Carollyne Yardley, BA

Raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Carollyne Yardley is a graduate of the University of Victoria Faculty of Arts & Science, where she completed a double major in Psychology and History in Art. Her academic concentration was on Consumer and Marketing Psychology and North West Coast Indigenous Art. She also completed two years in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Victoria, reinforcing her love for painting and conceptual design.

In 1997, she established a web design and software company called Star Global Advanced IT Corp. Ltd. "Being the founder, co-owner and creative director of a tech company for the past 11 years has provided me with a strong foundation in the visual communications industry," says Carollyne. "I view art and design as a process of thinking, creating, problem-solving and communicating."

Her artistic abilities emerged at a very young age - particularly in the form of painting, drawing and costume design. She was especially influenced by the "big-eyed" techniques employed by artists of the 1960s, such as Keane and Eden. Of her passion for fusing expression and colour, Carollyne says: "I love strong colour relationships. I'm driven by intuition in my work and that comes out in the expressive gestures of my subjects."

She cites a wide, ecclectic range of influences that inspire her work - not just Dali, Francis Bacon, the Surrealist movement, Raphael, Ingres and Botticelli, but also Lucille Ball, Elaine from Seinfeld, Wonder Woman, Elvis Presley, helicopter rides, as well as those squirrels that won't leave her yard. Carollyne admits to a guilty pleasure reading Star, Globe and Enquirer magazines. But only on weekends. She lives in Victoria, BC, with her husband.