Artist's Biography

Ana Bettencourt Tirolese born on the island of São Jorge, Açores (Azores), Portugal. She was born on February 19, 1962 to Liduina (nee Silveira) and Vasco Bettencourt, in her maternal grandparents' home, in the village of Ribeira Seca. She immigrated to Canada in 1967 and has lived most of her life in Canada. She can still speak, read, and write some Portuguese, but English is her main language of communication.

Ana enjoys creating portraits. She garners real pleasure in capturing the likeness of her subjects.
Drawing and creating art for all her life, Ana studied fine art first at BealArt (London, ON) then at York University (Toronto) and graphic design at George Brown College (Toronto). Ana worked as a graphic designer, illustrator, art director, and web designer for many years before going back to her first love of fine art and portraiture.

The techniques Ana uses are a crafted blend of personal study derived from books, methods used by other artists, and her own creativity and sense of drawing. She has a passion for realism and strives to create it at every opportunity.

Ana also has an enthusiasm for teaching and conveying her knowledge of art techniques. She really enjoys watching students develop their talents and producing beautiful pieces of work.
Ana was drawn to coloured pencils after the birth of her son, Alexander. She wanted a medium that would allow versatility but would not mess up the walls and furniture by little fingers. The more she worked the pencils, the more she fell in love with them. She was intrigued by the versatility and luminescence of the medium. Coloured pencils allow her to combine the eloquence of painting with the control of drawing.

Ana's favourite medium is coloured pencil; however, she also works in graphite, charcoal, pastel, and acrylics.