Creative Optimist: Monica Toner
I grew up and currently live in New Brunswick, Canada.
The coast has always felt like home, and I’m grateful to be here.
I studied and recieved my Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology at Memorial University of Newfoundland, another place that holds a special place in my heart. The people, the landscape, and what I learned about movement, energy, and the human body continue to influence how I see the world.
After graduating, I spent a summer tree planting, where I met my husband. We travelled across Canada in a 1993 Chevy Vandura camper before settling in British Columbia. While there, I explored my creativity while working in the health sector, sewing reworked garments, selling at markets, and taking on whatever interesting opportunities came my way. Every experience taught me something, but none felt like the right fit.
When we moved to Edmonton, I treated it as a blank slate. I worked as a personal trainer, joined an entrepreneurial mastermind, and painted whenever I could. Around that time, I became fascinated by energy—not just physical energy, but mental, creative, and spiritual energy.
That curiosity led me to an apprenticeship as an electrician, still one of my favourite jobs. It gave me a tangible understanding of how energy is generated and transmitted, connecting an idea I'd been exploring creatively with something I could see and build. Later, I installed solar panels and studied smart grid technology, continuing along that same thread.
Eventually, we returned to New Brunswick to be closer to family. I accepted a position with a well-known Canadian brewery, expecting it to become a long-term career. It didn't. When the pandemic slowed everything down, it gave me the space to admit what had been true all along: I wanted to explore art and work as a creative.
Since then, I’ve been painting, writing, experimenting, and embracing new artistic challenges. My work is rooted in the unseen forces that shape our world—the energy, emotion, and transformation that influence our reality.
During this time, I also became a mom of 2. Now, as a parent, my purpose has only deepened. I want my children to discover who they are, why they’re here, and how to follow their own paths. And the best way to teach that is by living it myself.
So, I paint. I create. I explore. Because art, like energy, is always in motion.
Interested in working together? I’m currently seeking interesting creative opportunities.
Let’s Connect.