In this minimalist portrait by Vancouver artist Pat Service a woman wearing gray pants, sneakers and a short black parka, fur-trimmed hood concealing her identity walks away from the viewer. On her arm, a bright red purse is held—a pop of colour against the robin’s egg blue background. Service is a colourist and using glazes and layers of paint she maximizes the intensity of colour.

“Combining thin washes of pale colour punctuated with saturated colour and an active graphic element; I aim to achieve maximum expression with minimal means.” Pat Service

She acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of B.C. and later studied art at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Service’s work is held in private collections in North America, Britain, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.