Mary Guillaume     

                                   1936 – 2020

 

Mary will be remembered for her beautiful paintings, her warm and welcoming spirit, her eloquently written emails, and her generousity in mentoring other artists.  She was an original and key member of Uptown Gallery and served as our secretary then Chairperson for all her 14 years of its existence.  She was extremely organized and selfless in helping the gallery succeed.  

For over twenty years she organized and lead a group of senior artists who met at the 404 Wing twice a week on Dutton Drive in Waterloo.  She was recognized with a citation for her volunteering efforts.  Mary became secretary of the Central Ontario Artists Association (COAA) for a number of years.  She was tech-savvy and used this talent to design brochure entry forms for their juried shows.  She always enjoyed going to their yearly weekend seminars in Geneva, Ontario.

Mary painted what she loved most – scenes of water and rocks as she grew up in Sault Ste. Marie with the rugged coast of Lake Superior etched in her memory.  Mary’s great love besides her husband Lucien, her children Daniele and Kevin and her granddaughter Fiona, was cats.   They were featured often in her work.  

She travelled to Algoma yearly to take a week long class with her favourite artist instructor Gordon MacKenzie.  Mary was an award winning artist and her work has been accepted in many juried art shows.  Her paintings and ink sketches hang in private collections in North America and Europe.

She downsized a few years ago and held a sale to generously share her paintings at a greatly reduced price.  She donated 80% of the sales which was over $2800. to the Heart & Stroke Foundation. 

Thank you, Mary for all of your dedication and guidance to Uptown Gallery members and the artist community.  You will be greatly missed by all of us.