“At 40, I declared myself an Artist and it was the best thing I have ever done for myself” - Margaret
Bio
Margaret Lipsey is a self-taught abstract artist whose work explores the emotional spectrum through color, movement, and intuitive expression. Her creative journey began in 2000 while studying culinary arts in Vermont, where the sensory precision of cooking quietly laid the foundation for a lifelong relationship with color and form. After 15 years as a professional chef, she transitioned fully to painting, launching her art career in 2016.
Now based in Montreal, Lipsey’s work is rooted in emotional honesty and visceral rhythm. Her informal training is shaped by curiosity, sensitivity, and a deeply attuned inner world. Over the past nine years, her collections have evolved like seasons of self—each one revealing a new depth of color, gesture, or insight.
From the atmospheric calm of Serenity, to the grounded tensions of Borders Not Limits, to the kinetic energy of her Wild series, Lipsey’s work offers portals into the layered terrain of emotion. Her paintings do not seek to explain—they ask you to feel.
Margaret is represented by Cater Art in Montreal and continues to create from her studio in Montreal and in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Her work is collected internationally and has been featured in exhibitions, publications, and private collections across North America.
Artist Statement
My work is not about hiding—it’s about revealing. Each painting begins as a conversation between my body and the canvas, shaped by movement, breath, and emotional presence. I don’t map out what I’ll paint. I follow the energy, the resistance, the pull. My process is deeply intuitive, a form of embodied listening.
Over the past four years, my healing journey has transformed my relationship with both art and self. What began as a practice in color and gesture has evolved into something more vulnerable—an exploration of memory, longing, and the soft edges of becoming. I paint what I cannot always say out loud.
The works featured here reflect a progression of that journey. In Almost Completely Disappeared, I allowed softness and structure to co-exist. If You Can’t Keep Up With Me, You Don’t F**ing Deserve Me arrived in a moment of personal reckoning—its saturation and movement unapologetic, fierce. The Only Way Out Is Through carries the quiet authority of clarity earned through struggle.
All of my paintings begin with emotion, but they end in dialogue. They ask something of the viewer: to pause, to feel, to remember that tenderness is a kind of power.
To reveal ourselves—slowly, honestly, without needing to be understood all at once—is an act of creative strength. That’s what I paint toward.
Exhibitions
Art Sur Papier, Galerie Erga, June 2025
Prelude, Cater Art Gallery, May 2025
Momentum, Women’s Art Society of Montreal, May 2025
She, Cater Art Gallery Montreal, March 2025
The Language of Abstraction, Conversations with Artists, online March 2025
The Deepest Hue, Cater Art Gallery, Montreal February 2025
Creativity, EK Voland, Montreal 2024
Noir, Wall Candy Ottawa 2023
Sweetly Affordable Art, Wall Candy, Ottawa 2023
Featured Artist for Black History Month, West Elm Montreal, February 2023
Noir, Wall Candy, Ottawa, October 2022
Seen, Roaring Artist gallery, October 2022
Le Board Show, Hampton Gallery, August 2022
Italian Festival, Arte Cavallo, August 2022
Solo exhibition, Arte Cavallo, Montreal, April 2022
Radix MTL Exhibition, Montreal, November 2021
Old Brewery Mission, Solo exhibition, Montreal, August - October 2021
Square Foot Exhibition, Senneville, QC, 2019
Wall Candy Exhibition, Ottawa, ON, 2019
Art for Autism with the Miriam Foundation, Museum of Fine Art, Montreal, 2019
Solo Exhibition, L'Apartement, Westmount with Damask et Dentelle, 2019
Group Exhibition, Patrick Mikhail Gallery, Montreal, 2019
Abstraction Exhibition, Cutler Crane Gallery, Memphis, 2019
SOFA Expo, Chicago, 2018
Pop Up Gallery at Coach House in Westmount, Quebec with Avenue Art, 2018
Art Market Hamptons, 2018
Art Market San Francisco, 2018
Art Expo New York, 2018
Art Boca Raton, 2018 Scope New York, 2018
The Love of Art Exhibition with Avenue Art, 2018
Art Palm Beach, 2018
Papier Exhibition with MJ Laberge Gallery, 2017
Gallery Opening with MJ Laberge Gallery (Palm Beach), 2017
Pop Up Gallery at Westmount Square with Avenue Art, Montreal, 2017
Red Dot Miami, 2017
The Artist for Peace Project, Montreal, 2017
Art San Diego, 2017
Collective Exhibition MJ Laberge Gallery, Montreal, September, 2017
Textures and Shades , Solo exhibition, Carre des Artistes, Montreal, June, 2017
Apéro en Chocolat hosted by Mangeons Montréal February {Live Painting in Chocolate and Exhibition}, Montreal, 2017
Je t'Aime en Chocolat February {Live Painting in Chocolate and Exhibition}, Montreal, 2017
Radix MTL Exhibiton, Montreal, September, 2016
Essie Gel Couture Launch, Toronto, June {Live Painting in Acrylic - 11 canvases}, 2016
House of SB Launch Event, Montreal, May {Live Painting in Acrylic}, 2016
Ogilvy's, Montreal, April {Live Painting in Chocolate}. 2016
Je t'Aime en Chocolat, Montreal, February {Live Painting in Chocolate and Exhibition}, 2016
Paper Exhibition with MJ Laberge Gallery, Montreal, February, 2016
Collective Exhibition with MJ Laberge Gallery, Montreal, January, 2016
Features
Curatory, Summer 2025
Art Seen, Summer 2025
Conversations with Artists, Summer 2025
Elegant Wedding - Refreshing Black and Green Wedding Shower - Magazine Feature - 2019
Wedluxe - Greenhouse Glam - Magazine Feature - 2019
Pop up Shops
West Elm Montreal
October 2019
December 2019
Pottery Barn Toronto
June 2018
December 2016
May 2016
September 2017
West Elm Chelsea, NY
June 2017
October 2017
Pottery Barn Chelsea, NY
June 2017
Pottery Barn Flatiron, NY Opening Weekend September 2017
Pottery Barn Quartier Dix30
November 2016
March 2017
HRVST, Montreal
December 2016
Williams Sonoma Home Toronto
December 2016
5 a Chic {Private Shopping event}
September 2016
West Elm Montreal
December 2015
May and November 2016
May 2017
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Wild Collection
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Borders Not Limits
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