REDVERS — As a young child Cheryl Andrist loved receiving colouring books and art supplies from her grandmother at Christmas and for her birthday. Her grandma also had an artist’s talent but never pursued it. Andrist’s mom was also a talented artist, and she also never went into the field of art.
Andrist’s parents ran a grocery store and meat shop in Estevan and this kept her busy. There never seemed to be enough time in the day for her to follow this art talent that she had.
During her school years, Andrist struggled with some health issues and due to this needed to repeat a grade as she had missed too much of the school year. She continued to draw and grew to love art more each day.
Graduating from the Estevan Comprehensive School, Andrist married her now late husband, Robert Andrist. They had two daughters, Carren Kerr and a younger daughter Britta Andrist.
While she raised their daughters, Andrist worked part-time in Estevan, helped on their farm, and did the farm books. This did not leave time for her to go to college or university.
“My husband was very supportive of my art and encouraged me to go to college,” said Andrist. In 1999 she went back to college in Estevan and when she finished, she went to the University of Regina for her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Visual Degree with Distinction and did a major in print making. She also took a minor in history.
Andrist now lives in Redvers and just completed her third year at the Moose Mountain Provincial Artist Colony, and she is still going strong with her art. She has many forms of art that she does, but one is unique and interesting to all who see it.
She does oil paintings on canvas, watercolour, 3D fabric and wood carvings. The wood carvings are made from driftwood that she finds along the way. Andrist refers to them as her Whimsical Houses or Habitats.
Each wooden piece has a great deal of detail, taking her five days to complete, working on them for five to six hours a day. She then sands and varnishes them, which takes another four hours. She uses Olaf cutters and art craft knives, plus a small set of carving tools.
Her house is filled with art that she has done in the past. And she continues to create new pieces all the time. She often will lie in bed and produce an idea, and she will immediately get up and take notes so as not to lose her train of thought. “My mind never quits thinking about what could be done next,” she said.
She plans to keep going with her passion if she is able too. It is also her hope to return to the artist colony next year. This is something that needs to be applied for each year. In the meantime, Andrist will keep painting and carving to fill her days.
