- Portrait of a Swiss painter
“Art to me is to capture a moment, colours, the mood, light and shadows and bring them to the viewer.”
Born in the Swiss canton of Glarus in 1930 and raised in 
Zürich, Erika Déruaz childhood had been shaped by early attempts to create Art through painting and drawing. Besides working in the HR department for Swissair Erika took classes in clay modelling and started painting in oil colours. Accompanied by her husband and her daughter, Erika immigrated to Ottawa in 1966. She studied art at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa School of Art with a focus on Watercolour painting.
“After working in different media, my work is now mainly in watercolour because I enjoy the challenge of this medium. I like to experiment with colour and shapes, not only to study reflections, shadows, light and shade, but also to explore how to use colour to create different moods.“
Her first exhibition took place 1986, followed by different Group and Solo Exhibitions. Winning numerous prizes since 1987 two of her paintings inspired by Swiss sceneries were chosen as winning motifs by the prominent Ottawa Watercolour Society. In 1996 she won the Public Choice Award as well as the Guest Jurors Award, the latter which she also received in 1999. Last year she obtained the Wallacks/Windsor Newton Award for her artistic illustration of ‘Manhattan at Night’. Pieces of her art are housed in private and corporate collections in Canada, the United States and throughout Europe.
Two of the artist’s paintings belong to the City of Ottawa collection. Besides her successful painting career, Erika also taught art at the Visual Arts Center Orleans between 1996 and 2003. Erika’s work and inspiration come from different sources such as past experiences as well as her travels throughout France, Switzerland and the art treasure rich area of Tuscany.
Pieces of Erika Déruaz work are presented in the Rothwell Gallery 1718 Montreal Rd., Ottawa, year-round.
Contact information:
www.erikaderuaz.com and erika.deruaz@sympatico.ca
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