For artist Maureen McAuliff, painting is her life. Finally — it has been a long, circuitous path to becoming who she was always meant to be. This outgoing, energetic community asset finally realized her lifetime ambition to be a full-time visual artist when she happened upon the perfect home/gallery/studio in Merrickville. She purchased her dream location at 106 St. Patrick Street on October 4 in 2024, and with the help of friends and family, opened her gallery three days later to participate in the village’s annual Artists’ Studio Tour. She hadn’t yet unpacked her personal belongings. In less than three days she had become an active addition to the village’s already thriving arts community.
McAuliff’s art is exuberant. Her paintings vividly express her love of life; her art is her language. She says, “Art is my heart and my true passion. Every piece I create is an expression of my soul… the medium through which I navigate the complexities of existence.” Creating art for her is “a magical dance… a symphony of colours that brings my imagination to life…” The results are both intriguing and evocative.
In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, she initiated a new series of paintings. She was working crazy hours in an extremely stressful environment at a medical clinic, especially challenging since she is immune-compromised, and painting became her lifeline. In her ongoing “Vision Series,” each powerful portrait of a woman’s face emerges organically as Maureen’s instinctual response to writing inspirational words like “determination,” “courage” or “compassion” on the righthand side of her canvas. Then she lets her brush “flow over them abstractly, as though every letter could become colour.” She paints only the creative left side of the face. But it is the eye — focused, alive, riveting — that elicits a strong response to the energy and emotional intensity Maureen invests in each portrait.
Her other subjects, such as abstracts, florals, landscapes and townscapes, demonstrate her versatility and her ability to capture the essence of a scene. To her each painting is “…a song I can see… a place I want to remember forever… a feeling I wish to relive.
Art is her language of choice, but a look at her career path reveals a resourceful and determined survivor who found many creative ways to achieve her goals. One of five kids, Maureen was born in Germany where her dad was stationed with the Air Force, and moved to a French community in Gatineau when she was nine months old. She only learned English when she was sixteen years old. But she embraced art early, as her favourite photo of herself holding a colouring book at age five testifies. A talented artist neighbour and family friend, Yollande Morin, inspired her; two high school art teachers encouraged her; and she realized very early that she had found her calling.
Life started throwing her some curves, however. When a serious car accident badly damaged her legs at age 16, she couldn’t walk properly or participate in sports for several years, so she started painting murals. After graduation she got a job in a flower shop in Aylmer, and two years later opened her own shop, bought a car for deliveries, and opened a second shop in Pte. Gatineau. She learned how to run a business, but her injured knees kept her from standing to do floral design, and she dreamed of traveling, so she sold both shops.
Her next job — selling Teleflora memberships to flower shops — took her across Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. The company selected her to do their promotional floral design shows, and she also taught floral design at Algonquin College. Next she took a job with Yellow Pages where she learned marketing and received training in online sales. Eventually she ended up working in an ultrasound and obstetrics clinic, and during the extremely stressful years of Covid she basically had almost no time off. In 2023 she was finally able to retire and realize her lifetime goal of being a fulltime artist.
That’s just the business side of her life. Her personal life was even more frenetic. Her first marriage failed; she raised her son on her own; her major asset, her house, burned down at a huge financial loss; and she developed chronic heart trouble. Throughout she painted to preserve her peace of mind, her optimism, and her well-developed sense of humour. She began selling her artworks in 2009, and she has always been generous with her art donations to deserving organizations.
A Happy Beginning
Maureen McAuliff’s fortuitous purchase of the perfect-for-her artist studio and gallery at 106 St. Patrick Street in Merrickville is proving to be a wonderful move for both the artist and the village’s arts community. In less than two years, her energy, enthusiasm, passion and talents are enabling her to contribute to Merrickville’s well-established reputation as an arts destination. A prime example is her introduction of the annual summer season Merrickville Art Walk. On the last Thursday of each month from May through September, local artists transform Main Street West into an open-air creative experience, working live along the street, and inviting visitors to engage with their creative process. Local businesses find ways to participate, and the village further enhances its reputation as an arts destination. To see how Merrickville Art Walk artists “turn Main Street West into a living art gallery,” just go to her website at maureenmcauliff.com and click on Merrickville Art Walk, or visit Merrickville Art Walk on Facebook or Instagram (or better yet, in person!).
In that same short period of time, McAuliff has joined MAG (Merrickville Artists Guild), is a volunteer Chamber of Commerce Director, is part of the new project to erect the Village Victorian Clock in the centre of the village, and is on the board of the “Christmas in Merrickville” organization. As she puts it, “I’ve found my tribe!” She radiates happiness when she says her move to Merrickville “was the best decision I ever made!”
On the back of her Artist Trading Card at the top of this page she tells us this is Why she is an artist: “I create because I have always believed that a painting can hold what words cannot, like the soul of a moment, the colour of a dream, and the quiet courage to keep going.” It certainly works for her.
