About Me
My name is Jaime Brash and I am a passionate artist originally from Invermere BC Canada. I dabble in a number of different mediums, including collage, acrylics, oils, watercolours, and pottery, but my most recent passion is scrapbooking. That is why I call myself the Industry artist-because I enjoy all of the different industries within the art industry!
Like most artists I find myself bursting at the seams with creativeness and am always looking for new and inspiring ways of channelling this energy. As a young child I felt these same passions and at the age of 15 I began attending Shawnigan Lake Boarding school on Vancouver Island where I obtained exceptional art instruction, and had access to endless art supplies. This allowed me to experiment with a broad range of mediums that I would have otherwise never had the opportunity to try. After graduation I attended Queen’s University in Kinston Ontario where I received a BA in Geography specializing in Pedology (dirt!!). To this day I have never worked in my qualified field, but I did continue with my art by teaching children’s art classes for 4 years and displaying my artwork in surrounding galleries.
My style took a drastic transformation when I became legally blind at the age of 22 due to complications of Type 1 Diabetes. I began painting with my hands and using texture to help guide my way around my canvas. Most of my paintings contained only two colors which had to be contrasting (I could still see shadows). My subject matter varied, but my interest was primarily with the human form in action.
Not having my vision was at times liked being in a claustrophobic space without any room to breathe because I felt so limited in the ways I could express myself. I found myself dreaming of the richness in the colors I could remember in my mind’s eye and began exploring new ways of being creative. After 19 eye surgeries over two years I was able to regain some sight, but was still considered legally blind. In desperation I researched and joined a clinical trial for curing Type 1 Diabetes in Edmonton Alberta called Islet Cell Transplantation . So, off I went to Edmonton where I lived across the street from the University of Alberta Hospital and waited 10 months for my first donor and another 3 months for my second (they infuse the cells from two cadavers into the liver). All went well and I was officially insulin free (cured) for eight months, but soon my kidney disease worsened from the immuno-suppression and consequently my cells died causing me to begin using Insulin again. However, that small window of controlled blood sugars over those eight months helped the blood vessels in my eyes heal and repair themselves. I am happy to say that I am now able to drive, read and best of all-CREATE!!
So, who would I be without that story? At first it seems a bit depressing, and don’t get me wrong, those were some rough times. But I became who I am today, a passionate artist who can fight through almost anything! Every color I see is taken in with gratitude unimaginable to most and my job now is to pursue my creativity full throttle! Some days I comment to my family that I don’t think there is enough time in the world to create all of my ideas! Art is my smorgus board and I plan on getting in all I can!
Currently I reside in Cold Lake Alberta where my partner Jeremy works in the oil industry. We are both avid travellers and every moment of time off goes to travelling the world. I have visited nearly 40 countries at the age of 31 and plan to reach 50 countries by the time I am 40 years of age and another 100 countries before I leave this earth! All 7 man-made and natural wonders of the world are on that list!
I have been on a pancreas transplant list for the past 4 years and am very fortunate to have controlled my kidney disease so as of yet I do not require dialysis or a kidney transplant. All of this waiting gives me ample time to use my art as a form of therapy and I truly believe it is one of the reasons I can remain positive through these medical adversities!
SO! With all of this time on my hands why don’t you let me do the creative research and revisit my website for regular tips, techniques and inspiration! And if you live in the area I would love to meet you in person at one of my scrapbooking workshops. Thank-you for reading my story and I hope you leave this site feeling inspired and ready to JUST MAKE IT!!!!
Sincerely,
Jaime Brash