One of North America’s leading modern impressionists, Toronto based artist, Danielle O’Connor Akiyama, is in a world of her own, which she calls her “place of inspiration and meditation.” Known for her multi-media, vibrant, floral pieces, her methodical processes and cultured influences are every bit as exuberant as her style.

Before putting paint to canvas, Danielle chimes a large bell over her workspace. She says that, “to cleanse the space, and cleanse myself, and cleanse the canvas, is only just preparing for the moment when you charge your brush with the paint, and lay it on to the canvas. And then it takes a life of its own. It’s just as much of a surprise to me, as to what is uncovered. ”

Danielle’s award-winning paintings fuse bright colours with floral subject matters and often have a watery effect. She says of her Dreamers series; “They seem to move and bend, you have a sense of water and sky, […] of fluidity and running, and a lot of movement. This particular piece seems to feel like it’s under water.”

This effect is created by the soft, acrylic paint, her loose style, and largely by the resin she pours over the top of her finished paintings, which sets to form a glassy surface. She explains that the inspiration for her Dreamers series was ignited by the Cadaquéys in Spain, “where Dali liked to paint because of the light, […] and the way the sea and the sky meet on that little peripheral edge on the horizon…this is where the Dreamers have come from.”

Danielle’s unusual method draws upon many of her personal life experiences; from teaching art therapy, to studying Sumi-E - Japanese brush painting. Her work has taken her on an exploration of the techniques of painting and the emotional releases beneath them. During her years as an art therapist, Danielle was able to encourage positive change in her patients through art, and she holds strong beliefs in the power and significance of each brush stroke. She now devotes all of her time to painting, but her knowledge of psychology still influences her work today; “the most important painting I’m ever doing is the one I’m just working on, and it’s the one that’s next in the mind that wants to come out.”

The composition of her pieces often express areas of stress – a concentrated cluster of flowers - juxtaposed with areas of space, light and colour, which she describes as the hope, and the release. As she puts it, “you have a profusion in one area, and then openness in another, and I use that purposely to have a place for the mind to rest, and a place to breathe.”

Danielle’s characteristic blend of eastern and western influences is evident, not only in the Japanese brushwork, but also in her subject matters; “bamboo strokes […] are really emblematic of my work – I grow bamboo in my garden and I have it in my studio.” The amalgamation of these styles makes her paintings highly collectable on both sides of the compass.

Much of the charm of these pieces comes from Danielle’s unique process, the energy and spontaneity of their creation. Moods are permanently captured under the resin, like pressed flowers in a book; their youthful vibrancy is preserved. “It’s a very exciting process and truly something that has kept me engaged for 35 years, and I anticipate it will continue.”

You can find Danielle’s original and printed works at the Lemon Grove Gallery in Reading, where they are currently being displayed.