Norene Smiley
Weight of the Sky
acrylic on canvas
24” x 48”
(collection of artist)
Location: O’Brien’s PharmaChoice, Water Street

Artist Information
Norene Smiley
Norene Smiley is a writer, artist, and filmmaker, concerned with the exploration of form and subject matter with a strong narrative content. She has created three short films, published two books for children and contributed to a number of anthologies. As well, since 2000 she has participated in many group and juried visual art shows with her watercolour and acrylic paintings. After graduating from NSCAD in the early 70’s, Norene worked in the book publishing industry. She has volunteered in the not-for-profit arts sector in writing and publishing, and visual arts, and served on the boards of many arts organizations and book award juries, provincially and nationally. She received the Halifax Mayor’s Award for Cultural Achievement in Literature in 2002.
Since moving to the village of Pugwash in 2007, Norene has been involved with community development and enrichment through organizations like Pugwash Communities in Bloom and Writing on Fire – Teen Writing Experiences. She received the Governor General’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers in 2019. She is a proud member of The Pugwash Artist Collective.

“I strongly believe in the benefits of challenging myself and in building community with like-minded artists to support and inspire. I look for opportunities to explore many mediums – acrylic, watercolour, film, fibre – for the pure enjoyment of learning, of discovering new ways to express ideas.”
Norene Smiley