My name is Jolanta Kędra and I am a self-taught hobby painter, photographer and crafter. My painting journey started in 2015 and my photography adventure in 2020. I focus on the sunnier side of life and look for beauty and awe anywhere and everywhere. My inspiration comes from my immediate surroundings. I don't travel much and far anymore but I love backroad driving, hiking and exploring our vast and beautiful Saskatchewan. Being a member of Prairie River Artists, Saskatoon Camera Club and CARFAC Saskatchewan lets me expand my artistic quest beyond my own studio. I don't like to keep my art works to myself, so I participate in any art shows and events I can as well as present them via my social media accounts. Lots of my creations were given away, sold at below the cost prices or donated to charity auctions or fundraisers. Many of my photographs can be found on free sharing platforms such as Pixabay, Pexels and Paint My Photo.
I grew up in a small village, south of Cracow, in one of the most picturesque mountain ranges of Poland called Beskid Wyspowy. I have always been a bit of a dreamer and as a youngest of five kids, I usually got away with not helping around the small farm as much as my older siblings had to. I filled my days with reading, drawing and wandering around the neighbouring woods and creeks. One of my elementary school teachers encouraged me to pursue the education in art but... at that time; it was something completely out of my reach. Poland then was a different country than it is now. Although Poland was more of a socialist than communist state, it was under Soviet influence and things were rather grim politically and economically. I left my homeland in 1988 and seeked a new life in Canada.
The everyday life, work and family kept me busy in my younger years and my artist dream resurfaced sometimes as a thought that painting would be my retirement project. However, in 2015, I was not planning to retire, on the contrary, I had to pull all my survival skills to get over a life bump. Perhaps, looking for ways to cheer myself up, I bought a cheap charcoal sketching kit. For most people this would mean nothing but for me this charcoal kit took me all the way to my childhood when I was dreaming about such stuff, but could not lay my hands on it. One day, my adult son saw my charcoal doodles and pep talked me into taking them further.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VISITING AND PLEASE COME BY AGAIN!
It is never too late to start a new show,
find a different route, give it one more go.
It is never too late, at the misfortune station,
hop on the last train and reach the dream destination.
(author unknown translated from Polish by Jola Kedra)
