Memet (Margaretha) Burnett
BSc (Biology) University of Alberta
MEDes (Environmental Science) University of Calgary
DVM University of Saskatchewan
Burnett’s artistic leanings began as a small child taking pottery classes with her mother and her hands have been filled with brushes, pens, crayons, sculpting and pin tools ever since. While getting her MEDes and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and subsequently raising her children, she documented her life by camera and film continuously, which developed her eye for detail and story. Her Masters in Environmental Design solidified a profound understanding of our place in the world, and studying and working as a vet gave her a unique understanding of and love for animal forms and psyches. Largely self-taught, Burnett has taken figurative drawing and painting classes with Bill Porteous and Noah Layne, sculpture classes with Megan Dickie, and ceramic sculpting workshops with such celebrated BC and international ceramists as Bob Kingsmill, Billy Rae Mangham, Elaine Brewer-White and Sarah Pike. Most recently she has been attending Watercolour Drop-ins under the gentle guidance of Dr Jean Maddison.
Burnett’s work is included in local, national, and international collections and has shown on the walls of local businesses. She has had pieces accepted into and sold through the juried Sooke Fine Arts show and shows regularly in juried shows at Metchosin ArtPod, where she is a founding member.
I am a ceramic and 2D artist living and working in Victoria and Metchosin, BC. I began working with clay alongside my mother as a teen in community studios in Alberta, and have taken ceramic workshops ever since. I have drawn, painted and sketched throughout this time. I have recently joined the Monday afternoon Watercolour group at ArtPod and continue to explore this new-to-me medium.
Academically, I pursued degrees in environmental design and veterinary medicine, and my love of animals and the natural world pervade my art.
I now make sculptures and decorative 2D art which tell stories. I am drawn to bright colours, and enjoy the vibrancy and immediacy of underglazes. I also enjoy the calm of a more muted palatte. Reading and research inspires many of my sculptures and artwork, as does writing, music and poetry.
I like to think of my 3d works as sculpted words; my 2D works as words manifest in imagery.
