Margaret Walsh Best is a watercolourist whose detailed expressions of the wild flowers, berries and landscapes of Newfoundland and Labrador show the transparency and flow of the medium. Using mostly transparent and non-staining pigments Margaret delights in the movement of the pigment in the water. Allowing the colours to mix on the paper brings a vibrancy to the colour as well as many surprises to the end product. Seeing the variety of colours and intricate shapes in a single blossom, a section of landscape or the shadows of a still life composition and attempting to capture it in her painting is what brings an excitement and challenge to Margaret's work. Each painting is a learning experience.

Margaret Walsh Best is the quintessential Art Educator. On discovering a new idea or technique or a ‘break-through’, her first thought is to pass it on to others. In all of her classes and workshops with adults and children Margaret’s goal is to share her ideas and techniques while stimulating interest in art expression. Her own quest for learning leads her to experimentation with pigments and papers and other tools in her chosen medium of transparent watercolour. As an educator her attention is given to helping her class and workshop participants experience the intimate relationship to the landscapes, flowers and berries which she experiences during her own painting. Her aspiration is to assist these participants in their own discoveries.

As an educator her work has been devoted to the incorporation of art into all areas of the curriculum.
She has coordinated various school-related multi-media projects and has been a guest artist on several occasions at the Labrador Creative Arts Festival.

As a former board member of the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council, VANL-CARFAC (Visual Artists Newfoundland & Labrador) and the Art Association of Newfoundland & Labrador, as well as a participant
in numerous classes and workshops, Margaret's interest in all aspects of art has been evident.
Since 1986 she has participated in over 100 exhibitions.

In 1990 Margaret initiated the annual Art Exhibition of Southern Shore Artists at the Southern Shore Shamrock Festival and organized it for 18 years. This exhibition is mounted on the 4th weekend in July each year and is now being organized by the Southern Shore Folk Arts Council.

In 1999 Margaret's daffodil triptych was chosen by the Canadian Cancer Society for
use in their fundraising campaign. The proceeds from her poster "Flowers of Hope"
continue to aid the "Families Can Beat Cancer" program.

In 2003 her solo exhibition "Sunshine on My Shoulders" featured over 40 watercolours mainly of the flowers of the eastern part of the province. This exhibition was held at Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden where she paints regularly.

"A Brush With History: The Gardens of the Colony of Avalon" was the title of her 2006 solo exhibition. For the months of July and August, 2006, the Colony of Avalon archeological site interpretation centre in Ferryland, south of St. John's, was the venue for an exhibit of 30 watercolour pieces depicting a number of the plants of the 17th century Colony of Avalon gardens. During the month of September, selected pieces from the summer exhibition and new works on this theme were mounted at the Cynthia I. Noel Gallery in St. John's.

September of 2008 saw the results of a collaboration of Margaret and Irish artist Andrea Jameson in an exhibition "From an Island to an Island: Landscapes of the Souteast Shores" at Five Island Gallery in Tors Cove. These paintings captured representations of the southeast shores of Newfoundland and Ireland.

Margaret's latest exhibition"Balancing Act: Invasive Alien Plants" will tour nationally and internationally over the next two years.
The tour will commence in Ireland in August to September 2010 and continue to a second venue in Ireland during October and November 2010 to coincide with the International Year of Biodiversity. This exhibition features watercolour paintings of plant species across Newfoundland and Labrador that have "come from away". These immigrant plants have entered our ecosystems by various pathways. The content of the current exhibition is based on a variety of plants identified by Memorial University of Newfoundland Botanical Garden. The exhibition will expand as the artist travels to other areas in Canada and around the world, creating new work specific to the locality of the exhibition.