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Creativity a necessity for local artist

Her job isn’t an easy one, though she can say that she does what she wants, when she wants to do it.
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Lake Cowichan artist Michaela Davidson holds up a fused glass piece during a weekend art show at the Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat

Her job isn’t an easy one, though she can say that she does what she wants, when she wants to do it.

“If I don’t do what resonates in myself, people will know,” local artist Michaela Davidson said last weekend, at an art show at the Honeymoon Bay Lodge and Retreat.

“You can’t fool people, and you don’t want to.”

One of the larger displays at the show, Davidson had watercolour and acrylic paintings, alongside slumped glass, fused glass, and other mediums.

“It’s just creativity,” she said, of the many mediums she works within. “I like to expand into different mediums. It keeps it down to a dull roar.”

One of the more unique mediums is the fused glass.

“It’s sealed layers of glass, fired at 2,000 degrees so it fuses together,” she explained.

With a Fine Arts degree at the University of Alberta, Davidson moved to Lake Cowichan 30 years ago.

She opened up a studio in town, and has now been doing it full-time for about 20 years.

“I never had a choice,” she said, of the career. “I just followed my passion. It doesn’t happen overnight. I treat it like a job.”

Her treating art like a job hasn’t taken the fun out of it.

She maintains the fun within doing art by choosing to do what she does, when she wants to do it.

With her husband Bob as a strong foundation, she’s even expanded her business into an art, framing, and gifts storefront in Duncan.

She even teaches watercolours at Vancouver Island Universities in Duncan and Victoria.

“They’re just a lot of fun. I love teaching. Everyone is given the same information, and it’s exciting to watch,” she said.

“Most of my students are really enthusiastic.”