About me

My name is Rebeka Darylin. I am a Newfoundland-born artist, who grew up in Charlottetown, PEI, then moved to Ontario. I began studying Graphic Design at St. Lawrence College in 2001. Chronic health issues prevented me from continuing, but my love of colour theory and visual communication remained strong. 

In 2019 I moved back to PEI, which renewed my desire to express myself through art as I explore my connection to this place.

I have been painting in acrylics since 2022, and in oils since 2023.

Artist Statement

I am an autistic queer person, who has been living with physical and mental disability for most of my life, and who has been “from away” in many places in North America. As a small child, I spent a year as an illegal immigrant in the US, which shaped my paradigms of home and belonging, and the vulnerability of identity. I acknowledge that the places I now live in, work in, and portray in my art are located in the traditional and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq.

As a result of my own experiences, my core values include compassion, inclusion, and diversity, especially as expressed through connection and belonging.

The scenes I paint exist in relation to spaces and times beyond what is shown on the canvas. What is on the other side of the hill, past the bend in the road, below the surface of the water? How has this place changed or stayed the same over the past 10, 100, or 1000 years, and what will happen here soon, or far in the future? When I feel a connection with someone who also immersed themself in that place long ago, or yesterday, or tomorrow – that is when I want to portray my own experience of that moment, to explore how painting can communicate both the changing and the enduring experience of a place.

I am inspired when I feel immersed in “sense of place” intertwined with “sense of wonder”, which I most often find in liminal spaces where different worlds coexist and shape each other – especially where the land meets the ocean. Coastlines that are never the same twice can come to feel as familiar and welcoming as home.

Artist Bio

I am an artist living in Murray Harbour, PEI, Canada.

Born in Newfoundland, I grew up in many places, but mostly Charlottetown, PEI. After moving to Ontario and working as a self-taught website designer, I enrolled in Graphic Design at St. Lawrence College (Kingston, ON) in 2001. The first year of that program emphasized the foundations behind colour and design techniques, practiced through traditional hands-on skills, because computer software was changing quickly but fundamental concepts of visual communication remain the same. 

Chronic health issues prevented me from completing the 3-year program, and out of frustration I set aside visual art practice for many years. However, I explored creative writing and textile arts, and published original knitting patterns. 

Moving back to Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island in 2019 (about 20 years later, with a spouse in tow – as one does) revived my desire to express my experience of this place through art. 

I kept expanding my skills in fibre arts, and learned traditional east-coast rug hooking from Glen Gosbee at PEI Community School in 2020. I have been working on hooking my own original images since 2023. 

Finally returning to fine arts, I first began landscape painting in September 2022 in acrylics, then tried oil paints for the very first time in July 2023, in the Traditional Glaze Oil class taught by Kathy Marlene Bailey.

The histories of the places where I put down roots, especially the history of communication and connection between places, are also meaningful to me, and I volunteered on the Board of Directors of Cape Bear Lighthouse and Marconi Station from 2020 – 2024. 

Since January 2023, I have also been teaching Knitting at PEI Community School of Murray Harbour.

Affiliations

2024 to present – this town is small, Prince Edward Island, Canada

2023 to present – Canadian Glaze Oil Society, Canada

Materials

I attempt to minimize the impact on the environment of making art:

  • I purchase my supplies locally as much as possible, especially from small businesses including Professional Art Products in Little Sands, and Blank Canvas Art Supplies in Charlottetown, PE.
  • I primarily use professional paints and mediums made by Gamblin (oil) and Liquitex (acrylic) both certified B Corps. 
  • I do not use toxic pigments and dryers such as lead, cadmium, and cobalt. 
  • I do not use turps, mineral spirits, or other toxic solvents. I dilute and change the consistency of my oil paints with linseed oil and Gamblin’s Solvent-Free Fluid medium, and I change the consistency of my acrylics with acrylic mediums and water.
  • I don’t put paint down the drain – I attempt to get as much paint out of my brushes as possible first by making random marks on blank canvases (giving me something to respond to when I start painting on that canvas), then blotting with recycled rags, then (for acrylics) finally rinsed in a container of water which I collect for flocculation and straining, to avoid putting dissolved plastics and pigments into the water system or ground.
  • Final clean up is done with water and biodegradable brush cleaner, hand soap, or dish detergent.
  • I am against “planned obsolescence” so I use archival materials and practices to ensure my original artworks will last for generations.
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