Meet Danielle Wezenbeek
March 2022
How do you write about a teen that is so talented yet still has so much life left to live?
I’ll start with my visit to her home for our chat.
I was welcomed in by her mum Cindy and met Dad too. A time had been arranged for my visit and in no time there was Danielle, peeking around the staircase corner inviting me to go and sit in her bedroom so we could talk.
Door closed, we chatted like old girlfriends, except Danielle is 16 and I’m, well, older.
It was almost as if there were invisible bubbles coming out of her as we talked. She has an effervescence about her that belies her shyness that one might usually see when she’s around people. But being a teen, that isn’t so unusual.
Danielle was born in Cold Lake AB and is now living in Greenwood NS with her family.
She began her art journey about three years ago but she told me she has always enjoyed painting since her early days of Kindergarten. Basically self taught through online videos, learning the basics of sketching, painting but also taking classes at 7Arts in Greenwood NS and at school.
Danielle recently had two art shows of her work. One at 7Arts and the other at the library in Berwick NS, such is the talent of this young one.
But those are just the basics. Trying to capture her smiles and giggles when I ask her questions, can only be done with a camera. A tilt of the head, a small move forward and adrift of those invisible bubbles is the only way I can describe how she is as she answers my questions or chats about her influences in art and the people she admires.
Danielle’s family is the first mention when I ask about the support and influence in her life. Her great grandfather was a sculptor and a cousin is artistic too. Her sister uses art in designs embellishing gateaux. Her art classes at school have also led her into exploring herself on paper. Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Salvidor Dali are a few of the artists that have inspired her and I’m sure there will be others as she gains more experience in her work and life.
She has a few of her works on her bedroom walls, she looks embarrassed when I ask about them. I chose one and asked her to describe her feelings when she painted it. It’s of a young person, walking with a sweatshirt, hood up but with the most stunning feature of the person having no face. It is a painting one would stop to look at in a gallery.
She answered that it was one of those moments that she felt sad, tired and ugly; wanting to be invisible to those around her. This is the most endearing point of this painting, if one should say endearing, as we’ve all been in that place at one point in our lives.
But Danielle doesn’t allow herself to stay in that past place when she’s remembering the emotions and before you know it, the bubbles are drifting again.
Her love for her grandmother in Mexico is so abounding when she speaks of her. She chats about the street art when she visits, colours and the overall beauty of the country. Danielle loves street art. Maybe that’s why she’s leaning toward animation in the future but this young lady also has plans to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and there doesn’t seem to be any boundary that will stop her from achieving and using her great gift of art.
I don’t want to leave this bright, effervescent bedroom. I could stay and chat forever with Danielle. I believe adults lose a lot when they don’t sit down and chat with young women, especially ones with the capacity to create artwork that is not only thought provoking but soulful. And of course there are always bubbles.
Joan Edwards
