Gabrielle Strong completed her BFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, BC. Her practice is split between paintings, ceramics and public art. Prior to attending Emily Carr, she spent five exciting years travelling to over 70 countries on all seven continents by sea on a luxury cruise-liner, leaving her with a deep connection to the ocean. Those years at sea left their mark and coupled with twenty years living on the Pacific West Coast, she is forever drawn to themes of water and reflection, which occur throughout her art practice.

Inspired by the beauty of big monochromatic moody skies, through her paintings Gabrielle seeks to capture the quiet sense of calm those overcast days evoke. Primarily working in oils, she is always searching for the moment the veil is lifted, revealing a glimmer of light on the horizon. Having recently relocated to the Okanagan Valley, her paintings rely on the ephemeral quality of memories to inform her brushstrokes, leaving the impression of a place rather than a literal representation. Through wet into wet techniques, she uses mist, rain and fog to further obscure the distant shores leaving any detail just slightly out of focus.