Trisha Scarlett Milne is a watercolor artist who paints vibrant watercolors inspired by local scenes and people and places from other places she has lived.
A Comox resident now, Trisha has lived in the Comox Valley since 1981 where she painted in the Blue Door Studio on “Camp Road” in Cumberland from 2002 to 2005 as Trisha Scarlett Montague. In 2005, she went to teach in Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Myanmar and more recently, Mexico.
Returning to live in the valley, she now paints at Juniper Studio (Point Holmes area), a studio that she shares with her husband, James, a Tai Chi instructor. Her gallery is open by appointment.
Artistic expression has been an integral part of her life.Living outside New York City as a child, she visited museums and galleries regularly. She received formal art training during her university years and she has taught art and organized art events throughout her teaching career. Besides painting and drawing, Trisha has studied both weaving and sculpture. The fluidity of watercolour and the way that it could indicate a whole scene in a few expressive lines fascinated her from an early age. She loved the spontaneous work of Raoul Dufy as a child. When she was housebound with an illness in her 50’s, she began her watercolour career by faithfully practicing exercises from how-to-paint-watercolour books.
Later she took workshops from an number of provincial and international artists. She has studied with such artists as Nita Leland, Joyce Kamikura, Donna Baspaly, and Alvaro Castagnet. She continues to work with other artists, taking workshops from time to time. In Mexico she paints with Linda Kaufman and Efren Gonzalez. Her work can be divided into three separate categories: the work she did while in the Comox Valley living in Cumberland, the large body of sketches and a few finished pieces during her eight years overseas, and her more recent work of both Mexico and the Comox Valley. She has prints available of some of her work. She now operates a gallery in her home which is open by appointment.