Shaped by the Sea

Permanent Collections

Colin Macnee Stewart Montgomerie George Noseworthy Heidi Oberheide Shawn O'Hagan Paul Parsons Helen Parsons Shepherd Rae Perlin Christopher Pratt Mary Pratt Barbara Pratt Wangersky Sharon Puddester William B. Ritchie Jean Claude Roy Gary Saunders Reginald Shepherd Lise Sorensen Gerald Squires Janice Udell Peter Walker Arch Williams Don Wright Previous artists...

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I find, of course, great pleasure in my painting. I also find a tremendous source of satisfaction in teaching students, particularly young children. The spontaneous enthusiasm of children can produce some tremendously exciting artistic creations and I find that children respond rapidly and productively to my teaching.
- Lise Sorensen, 1980

From artist statement in Lise Sorensen exhibition publication, organized by Memorial University Art Gallery, 1980.

Lise Sorensen was born in Odense, Denmark, in 1941. When she was 10 years old her parents emigrated to Canada and settled in Oakville, Ontario. When she graduated from high school in 1958 she enrolled at the Ontario College of Art for a one-year course that prepared her for a year at the Arts Student League, New York. In 1965, Sorensen completed an honours diploma in fine arts at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, under the instruction of Arthur Lismer. Following graduation, she worked in Montreal and New England, exhibiting her works in several exhibitions.

Nude Child 1977 Charcoal 60.6 x 45.6 cm (32KB)

Sorensen moved to Newfoundland in 1975, settling in Woody Point, Bonne Bay. In 1977, she received a community artist in residence grant from The Canada Council and Memorial University Art Gallery, enabling her to concentrate on her drawing and painting of the Gros Morne area. The paintings that she produced were too large for her home studio so Sorensen rented a former Anglican church school as a studio.

Her extensive travels and painting expeditions to Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica and Greece have helped to develop her artistic sensibility.

Serpentine 1984 Oil on Canvas 76.5 x 123 cm (32KB)

Sorensen has exhibited widely and was part of the Cognac and Bordeaux Groups which exhibited in France in 1986 and 1992. She has also illustrated books including That Fine Summer, published by Jesperson Press in 1979 and Woman's Almanac, a 1989 Breakwater Book publication.

In addition to being part of the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador's Permanent Collection, Sorensen's artwork is part of numerous private and public collections including those of the Earth Sciences Department of Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.