Dana Cowie, born in Oakville, Ontario, in 1975 and raised in Hamilton knew she was an artist from a young age. She was raised in a family of creative makers and felt in her spirit she was born to paint. In pursuit of her passion for art, she moved to Toronto in 1994 to enroll in the art school at Central Technical School's Special Arts Program, where she specialized in painting and life drawing. During her time there, Dana had the privilege of learning from accomplished artists, including Michael Gerry, whose teachings greatly influenced her artistic development. Dana and her family settled in Owen Sound in 2018. Living in a smaller town has given the artist space to be inspired both by the natural landscape and the people. “It truly does feel like I’m immersed in Canadian culture.” Canadian lifestyle influences Dana’s work as she finds this subject matter calming and brings her thoughts to simple, joyful moments to cherish. In addition to painting her local environment, Dana also enjoys painting as much of the Canadian landscape as she sees and is inspired by. “Using an impasto, painterly technique in oil I create abstracted landscapes and figurative works. I live in a small town and am surrounded by nature, which is a great inspiration for me. Wherever I go, I see pictures that capture my attention and take them back to my studio to paint. My work is a culmination of years of painting practice using textural, expressionist marks. Using classical oils, I work instantaneously across my canvas, creating layers of colour that overlap as the image emerges through a technique that I’ve developed over years of my practice. The image emerges as both abstract and representational.” Dana's artwork, represented in galleries in Canada, United States, and England, has been displayed in various exhibitions across North America and the UK. Her work is globally collected and has been featured in publications like Style at Home Magazine, House & Garden magazine (UK), and Escarpment Magazine.