Lynda Schneider Granatstein was born in Montreal in 1954. She began her studies in art at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1967-1970) with Arthur Lismer, a member of the Group of Seven, continuing with Concordia University (1972, 1980) and the Saidye Bronfman Centre (1976-1979, 1987-1989), where she specialized in etching techniques and collagraph printmaking.

Concurrently, she received a B.A. (Psychology) in 1976 and a Master’s in Education (Psychological Counselling) in 1979 from McGill University and continued with a specialization in Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy at the Montreal General Hospital in 1980. Her professional development studies include photo etching technique with Doreen Lindsay, S.B.C. (1993), and pastel and oil portrait technique with Daniel Greene, N.A., New Jersey (1996), as well as traditional Balinese painting technique by Ubud master painter, Ketut Parmita, of Bali (2001).

Past training as a psychotherapist and a keen interest in Freudian theory have guided her on the path to introspection through the aesthetics of beauty. Her love for the feminine form, and her unique way of expressing it, stem in part from a close collaboration with the Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal for the past 15 years. Other elements from her experiences and travels make up important components in her compositions: the atmosphere backstage and in the rehearsal studio, details from Italian architecture, still lifes of florals and personal artifacts, intimate home interiors and, of course, portraits of people she has a fondness for. She is most assuredly figurative, her drawing skills forming the backbone of her work.

Extensive artistic study allows Lynda to give free rein to explore other forms of expression such as stream of consciousness writing which is incorporated through handwritten text in her work. Her mixed media work combines various uses of metal and collagraph plate etchings, all forms of paper collage, as well as oil and pastel. The resulting maturity renders her art rich, bright, colourful, lively—always at the service of beauty and introspection.

Many years of teaching and countless exhibits, trips and collaborations eventually led her, in 2010, to a solo show in Florence, Italy, a city she had always revered. For two months in the fall of 2011, she was invited as an artist in residence at the prestigious Leighton Artists’ Colony at the Banff Centre, creating alongside international artists from various media. Moved by the beauty of the setting, it was in Banff that she began integrating landscapes into her repertoire.

With over 20 solo shows across Canada and internationally, more than 100 group and juried exhibitions, Lynda has given interviews on television (PBS New York), radio and in print. Other credentials include lectures at the Saidye Bronfman Centre, the McCord Museum, McGill and Concordia Universities, as well as her collaboration with emerging ballet companies in creating costumes and sets, and even being a cast member in a dance short film, Ondek, by Ondek Productions, Liberamae Performance and Films.