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<\/p>\nKeight MacLean, a Toronto-based painter, has always used social media to display her beautiful artwork. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of her sales moved online and it became harder to manage enquiries through emails or direct messages (DMs). That\u2019s when Keight signed up for the ShopHERE Powered by Google Program to create a professional online store that made selling easier. Now the only thing she has to think about is painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Keight has made art all her life, graduating from an Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) and the school\u2019s Florence Program where she spent a year in Florence, Italy studying the Old Masters first hand. After graduating she decided to become a fine artist full-time and pursue it as a career. \u201cInspired by my time studying the Old Masters, my paintings combine the old with the new, reproducing historical portraits by hand before applying contemporary and experimental methods such as fluorescent spray paint, re-harvested artists\u2019 mediums and destructive techniques,\u201d explains the artist.<\/p>\n
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Keight\u2019s experience in Italy inspired a lot of her art: \u201cWith a love for European history, my focus on women was born after years of reading male-driven histories. My work now seeks to celebrate the many women in historical portraits, either without a name, known only in reference to their male relations or entirely unknown, giving a voice to the silenced.\u201d Through the new website, customers can browse collections such as Silenced, Gold or Drips, and even choose the size of the art piece.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Keight\u2019s work has been named \u201cBest of Painting\u201d at Toronto Online Art Fair 2020, and includes art pieces in collaboration with other artists like Moira Ness. She showcases her paintings on platforms such as Society6 and Artsy, and exhibits her work in art galleries such as Studio 22 as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Although Keight sold her pieces online before joining the program, she believes it provided her with the necessary tools to achieve a more professional look for her website.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Digital](\"https:\/\/digitalmainstreet.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/torn-painting-keight-225x300.jpg\")
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