Tatiana Anderson – Artist

(1944 – 2023)

Tatiana (or as she was known by many, Tat, Tanya, or often, Kaksi) was a teacher, dancer, fitness instructor and pianist, but above all a true artist with a character and personality that engaged all who met her.  She was born in Saldus, Latvia on August 8, 1944 a few months before the Soviet army invaded. The family fled by ship through the Baltic to Germany, staying in refugee camps until 1949 when they voyaged on the RMS Samaria to Canada to start a new life, eventually ending up in Fort William, Ontario (now part of Thunder Bay).

Tat was born with a pencil and paint brush in her hand. In her words: “I paint and draw because it is a part of me and my continual urge to explore the images unfolding in my mind, peeling away the onion skins of my psyche layer after layer”.  By the time she left high school she knew her calling and studied art at the University of Minnesota.  After graduation, she taught art in high schools in Kingston and Fort William, before moving to Vancouver to study for a Master’s degree in Art Education at UBC under Sam Black and Gordon Smith.

Throughout her life, art was sometimes briefly put aside to raise her children or teach fitness to adults. For over 15 years she ran her own adult fitness program in Vancouver where she made lifelong friends and developed an enormous collection of eclectic music to supplement and aid her classes. Her music and art studio in the back garden of her house produced a large body of work with which she rarely parted.

In later life, she reconnected with her native culture, and revisited Latvia several times. For over 20 years, until her illness prevented her, she also spent part of every winter in her beloved Hawaii. And everywhere her travels took her, a pencil, paint brush and camera accompanied her. She continued to produce her art in various studios around Vancouver until the last stages of her life.

While pancreatic cancer slowed her body, throughout her treatment she maintained her strong will and artistic temperament. She remained to the end feisty, determined, full of wry humour and a sharp wit. Tatiana died peacefully at the Vancouver Hospice on May 13, 2023.