pratt and Robert Bateman.  'Artists would come and talk to us,' Funk recalls, 'and then after school they would come down to the little pub and sit with us all night and talk art.'  She says the mentors she has met on her journey have been wonderful.  'Artists are incredibly generous with their time and support,' she says.
     Funk has been a member of the Airdrie arts community for the past 10 years.  In 2005 she sojourned in Saskatchewan, living on a farm for ten months where she had the opportunity to explore mixed media with a focus on oils.  Besides painting, Funk is currently working on a quilt top, using one of her landscapes as a pattern.  She loves literature and reading and says, 'Doing research is a huge part of who I am.'  She belongs to the Alberta Society of Artists, the Federation of Canadian Artists and the Airdrie Regional Arts Society.  Her art has been displayed throughout western Canada, recently at Art and Soul Gallery in High River and locally at Benjamin's Coffee House and the Airdrie Public Library.  Funk says, 'Painting is my joy.  I tried to give it up for awhile but I was miserable.  My family said, 'You need to paint.' "