Lydia Knox

Biography
Lydia Knox believes in the power of magic, spirituality, and follows her unique perspective as an artist and a witch, into the world of magical impressionism. Born in Parkdale, a colourful multi-cultural neighbourhood in the southern part of Toronto. Lydia attended York University and studied creative writing, art, and literature. She graduated on the Dean’s list with a BA in English Literature. At the time she had returned to the university a single mother and through sheer determination focused on living a creative life. She has worked as a manager of an on-line psychic site, she has written daily astrology, and she grew up learning how to arrange flowers in her grandmother’s flower shop.



“Reality is only a construct,” she is fond of saying, and through her spiritual life, and her art, she breaks the boundaries of what is considered reality. Everything Lydia paints is seen through the spiritual lens of a witch, and if that makes you uncomfortable, she feels she has done her job. Dark goddesses, humanized angels, forest spirits, shadowy creatures make their way through her artistic sensibility. There is also a focus on social events and how they become part of our experience in the now. Lydia knows what it is like to be an underdog. When she was young, she struggled with body image, dyslexia, and bullying. Lydia came from a poor working-class community. Her neighbourhood friends were from indigenous families and immigrants. Her family’s backyard faced a tavern, and she witnessed the damage an addiction to alcohol and drugs played on its victims.



She is ready to fight the good fight, her brush tells a story, a passionate allegorical tale of what it is like to struggle and to rise above circumstances. Her art themes hones in on key issues, shining a light on bigotry, environmental issues, and body consciousness. Lydia is an LGBTQ+ ally, and a supporter of those who struggle with mental health issues. She holds dear a quote by Nina Simone; “It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times we are in.” Lydia’s art is a form of magic, it holds the energy she puts into it, and her magic shines out, opening the door to a new way of seeing.



Lydia has won two best of show awards, The Love and Light show in The Barn, Thornbury, Ontario in 2016 and in the New York City Conception Art show in February 2021. She has participated in various juried shows, namely the Paint Ontario show in Grand Bend 2020 and the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts in 2021. Currently her painting of Raphael has been shortlisted in the Art of the Matter show for Diabetes Canada in cooperation with the Art Gallery of Ontario.



Lydia Knox resides in the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada, where she works as a full-time artist, owner of three wonderful dogs, with her beloved husband (her assistant, tech guru, frame specialist and all around cheerleader) and is involved in the creative community of nearby Owen Sound.