An adventurous artist who never backed down from a challenge turned her gifts towards tributes to Bermuda’s heritage and history.

Wynne Colley’s life was intertwined with the historic locations of Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown in Virginia as well as St George’s, Bermuda, that she explored in her artwork. She was highly active in the island’s art community over the past 30 years.

The Bermuda Arts Centre called her “a devoted supporter” with a laugh that filled the gallery with warmth and life.

“It was a sound that brought joy to so many — and one that will be deeply missed.

“Her spirit was as generous as her laugh, full of kindness, compassion and gentle strength. She had a deep love for art, for dogs and for people, and she shared that love freely with everyone around her.”

Mrs Colley, who hailed from the small town of Ammanford in South Wales, met her husband-to-be, Hywel, a Bermudian of Welsh descent, at the wedding party of a mutual family friend, where he ended up sitting next to her.

The couple began corresponding twice a week after he returned to the island.

Letters led to more.

After Mrs Colley came to Bermuda for a few weeks, the couple were officially engaged. After she returned to Wales, the two next saw each other when they got married — a union that endured 65 years.

The couple returned to Bermuda, but Dr Colley, a chiropodist, wanted to shift into more advanced surgery. They moved to the US, where he studied at the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine, and had three children — David, Glynis and Megan.

Mr Colley was keen to return to Bermuda but the couple settled in Richmond, Virginia, after his medical qualification was not recognised back home.

Megan, their youngest daughter, said her mother had a restless talent, constantly sketching and drawing. From oil painting, she moved on to acrylic, which became her preferred medium.

After one of her children destroyed one of her artworks in rambunctious play, “mom didn’t pick up a paintbrush for years”, Megan Colley said.

“Dad had a great practice. Mom was busy volunteering and working, filing insurance for my dad, but Dad always wanted to come back to Bermuda.”

In the 1990s, Dr Colley bought back the podiatric practice he had sold when he left the island.

Mrs Colley continued working at her husband’s office, but the natural beauty of the island revived her passion for painting, landscapes in particular.

She told The Royal Gazette in a 2014 interview: “I had a very lengthy hiatus. When I started again, it was just like starting all over again. It is not exactly like riding a bike; art is a little different.”

In the early 2000s, with their children grown up, the couple bought a home back in Virginia, where Mrs Colley took more art classes. After that, her daughter said, she painted “non-stop”.

“She was a typical artist. She liked to challenge herself and never thought anything was done. They loved to travel and she would pick a scene that she knew would be difficult to paint.”

Largely self-taught, she honed her skills with more classes. Although primarily studio-based, she worked with plein air groups in both Bermuda and Virginia.

She had many influences, including Cézanne and Matisse, and was said to view Rembrandt as the greatest artist of all time.

Fun-loving and sociable, Mrs Colley defied old age.

Devoted to her husband and her family, she “loved a good party and never met a stranger — you could be near to her in a line and she’d start talking to you”, her daughter said.

Winifred Mary Colley, prolific artist, was born on November 17, 1940. She died in April 2026, aged 85