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Scugog’s award winning illustrator, Pamela Meacher, recalls her parents couldn't keep her in paper when she was a young girl. website: www.focusonscugog.com FOCUS. JAN.07.82pqs.indd 3 Port Perry resident, longtime artist and inau- gural member of the Lake Scugog Studio Tour, Pamela Meacher is glowing with delight at the bronze medal she has been awarded for illus- trations in wher first book, “Emily’s Enchanted Guardian: The book, published in February 2006, was entered into the First Annual Moon- beam Children’s Book Awards in Chicago on November 3rd. The event honoured more # than 850 of the best children’s books, authors and illustrators from across Canada, USA and overseas. “Tm incredibly proud of my book,” says Pamela, because at age 30 she discovered her life-long com- munications problems to be dyslexia. She had struggled for many years to overcome a tendency to see and write in “mirror writing.” As a result, a young Pamela submerged herself in art and dance. “My parents couldn’t keep me in paper,” she shares with a chuckle. For 15 years, ballet took precedence in her life. Pamela was successful at two entrance exams for the Royal Ballet Academy in England - one at age 8 (when too young, in her parents’ view) and again at age 14, but the distance from her new home in Canada was too great. So, Pamela went on to study ceramics in Mon- treal, oil painting in Ottawa and life studies in To- ronto. She spent years creating large oil canvasses before switching to the delicate botanically-styled ae native flora she’s so well-known for. It was only after a 5-year hiatus raising her two sons, Steve and David, that she picked up pen and ink instead of paintbrush and palette knife. “I started drawing, then added the water colour and dropped the ink,” she explains. ‘Tm happiest with these fine, tight paintings that I create , (a Her ‘husband, Robert has always been her greatest supporter as she moved from the “reclaimed bedroom/studio” to the bright, airy space that she’s occupied for the past 11 years. “We were des- J tined to move to Port Per- J ry when we left Richmond. Hill in November 1996,” says Pamela with a twinkle in her eye, “because I was already booked for the Kent Farndale Gallery the following April. That made for such a wonderful introduction to the commu- auens 3 A Pamela has also leveraged her experience, chairing a multi-cultural organization in North York as well as an arts organization in Richmond Hill, into a 10-year stay on the Canadian Wild- flower Society’s board and membership in the Bo- tanical Artists of Canada and American Society of Botanical Artists. Please turn to page 6 FOCUS - JANUARY 2008 3 veer07 sss25ee |