Yellowknife (Apr 15/05) - Linda Hough may be semi-retired, but that doesn't mean she's given in to the stereotypical retiree's lifestyle.

"I don't mind knitting the odd sweater, but I don't see myself sitting in front of the TV knitting and crocheting for the rest of my life," she said.

Hough has returned to her early love of painting in oils.

Working with oils, though a traditional medium, has its challenges.

They take forever to dry and clean-up means smelly turpentine-soaked rags. But oils are what Hough prefers for her landscapes and animals.

One of her instructors, Kayhan Nadji, once suggested she try watercolours, but Hough said they would be just as difficult to deal with as oils.

Though a relative newcomer to the Yellowknife art world, Hough has lived in the capital for 23 years.

She has also lived in Frobisher Bay (now Iqaluit) and Inuvik, but fell in love with Yellowknife on her first visit.

"This is where I want to be," she said.

For 10 years she owned Smitty's Secretarial Services, providing business services and temporary help, much like Office Compliments today.

Then, realizing she could cook a mean hamburger, she turned her attention to the food industry and opened Yellowknife's first 24-hour fast food joint.

"It was a disaster," she said. "The food industry is hard, hard, hard. I went bankrupt."

Just as she shut the doors on her business, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Hough was no quitter and went through seven months of cancer treatment while caring for her young son.

"There is no better place to be when you're sick than in the North," she said.

"We have the best health care you could ever want."

Learning to paint portraits is next on her agenda.

She already has one portrait in her show, of her son as a child. Faces fascinate her, she said, and she feels the city is full of characters who deserve to be celebrated on canvas.

Hough shares the frustrations of other Yellowknife artists in dealing with the mess of having to work out of her home.

"It's hard, especially with oils, cleaning brushes and things in your bathroom sink," she said. "That's why a studio would be nice."

Hough's artwork will be on display at Javaroma until the end of the month.