It’s no wonder Crystal Beshara is feeling a little giddy. She has just been honoured with a second grant from the renowned Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation which supports young artists working exclusively in realism.
The grant was awarded in recognition of a stripped down, incredibly personal series of her first ever self-portraits. These new paintings are but one aspect of this artist’s paradoxical body of work.
A visit to her crowded Ottawa studio would yield not only a glimpse of different mediums: oil, watercolour, pen & ink, pastel and pencil, but their accomplished use in works varying in style and subject from earthy, textural rural Ontario landscapes and detailed, English pastorals, to hot, saturated Southwestern scenes. While such variety demonstrates diverse skills, one thing remains Crystal clear – a true artist’s love of realism, rendered with passion and perseverance...