My name is Penny Maday Ciochetti. I am a Canadian artist who lives on the wild west coast of British Columbia on Vancouver Island.  I am a painter  who works in acrylics, water color and mixed media.  But I also do glass, wood and metal work in various forms and I love drawing , photography and printmaking. Inspired by my Italian heritage and my time in Florence, I am learning how to do Italian lime stone frescoes.

I have an insatiable curiosity about the world, learning new things and advancing my skills and  my craft. I started as a child,then studied at university, but my learning has never stopped. I hope to instill this same curiosity, freedom and exploration in the classes and workshops I teach.

My work comes from the heart. Art has saved me, it fuels my life, it is my passion and my joy.

In the words of  artist Ai Wei Wei: " Art is not an end but a beginning " or as Sherman Anderson puts it :

" The object of art is not to make salable pictures. It is to save yourself alive. Most people remain all of their lives in a stupor. The point of being an artist is that you may live."

And so I begin, again and again, saving myself alive.

I describe my work in this way:

 My style marries representational images with strong abstract elements. Color, the play of paint, line, the magic between dark and light are a focus. Themes such as sacredness, love, loss, hope and transformation inspire me. I use symbols from nature, ancient cultures and my own inner world to tell a story.