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Laurel (Laurie) Cormack

Colourful abstract landscape painting depicting a clear-cut mountainside with vibrant red, orange, green, and blue brushstrokes.

Painting

Laurel Cormack Professional Artist (Retired) · Dip | BFA · Class of 1986 | 2025

laurelcormack.ca

The inspiration for my paintings comes from my deep love for the Canadian landscape, both as a visual artist and as a hiker of our beloved Canadian wilderness. Regionalism is at the heart of my work, and for the last several decades, Canada’s fragile ecosystems have been of deep concern to me. As an artist, using bold and vibrant colour to convey the passion I feel for this subject, I strive to capture not just the beauty of our natural world, but the urgency I feel to protect those wild and pristine places that have given me so much.
After graduating with Distinction in 1986, when ACA was not yet a degree-granting institution, I doggedly pursued a BFA degree at various universities, colleges and online. Finally, in May of 2025, just one month short of my 90th birthday, I achieved that goal!
I was included in the stable of artists of Virginia Christopher Galleries in Calgary, Gallery on Whyte (later known as Bugera/Kmet Gallery) in Edmonton, Art Works Gallery in Vancouver, and The Gallery in Banff, and enjoyed a successful career as a professional artist.
My paintings are generally large-scale oil or acrylic and have been featured in many solo and group exhibitions across Canada, and my works are in public and private collections throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia.
25 years in Calgary included membership with Burns Visual Arts Society, where our studios were in the historic Neilson Building on Stephen Avenue Mall.
I’ve served on public art gallery boards in Calgary, Alberta and Penticton, BC.
My teaching career was a highlight I’ve always enjoyed and included Extension Department painting courses at Alberta College of Art, my self-designed and popular Wilderness Painting course at Alberta College of Art, Red Deer College summer workshops, City of Calgary Adult Extension Painting courses, and painting courses at North Island College in Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
Trips x 4 to Yukon’s Arctic Institute of North America were epic.

Mt. Rundle, Banff, AB Acrylic on Canvas 54” x 72”
The Three Sisters/Murphy’s Law (Grizzly) Acrylic on Canvas 60” x 96”
Mt. Rundle/Murphy’s Law (With Artist) Acrylic on Canvas Each panel 30” x 55”
Totem lV - The Bow River Acrylic on Canvas 60” x 96”

Laurel (Laurie) Cormack's Work

Laurel (Laurie) Cormack's Work Abstract landscape painting of Mount Rundle with bare trees, dark blue mountains, and a patterned cream sky.
Mt. Rundle, Banff, AB Acrylic on Canvas
54” x 72”
Laurel (Laurie) Cormack's Work Large landscape painting of the Three Sisters mountains reflected in a lake beneath a vibrant golden sky.
The Three Sisters/Murphy’s Law (Grizzly) Acrylic on Canvas
60” x 96”
Laurel (Laurie) Cormack's Work Photograph of the artist standing beside a four-panel landscape painting featuring Mount Rundle and bold red abstract sections.
Mt. Rundle/Murphy’s Law (With Artist) Acrylic on Canvas
Each panel 30” x 55”
Laurel (Laurie) Cormack's Work Colourful abstract painting of a forest scene with tree trunks, dense foliage, and expressive brushwork.
Totem lV - The Bow River Acrylic on Canvas
60” x 96”

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