Born in the Ukraine and raised in Sydney, Australia, Sophia Podryhula-Shaw settled in Edmonton in 1976. While pursuing a career in Nursing Podryhula-Shaw studied Composition and Design at Sydney Technical College and would go on to complete further art related studies at Grant MacEwan and the Edmonton Art Gallery. Podryhula-Shaw completes much of her paintings en plein air and the vibrancy of her colours and fresh, confident mark-making are evidence of this immediacy. Her landscapes reflect the diversity of Alberta’s countryside from mythical mountains to patchworks of prairie farm fields.