Monica To

Born and raised in the Edmonton area, TO came to Vermilion in 2004 to teach art to teens and has resided there since. She arrived armed with a love for art, working with children, her Art Minor and a Bachelor of Education degree. Her formal art training comes from the University of Alberta and Red Deer College, and is deeply influenced by two mentors and fellow Alberta artists—Sandra Miller and the late Lawrence Kenakin. TO’s artistic endeavors are drawn out in the classroom, workshops, in commission work, and art shows and exhibitions. Her body of art is a variety of charcoal, pencil, paint, and printmaking, revealing her Jack-of-All-Paints experimental spirit. TO’s collection of work also captures subjects and styles of all sort—nature, nudes, people, pets, cartoons, calligraphy, abstract, photorealism; her refusal to commit to one topic or style makes it entertaining to try and pinpoint amongst others which pieces are hers.

Aside from art, TO adds color to her life with her husband and son by searching for the balance between mindful and fast-paced living, dining at mom-and-pop restaurants, fishing, seeing and smelling the Rocky Mountains, woodworking, living out of a suitcase, snowboarding, kittens, trying to convince people that she’s a grownup, fantasizing about race-car driving, laughing once a day until she cries, and being around her favorite people.