Ottawa's katerina mertikas - Ottawa At Home

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The winter scenes, so often depicted inher art, may be inspired by her impressionsupon moving to Canada from Greece as achild. “I am much more of a winter personthan a summer person – I like to paint snowand rain,” says the vibrant painter who findssummer too calm. “The moodiness of a thunderstormis inspiring. I like the turbulence ofweather in my work.”The artist’s well-recognized work wasbest summed up by an attendee at a recentgallery showing, who was overheard commentingthat every good Canadian homeshould have at least one Mertikas. And thisstatement makes Katerina’s generous contributionof her talent to UNICEF even moresignificant.In 1993, her design was chosen as thecover for the UNICEF Christmas card,which sold out internationally for severalyears. Katerina continues to provide imagesfor UNICEF, in addition to other children’scharities such as The Juvenile DiabetesFoundation, The Children’s Aid Society inOttawa and Toronto, as well as a numberof hospitals, including the Children’s Hospitalof Eastern Ontario.“After my grandson Christo was admittedto CHEO three times in his young life for minorillnesses, I donated a lovely hockey paintingto the emergency department to thankthe staff,” declared the youthful grandmother.To learn more about this philanthropic artist,Ottawa At Home was welcomed into herHunt Club Park home, where she discussedher work and personal style.above: The artist shares a moment with her grandsons at a recent gallery showing.below: Turbulent weather is a favourite topic.How would you describe your personalstyle? My home is traditional and my paintingsare what they are; they’re bright andtake up a lot of wall space. My works havenothing to do with colour matching – theybrighten and liven up any room.When did you start painting? I have beenpainting all my life! Art was my favouritesubject and as a teenager I would preferpainting over going out. As I got older, likemost artists, I dabbled in all types of mediumsand styles. But it happened to be apainting of two girls pulling a toboggan inthe woods on a snowy night, which caughtthe eye of a gallery owner and subsequentlymy first customer. The girls represented mydaughters at the time.You are very generous and share yourtalents with so many charities. What inspiresthis compassion? My grandmother inGreece, whom I was named after, instilled in10 | oah | september/october
me at a young age, the importance of giving.I would like to be able pass this on to mygrandsons. I want them to have an appreciationfor art and to leave, as my legacy, a familywith a love for art and the desire to helpothers less fortunate, through any means possible.I feel fortunate to be able to earn a livingdoing what I love doing and to also usemy work to benefit others.Why does your work focus so much onchildren? As a mom, I have great respect forchildren. We have two daughters, Loukia andGina. Both are married and we now have twograndsons, Christo and Dimitry (named forhis maternal grandfather). I know that happychildren basically make for happy adults. Ilove to see streets with children playing outside,to hear their laughter and watch themkick balls and play.A dream of mine has been to illustratea children’s book. This September, Days totreasure. A Book of Seasons, written by AgnesBellegris and illustrated by me, will be availablefor sale.I love the strength of colour you have chosenfor your walls! How did you decide onthe colour scheme? I am not afraid of colourat all and I needed to choose a strong wallcolour as a back-drop for my own colourfulpieces, so the deep gold seemed to be theright choice and it works with all the coloursI use in my own pieces.Tell me about the purple we see so oftenin your work. Purple is the colour that I seesky and mountains as. Most of my work haspurple in it, not because I love purple, butbecause that is the right colour for what I seewhen I see those elements.In your home I see European inspirations.How much of your Greek heritage influencesyour decor? My whole house reflectsmy Greek heritage. I am very traditional. Inmy grandmother’s home in Greece, therewas a large buffet in the dining room filledwith china and crystal – we have the same.All our special occasion meals are in the diningroom.Where do you find furnishings toaccommodate your taste in Ottawa?I have bought many pieces from Thomasvilleby Cadieux. They came and helped me withthe décor about six years ago, but I am dueto do some redecorating again. That will haveto wait though – my two grandsons are hereall the time and now I am like a new momand gear my home and life around these twolittle guys!To view a selection of Katerina Mertikas’work, visit Koyman Galleries in Ottawa.WHAT’S BREWING?Morala Canada Trading Inc.is a leading Canadian commercialand domestic coffee equipmentdistributor. With a broad rangeof products and services. Ourshowroom and service staffwill address all your brewing needs.DOMESTIC MACHINESCOMMERCIAL MACHINESCOFFEE + TEASYRUPS + CONFECTIONSACCESSORIESMORALA CANADA TRADING INC428 Kent Street, Ottawa | 613.230.4452 | www.morala.comWhere body & soulmeet to liberate your sensesFull Day Spa Services & Alternative TherapiesCorporate, Bridal & Group Reservations Welcome177 First Avenue 613-567-7720 • www.glebespa.comseptember/october | oah | 11
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Page 3 and 4: Energy Star ®CertifiedHomesu p g r
Page 5 and 6: Breaking thebarrier of standardfire
Page 7 and 8: Peace.Dahn Yoga is aunique form of
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Ottawa's katerina mertikas - Ottawa At Home

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