By Ann Breckon

Special to the Reporter

Mercer Island artist Gertrude Murielle Borne Hollis has had a life filled with both art and movement. She was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia in 1914. She crossed into the United States with her family to Boston at the age of 6. Her interest in art and growing talent were evident early on but there was an obvious mischievous streak. She drew cartoons for her high school magazine and did a drawing of a self-important math teacher.

Prior to moving to Washington state in 1950, Hollis studied at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. She later sacrificed continuing her own education to support her family and put a younger sister through school.

But she excelled. Working with a variety of art mediums, she does skillful portraits and landscapes. Her art has been celebrated and prized.

The Mitsubishi International Corporation owns a large and dramatic abstract painting by Hollis of Mt. Rainier. It hangs in its Seattle offices at the Columbia Tower. A triptych by Hollis was also purchased by Fredrick and Nelson for the Seattle offices of the department store chain. Her work has been exhibited in the Frye Art Museum and hangs in homes and galleries throughout the Northwest.

Hollis has long been active in numerous professional associations, including the Mercer Island Visual Arts League which she helped found; Seattle Co-Arts, and the Women Painters of Washington, where she has been active for 40 years. She has continued painting. Her last public showing was held two years ago. Then, two of her pieces were hung at the Mercer Island Chamber of Commerce as part of an art exchange with French painters through the Sister Cities’ Association.

In addition to being an artist, she was a competitive swimmer and diver. She plays the piano by ear. She and her husband Don were great sailors, participating in Seattle’s Opening Day of Boating festivities and daffodil parades for many years. Hollis and her husband had one son.

Hollis also gave art lessons to both young and old. She worked with teen artists through the Mercer Island recreational council.

“They were so grateful,”she told a friend recently. “They would be there early with their pencils, waiting for me to arrive,” she said.

Some of those students have gone on to have successful careers in art themselves.

She has stayed active. She loves to dance and has continued dancing with the Eastside Singles Friends until recently.

She was also an adventurer. Hollis often packed the family station wagon with art supplies and friends to drive to Arizona, the Cascades, Eastern Washington, the San Juans, and even Mexico, to paint.

An open house in honor of Hollis’s 100th birthday will be held between 3 and 5 p.m., Sunday, August 10, at 9747 S.E. 40th St. Mercer Island. Please RSVP to 232-9107. Cards and notes can also be mailed to the address.