Sonia Arenas
Sonia Arenas
Venezuelan-born Canadian artist Sonia Arenas graduated from the Ottawa School of Art and over the last fifteen years, has worked as an art advisor, designed and taught courses for children, and exhibited her work in Canada, Europe and Latin America.
As an art instructor, Sonia feels a great love in teaching. She also has experience in homeschooling and teaching children with diverse intellectual abilities.
Sonia has developed her body of work in painting and sculpture, also showing special interest in photography and mixed media. Her artwork has been focused in the essence of the human being, particularly the indigenous people and women.
Nadine Argo
Nadine works primarily to produce bronze sculpture, but also works in ceramics, wood and cloth. While she uses a variety of materials in her work, bronzes and the process of mould making and casting remain her passion. After finishing her BFA at York University in Toronto (1997), Nadine has lived, worked, exhibited and taught in Whitehorse YT, Edmonton AB, Mont-Tremblant QC and Ottawa. Nadine has always enjoyed teaching art and has done so for over 10 years with artist in the school program and galleries, as well as teaching for home schooling children and private classes. She has been with the OSA as a teacher, technician and student for over 24 years.
Dhanashri Athavale Bapat
“Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher” an adage that is vividly echoed in her art as Dhanashri paints in cohesion of her inspiration.
Dhanashri Bapat pursued and earned her Applied Arts degree from Abhinav Kala Academy and worked as a freelance designer in India before focusing on Fine Arts.
Dhanashri primarily uses water colors to best depict her work. She believes that the versatility of this medium helps imbibe her perception of nature. Her paintings speak for themselves as they portray the grace of nature with its delicate nuances.
She is an active member of many local art societies and has been participating regularly in their juried and group shows. She has many successful solo shows to her credit as well. Her paintings grace the walls of local art galleries like Galerie Old Chelsea and Foyer Gallery. She enjoys teaching her art and sharing the joy of painting to all the age groups
Her work can be viewed at: www.dhanashri.com
Gérard Bélec
Gérard Bélec has been interested in drawing since a very young age, but only started painting and drawing seriously in 1981. He has a BFA (1988) and a teacher’s certificate (1994) from the Université du Québec à Hull. Between 1986 and 2003, he worked for the City of Gatineau’s Cultural Programs as their specialist for adult and teen oil painting classes. During this time, he also taught courses for seniors at a community centre and was the technical assistant for the municipal art gallery (until 1993). He began teaching at the Ottawa School of Art in 1994, and later coordinated the Children and Teens Program and the Animation Certificate. His time is now split between his personal and commercial projects and coordinating the OSA Outreach Program.
Clare Brebner
To follow
Marg Boyle
Marg Boyle has been a professional artist, art educator, curator and consultant for over thirty years. She is a graduate of the NSCAD University (BFA Fine Arts, Minor Art History (87) and BFA Art Education (88)) and has also done graduate and inservice courses in Art Education, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Education, Special Education, Writing Therapy. Illustration and Graphic Design and Teaching of English Language Learners at several universities/colleges. During her thirty years of teaching in the K-12 school system, she taught diverse Visual Arts and Indigenous Studies courses as well as ESL, Special Education and Student Success.
Marg is the founder of FNMIEAO.com, The Eagle and Condor Collective and a member of the Native Immigrant Arts collective in Montreal. Marg is now a full time artist, and craftsperson (beading, quillwork, hidework, drum making, rattle making, basketry and sewing). She is also a community arts activist, a drummer, a dancer and a writer. She encourages all students to learn about the ancestral knowledge and art forms of the land on which they live and has taught at OSA for a total of over ten years. She has taught Art Education and Indigenous Education courses at Queens U, U of Ottawa and OISE/ U of Toronto and currently teaches at QueensU in the Continuing Teacher Education program. She is also now an Artist in Residence at Concordia University’s Art Education Dept. and is a recipient of several grants including a Canada Council Aboriginal project grant.
Fabio Cattelan
Fabio Cattelan has taught art in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. He recently retired from the OCDSD where he taught Art, and Design and Technology for 26 years. Fabio was art director for seven amateur stage productions and has taught painting, animation, sculpture, web design, as well as stage and lighting design. Fabio spent several years working as a commercial artist, both as designer and illustrator, in Toronto. Currently, Fabio is working as a sculptor, primarily in stone and wood. Fabio received an Honors B.F.A. From York University, a Diploma in Teaching from McGill University, and is certified to teach Special Education. Fabio has been with the Ottawa School of Art since 1997.
Pamela Cockcroft-Lasserre
Pamela Cockcroft-Lasserre studied Fine Art at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting (St Martin’s Central, University of the Arts, London) and graduated with Merit Distinction. Subsequent experience included Gallery Custodianship, lecturing in European Art History and writing as an Art Critic for the Cape Times in South Africa. Widely traveled in Africa and Europe, she has settled in the Gatineau Hills where she has a studio.
Her practice, based on European drawing and painting techniques, explores the relevance of the figure and its abundant potential for contextualisation. Following avenues of research and with tendencies to embrace music and movement, situations proper and absurd which determine the trajectory of her paintings, she predominantly creates Figure Paintings and Drawings on various themes ( Man as Centaur, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in collaboration with Carson Becke who performed the piece, a Tango series) and presently work revolves around carousels, with plain air landscape painting at home and abroad.
She teaches at the Ottawa School of Art, exhibits fairly regularly in the National Capital Region, her drawings and paintings can be found in private collection in Canada, USA, France and South Africa and her work is carried by Orange Gallery in Ottawa.
Jayne Couch
Jayne Couch Molony began teaching at the OSA in 2013 after completing her education, including scholarships at Parson’s School of Design (New York), Paris American Academy and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (Paris) along with our own Academy of Realist Art and the Banff Centre of Fine Art. Jayne’s work is collected privately and publicly throughout Canada, the US and internationally. Teaching in the Ottawa area for several years, Jayne works in Classical Drawing and Anatomy at the OSA
Kim Cristopher
Kim Cristopher is a Canadian portrait artist, whose works in oil represent the artist’s tender gaze at the human condition. Her portraits provide the viewer with an evocative and ambiguous narrative to ponder.
Dawn Dale
Dawn Dale has been an instructor at the Ottawa School of Art since 1990, in both the General and Diploma Program (1996) and, more recently in the Children’s Department (2012). She teaches primarily sculpture as well as drawing, mixed media and conceptual art practices. Her studio practice is grounded in landart, large scale ephemeral works and site specific installations. Her work is informed by our dysfunctional relationship to Nature in a world of consumerism, global climate crisis and unstable political theatre. A BFA graduate from the University of Ottawa, she has exhibited across Canada, The United States, Bolivia, Mexico and in Japan. Her work is in the City of Ottawa Collection as well as the Archives of Canada, and the Alberta Museum and private collections. She is an active member of the arts community with Artwise and RIA and has been in the classrooms with MASC, ArtSmarts and Les Artistes à l’école in Quebec. Her work can be found at www.dawndale.com and www.aregeebee.net/dawndale
Lucia De Marinis
Lucia De Marinis graduated from a five-year Bachelor of Fine Arts program at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1984, where she majored in painting. She was given advanced standing (to third year) upon admission to the program and was selected for the National Dean’s List in 1984. She was a finalist for the prestigious Gund Award competition at graduation. Lucia also has a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Literature from Carleton University and studied briefly at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome with the assistance of a scholarship from the Italian government. She completed several years of private study with Ugo Chyurlia, a graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice (1932). At the Cleveland Institute of Art her painting teacher, thesis advisor, and mentor was Julian Stanczak, a renowned colourist and a student of Josef Albers.
Lucia has been teaching at the Ottawa School of Art since 1988. She taught in the School of Media and Design at Algonquin College from 1994 to 2013 and was a faculty member in the Department of Visual and Creative Arts at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall from 1988 to 1991. In 2006 she was the recipient of the first Instructor of the Year Award at the Ottawa School of Art.
Lucia has exhibited her work in numerous solo, group, and juried shows in Canada and the USA and is represented in corporate, public, and private collections.
Vanessa Dewson
Vanessa Dewson is an award-winning professional photographer as well as a graphic and web designer based in Ottawa. She began teaching photography at the Ottawa School of Art in 2013. In 2015, she founded Focus on Photography Tours to combine her passions of photography, teaching and travel.
Vanessa received a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Image Arts: Film Studies from Ryerson University in 1998 and pursued photography as a hobby until she decided to become a full-time professional in 2007. She received both her Craftsman of Photographic Arts (CPA) and Master of Photographic Arts (MPA) from the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) and is also the current Past-Chair of the PPOC’s Eastern Ontario Branch. Her work has been exhibited as part of the annual instructors show at the Shenkman Arts Centre and she also had a solo exhibit at the Galerie Eugène-Racette in Orleans.
She is fully bilingual and loves sharing her passion and knowledge with fellow photography enthusiasts whether in a classroom or as a host on photo tours.
For more information, please visit her website: www.vanessadewson.com or
Kathryn Drysdale
Kathryn Drysdale has maintained a studio in Wakefield, Quebec since 1991. She holds a degree in Visual Arts from Concordia University and also studied at the Ontario College of Art.
Her artistic practice is based on drawing and painting and is inspired by observing the world of forms around her. A series of work often begins with a fascination of the graphic quality of both beautiful and grotesque objects and spaces. Over the course of 25 years, images which began with the Gatineau landscape have moved through an exploration of the human figure, to industrial landscapes – and have come full circle back to the natural landscape and its inhabitants.
Mahshid Farhoudi
Born in Iran (1971) Mahshid Farhoudi immigrated to Canada in 1987. She attended York University and the Ontario College of Art and Design. Upon completion of the Drawing and Painting program, she then studied traditional methods of drawing and painting in Florence, Italy. Mahshid is a Canadian figurative painter who addresses issues of identity and belonging. Her work has been published alongside the poetry of Canadian writer and Trent university professor Kelly Young. Mahshid is a recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts and teaches at the Ottawa School of Art. She is one of the founding members of Propeller Gallery and AWOL Gallery in Toronto. Mahshids’ work was featured on Canoe Live Television (2007). Her work can be found in private collections in Canada, Europe, Australia and the United States. www.mahshidfarhoudi.com
Andrew Fay
Andrew Fay was raised and educated in Ottawa and received his training at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Knowledgable in both acrylic and oil paints, his paintings centre on the human form. The figures are often nude, examining a gamut of physical and emotional drives. The narrative of his paintings in intentionally ambiguous. He creates a surreal atmosphere which invites the viewer to interact with the work of their own terms. Andrew has participated in numerous exhibitions, including shows at the Karsh-Masson Gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery, and the Ottawa School of Art Gallery. His paintings can be found in civic and private collections. Andrew has held the position of Diploma Program Advisor since 2014.
Alex Fichera
Alex Fichera graduated form Ottawa University with a BFA. Her interests include psychology, feminism and identity, which she explores in her work using a variety of mediums to create images and sculptures. Alex has been working at the Ottawa School of Art for 8 years now and is currently teaching in the children’s department.
Tami Galili Ellis
Tami Galili Ellis was born in Israel and immigrated to Canada in 1986. She graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Shortly thereafter, she joined the Ottawa of School of Art as an Instructor in the Children’s Program. From 1995 to 1998, she returned to Israel with her family where she designed and delivered a very successful multimedia arts program to children in an alternative school. Her main passion is painting in oils. Since graduation, she has exhibited mostly in group exhibits and various galleries both in Israel and Ottawa.
Adrian Gor
Adrian Gor’s work combines writing, egg-tempera painting, relief printing, and hand crafted organic materials. His medieval-inspired multi-processed techniques of line making and gilding, drives him to question todays symbols of human desire and containers of truth in our visual culture. For details of his artistic vision see his latest essay, “Reimagining the iconic in New Media Art,” published in Theory, Culture, and Society, SAGE Journals (2019). Adrian has completed his PhD in the Humanities (Interdisciplinary) Program at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada (2015) combining studies in Theology/Philosophy, Art History, and Studio Arts. He also has an MFA in Drawing/Painting from the School of Visual Arts, University of Windsor (2010).
Personal website: www.adriangor.com
Irma Gutierrez
(1975) Mexican-born Canadian Drawer, Printmaker, Painter, Illustrator, Children’s Illustrator and Cartoonist. With more than 190 exhibitions and 26 years of trajectory, her artwork has been shown in diverse Art Museums and Cultural Centres across Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, France, England, Poland, Russia, Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, USA, Austria, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, China among others. Selected for more than 20 International Printmaking Biennials, her work has been held in both private and public collections, including Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt), Novosibirk’s State Museum (Russia), and the Museum of Arts of Queretaro (Mexico). In 2021 the Iconic Center of Contemporary Art Emilia Ortiz CAC in Tepic, Mexico paid her homage naming an Exhibition Hall Number one after her. Irma studied Graphic Design at Universidad Iberoamericana Leon, Mexico (1998) and is a Self-taught Artist. As an Art Instructor in the Ottawa School of Art Campus Orleans (OSAO) she has been offering “The Art and Magic of Mexico” Summer Camp among other workshops
Deidre Hierlihy
Deidre received her B.A. and Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. After graduation, she received a bursary from Graff Centre de Conception Graphique in Montreal where she worked as an artist in residence for one year. She continued her printmaking studies in Japan, learning Japanese wood art from Akiru Kurosake. Recently she spent one month printmaking at Sparkbox. She has exhibited her prints in Japan, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. Deidre has been teaching at the Ottawa School of Art since 1988, in the Diploma, General, and Children’s Program. She is currently the Coordinator of the Children’s/teen Department.
Robert Hinchley
Robert Hinchley is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art. His paintings and prints have been shown in many exhibitions both nationally and internationally. Painting trips in Canada and especially the Ottawa Valley offer Rob an endless source of inspiration.His unique approach to printmaking combines painterly and experimental methods to this timeless graphic form. A selection of his prints was presented as gifts from Canada to the world leaders that attended the APEC summit in Vancouver.
Maya Hum
Originally from the Maritimes, Maya moved to Ottawa to complete her BA Honours degree in Music and Sonic Design from Carleton University. This was followed by a year of full time study at the Ottawa School of Art where she received the Robert Hyndman Painting & Drawing Scholarship. Shortly after, she began exhibiting her work throughout the city and was accepted into her first Artist Residency (in Toronto).
In 2010 Maya completed her graduate studies in Professional Illustration and in the following year was selected into the City of Ottawa’s Artist Studio Program. Her illustration work has been featured in publications, campaigns, and exhibitions throughout Canada and Europe. Her work can also be found in a number of public murals throughout the city of Ottawa.
Maya currently works as an illustrator, graphic designer, and arts educator. She is passionate about teaching visual art classes in comfortable and encouraging environments. Visit www.mayahum.com for more information.
Naz Ikramullah
Born in London, England, Naz holds a Fine Arts degree from Byam Shaw School, with post-graduation studies in Lithography from Slade in London. She studied etching with Michael Ponce de Leon, visiting Artist from Pratt Institute NY in Karachi. Her work is part of many collections both nationally and internationnally, and has also been exhibited worldwide. Naz designed and wrote a filmstrip for the NFB film “Making Faces” which won 1st prize for Art Education in Oakland California in 1989. She has recently completed a film regarding Cultural Life of Muslim Women of the Indian Sub-Continent. Naz teaches painting and printmaking at the Ottawa School of Art.
Marika Jemma
Marika Jemma has been a visual artist in professional practice for more than 20 years, beginning with her first solo show: Journey To The Temple (Victoria, B.C.) in 1991. Marika works primarily in the mediums of sculptural installation and video, combining natural and manufactured objects to create culturally astute statements that cut to the heart of what matters.
Born 1963 in West Toronto, enduring a non-descript Catholic childhood and surviving the banality of a whitewashed suburban existence in the pursuit of modest personal debt, Marika left home at 17 to experience the joys of minimum wage, public transportation and a series of rooming houses in various dissociated communities in southern Ontario.
An independent learner, Marika has explored the public libraries of most of the major cities in Canada.
On a rainy day in 1982, Marika moved to Vancouver Island where she spent the next 11 years pursuing a series of odd-jobs (including theatrical production, sound and lighting), training as a carpenter and finally graduating from art school in 1991.
In 1993, Marika drove back across the country in a 1973 Toyota Corolla, dropped the muffler on a raised railway bed in southern Saskatchewan and ran out of gas in Ottawa and has been here ever since.
Marika teaches teen sculpture and mixed media, as well various summer camps at the Ottawa School of Art.
Farouk Kaspaules
Farouk Kaspaules is an Iraqi-born Canadian artist with a BFA in Studio Arts and Art History & Theory from the University of Ottawa. Farouk has been exhibiting since 1989, and the events shaping the political and social situation in the Middle East has strongly influenced his work. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally including prestigious locations such as the 9th International Biennial in Cairo, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, London, England, France, Hungary, Brazil, Chile and of course Canada and Ottawa. He has also been the recipient of numerous grants over the yeas.
David Kearn
From an early age, David has been captivated by both arts and sciences. Choosing a first career in Aerospace Engineering, his love of art drew him inexorably to creating and teaching. He is inspired by painting people and capturing reflections of the human condition. “I’m constantly amazed that painting can communicate so much” continues David: “patterns and emotion, the possibility of personality captured in expression and colour. I’m always searching for something unusual, perhaps a feeling of movement and internal dynamics…. so much more than what I see.”
David has completed a wide range of portrait and landscape commissions for private clients in New York City, the U.K. and Montreal as well as throughout the Ottawa-Gatineau region. His solo exhibitions “Portraiture by the Foot” showed at the AOE Arts Council Gallery in 2012 and “The Descendants” at the Trinity Gallery in the Shenkman Arts Centre in 2014. He is also a recipient of the Ted Marshall Memorial Scholarship from the Ottawa School of Art.
David’s courses and workshops are a hit with novices and experienced artists alike and he is in demand with clubs and private groups throughout the region. His openness, commitment and energy are infectious and have earned him the reputation of inspired teacher and coach: “I combine my experience and love of art in each of my courses and workshops with energy and enthusiasm….working one-on-one and in groups. Learning should always be motivating and fun.”
David invites you to visit his website: www.davidkearn.com
Shannon Kennedy (Cynosure Jewelry)
Shannon graduated in 1996 from the Ontario College of Art and Design and furthered her jewelry making skills by attending George Brown’s Jewelry Arts Program from 1996 to 1998. She and her partner launched Cynosure Jewelry at Globe Studios in 2000. Recognition for her artwork has come in the form of several awards and nominations. Shannon finds the most enjoyment from designing her uniquely expressive pieces and exhibiting at galleries. www.cynosure-jewelry.com
Anna Krak Kepka
Anna Krak-Kepka is a full-time visual artist and art educator. Anna is primarily known for her unique and rare talent with color. Her paintings are full of enchantment of the world of dream and magic. Her work touches us with the most intimate personal experience. She speaks with an artistic language which opens the way to her individuality.
Anna studied at the Faculty of Interior Design and the Faculty of Painting in Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow-Poland, where she received her Master’s Degree in Fine Arts. After university graduation she continued her artistic education in Rome, Italy. She also completed studies in Pedagogic Profile and Computer Graphic Design at University of Toronto.
Anna Krak-Kepka is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. Her works can be found in arts galleries, private art collections and public places in Canada, USA, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Holland.
Yves Larocque
Yves M. Larocque holds B.A.s in Visual Arts and Theory of Arts from the University of Ottawa, a M.A. in Art History from the Université de Montréal, a D.E.A. and a Doctorate in Art History from the Sorbonne (Université de Paris I). He is also a painter, a renowned art instructor and a guest professor. In the course of the last 28 years at the School, Yves learned how to get the best from his students, knowing that only passion, dedication and goodness are the sole instruments of success; may it be in painting or art history. Content, concept and context are the key elements of his teaching, closely knit together with technique and know how. His works have been shown in Spain, Italy, and Canada. To know more about Yves click: www.walkthearts.com or you can subscribe to his blog at walkthearts.wordpress.com
Jim Lawrence
Jim Lawrence grew up in Nova Scotia Although science (environmental chemistry) became his profession, he was never far from the arts. While studying at Dalhousie University, he took evening courses in painting at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. After moving to Ottawa he continued to take evening courses in painting. In the past 10 years, Jim has returned to his love of wood sculpture. Nature inspires most of Jim’s art, whether realistic or abstract. He prefers to challenge the viewer with unusual designs and subject matter.
Jim is a member of the National Capital Network of Sculptors and has participated in group shows with them ( the Canadian Museum of Nature, the Dimensions Sculpture Exhibit, Archives Canada, Kanata Civic Art Gallery) as well as the Shenkman Centre and Figureworks. He is also a member of the Outaouais Wood Carvers Club and has won a number of prizes at the National Capital Carving Competition including Best of Show in 2013 and 2017. Jim has given presentations on his work to the Outaouais Wood Carvers and the West Carleton Arts Soc.
Alena Liapko
I finished an Art School in Minsk, Belarus, then graduated from Easel Graphic Arts Department of Belarusian Academy of Arts. Throughout my academic studies my artistic abilities were recognised by my teachers and peers, and after graduation I was awarded a grant from Creative Academic Studios. At the same time, I was teaching drawing at Belarusian Academy of Arts.
Later I discovered my current interest in the field of watercolour. I developed a unique combination of using a transparent watercolour and an oil pastel together, which gives to my paintings so intense and colourful look.
Now I have been living in Ottawa Area with my husband and kids. We are enjoying to be outside as much as possible, and not surprising it has got an impact on my art. In a big part of my works I depict vibrant views from different places of Ottawa and Outaouais Region.
Yulia Lisitsyna
In her more than 20 years-spinning practice of a watercolour artist, graphic and ornamental designer, Yulia Lisitsyna put her skills and experience into teaching at Ottawa School of Art (since 2016), where she shares with students her ability to create lustful watercolours, to explore the picturesque manner, applying with bold and colourful acrylic brushstrokes and precise, meticulous drawings.
Being a devoted craft-maker, she represents her decorative artworks at the ByWard Market, her the most recent exhibitions have been introduced in the Lee Matasi Gallery, while the upcoming big solo show is expected to be launched on June 2018 in Trinity Art Gallery, Shenkman Arts Centre. “I want to reach the best results with traditional materials, my professional interests and areas of investigation include creating of artworks that may contain elements of medieval patterns, that might have seen as allusions to the well-known fables of mythological sujets. I am seeking for the vibrancy, reverberation and shimmering light that so often we see around us, admire, though are so often unable to capture – and I am trying to render it in all my realistic or decorative art pieces.”
Heather MacDonald
Ink painting is a sensual experience…it engages all the senses and completely captures my attention. Ink has its own way of moving and creating a bond between the brush, the paper and the mind and heart of the painter. Ink has life.
My fascination with the medium of ink as it is used in Chinese and Japanese art is a passion that began many years ago. In 1999, I began formal study of Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e with Sensei Tomoko Kodama, who was also my honoured mentor for teaching, and continued my studies later on with other master artists Sensei Kaz Tanahashi, Sensei Hekuin Oda of the Oda Calligraphy School in Illinois, and Master Rujin Qin in Ottawa. Since 2010, I’ve been teaching at the Ottawa School of Art and I hold seasonal workshops or short courses at the upstairs studio at East Wind, as well elsewhere in my community.
My focus remains firmly rooted in the traditional practices of shodo (Zen calligraphy) but I am always working to create new pieces and explore new avenues of expression in both shodo and sumi-e (ink painting). There are strong elements of impressionism in this genre, and of the gestural, and the avant-garde. It is the power of line. Both shodo and sumi-e have moved beyond the traditional use of rice papers to include other surfaces such as print-making papers and canvas; in addition to water-based mediums, acrylics are also being used in this genre.
But the new has not displaced the old, however; traditional methods inform and support the contemporary approaches. Old and new methods co-exist peacefully and continue to excite.
An ‘underground’ interest in North America is becoming more mainstream as once distant cultures move closer together.
Teaching sumi-e and calligraphy has led me to so many joyful moments with my students, and I thank them for sharing their achievements with me as we journey together in The Way of the Brush. www.TheWayofTheBrush.com
Sharon Mintz
Her first career was as a registered nurse with a postgraduate diploma in psychiatry. She was always interested in art, and started her BFA at the University of Manitoba. She then completed her education at Concordia University with a BFA in Art Education, and an MA in Art Therapy. In Ottawa, she maintains a private practice, gives motivational talks and workshops, and teaches at the OSA.
Wendy Moir
Wendy earned herMA in art history from Carleton university and a BAH in art history and English literature at Queen’s University. She is passionate about art education and has taught visual literacy at galleries in Kingston, Halifax and Ottawa since 2003.
Maria Moldovan
Maria Moldovan was born in Romania. She started her visual education in the High School of Arts, Sf. Gheorghe, her hometown, in a class specialized in painting. After 4 years of painting she has chosen to study ceramic art at the University of Arts and Design in Cluj Napoca. She made this decision because she was attracted by three-dimensional art but she couldn’t give up the colors. So it seemed to be the perfect solution to have sculpture and painting at the same time.
Painting and ceramic art fluctuates through her life since then. There are longer periods of time dedicated for painting and than for ceramic art.
Starting from 2008 she is involved in projects related to children’s illustration as well. There are five books so far published with her illustrations.
Maria moved with her family in Canada in 2013. Back to Top
Andrea Mossop
A rich balance of experience as an artist and as a teacher, with her background in art history and her passion for painting, has shaped Andrea Mossop’s reputation for depth of knowledge and breadth of imagination in teaching and lecturing. Originally from Toronto, Andrea has a B.A. from the University of Western Ontario, followed by advanced studies in drawing and painting from the Ontario College of Art. Andrea teaches intensive two-day long workshops at the OSA Orleans Campus.
Lindy Nadarajah
Lindy Nadarajah was born in Ottawa. She has always had an afinity for art. She is a dedicated member of the Ottawa Art community who continuously thrives to bring artists and their work to the forefront. Lindy is knowlegdeable to work with many type of mediums including Acrylics, Oils, Digital, and Sculptures. Her current focus is Portraiture, Landscapes, and still lifes using Acrylic. Lindy has sat on the Board of Directors for Visual Arts Center, Orleans and is a current member of the Executive Committee for ArtEast and also a member of Arts Ottawa East. Lindy is currently an Art Curator of Promenade Arteast Gallery in the Shenkman Center as well as the Cumberland Public Library. Her own paintings have been exhibited at many galleries and special events in the Ottawa region. She is an official artist of the Ottawa Tulip festival and has hosted Arteast community events such as Queen Elizabeth Elementary Art Day.
Patti Normand
Patti Normand has been a professional artist for over twenty years. She has worked professionally for many years as a sculptor and model maker for area museums, notably the Children’s Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization where her creations can be seen throughout the museum. She has also maintained her own artistic practice of painting and sculpting, exhibiting in local galleries, and has a love of teaching and teaches on a regular basis for the Ottawa School of Art’s Outreach Program.
Gilles Rainville
An artist and illustrator, Gilles has a passion for producing imaginative ideas. For the last nine years, he has been inspiring children in his classroom with art history, drawing, painting and sculpting techniques, as well as animation, cartooning and illustration lessons. He is a self-published author and a published illustrator. He aspires to pass on his passion for art to everyone he teaches. www.grainfed.wordpress.com
Erin Maura Robertson
Erin Robertson is a sculptor and painter who explores figurative and environmental themes through the inventive use of a variety of materials, primarily oils, acrylics, resins, ceramics, papier-mâché and bronze. Her art is marked by its whimsical and subversive play on everyday idioms, domesticity, landscape and mythology.
Robertson is a graduate of Ontario College of Art and Guelph University.She exhibits in private and public galleries. Her work can be found in various collections in Canada and abroad, including the City of Ottawa, the Crown Collection, Stornoway residence and has been awarded several public art commissions.She is a founding member of Blink Gallery Collective, Fieldwork Collective and is an instructor in the diploma program at the Ottawa school of art.
Valerie Ryan
Valerie Ryan, B.F.A. (Queen’s University), M.F.A. (University of Saskatchewan), has been teaching art to children and adults for over 25 years. From 1990 to 2009, Valerie worked as a very knowledgeable tour guide and an outstanding studio instructor at the National Gallery of Canada. She has received Artist in the School and projects grants. Valerie’s colourful and expressive landscape paintings are in the collection of the City of Ottawa, External Affairs, Canada, as well as many corporate and private collections.
Krystyna Sadej
Krystyna is mostly known as a tapestry artist, and this woven medium has greatly influenced her mixed-media art. These texture-rich works reflect her own unique philosophy: “The best thing you can do as an artist, is to allow yourself looseness of expression. Run away from conventional forms and landscapes by creating new relationships with traditional technique, colour and media.” Originally from Poland, she has exhibited her works internationally over the last 30 years, and her art is owned by collectors in Europe, Canada and the USA. www.krystynasadej.com
Ruth Secunda
A visual and performance artist returned to her hometown of Ottawa in 2002. Prior to leaving, she helped to establish “85 Clarence,” a noted artist cooperative that contributed to a growing local visual arts community. After five years in Montreal, Ruth was awarded a Canada Council Writing Grant, which took her to the Banff School of Fine Arts. Following the completion of her project, she remained a Banff resident for the next 16 years. She helped to establish the Banff Arts Council, Banff First Night Celebrations and various visual arts projects. She also received a Governor General’s Caring Canadian award for her community work in 2001. Since her return to Ottawa, she became a Board member of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa. She currently teaches at the Ottawa School of Art where she conducts mixed media classes to adults and children. She is actively involved in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Kirk Sutherland
Kirk Sutherland is a Toronto-based Canadian artist. He has exhibited his work under the representation of many art galleries internationally over the last 30 years. Many of his pieces are included in both private and corporate collections globally. Sutherland graduated with high honours from the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCADU) in 1991, majoring in Contemporary Art and Drawing and Painting from the Faculty of Experiential Arts. Kirk Sutherland is a renowned colourist who was born with synesthesia. This blending of senses very much enhances his perception of colour and his overall creative process. Kirk Sutherland is also known for working with the Hollywood Film Industry, creating and designing public art in urban environments and working with the music industry creating album cover designs.
Guillermo Trejo
Guillermo Trejo was born in Mexico City and has a BFA from Bellas Arts School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking. His first subject after emigrating to Canada in 2007 was a serie of drawings inspired by characters from Canadian newspapers. As he tries to understand the “multicultural” landscape in Canada, he likes to draw plants and make prints of people. His profound understanding of art history is reflected in his contemporary work. He currently teaches printmaking and drawing at the Ottawa School of Art.
Janet Tulloch
Janet divides her time between her work as an adjunct research professor in Carleton University’s College of Humanities and her practice as a fibre artist. Janet has studied with Fiona Duthie (Salt Spring Island, BC) and taken workshops with Moy McKay (Scotland), and Catherine O’Leary (Australia).
Janet’s fibre art has been exhibited at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, the 2018 Felting Symposium & Exhibition in Nova Scotia, and in OSAO’s instructors’ exhibitions. In 2019, she will be a guest artist at Arts on Main Gallery in Picton, Prince Edward County.
Janet works in 2 and 3D combining wet-felting, needle-felting and stitching. She loves to incorporate untreated fleece from Shetland and Orkney. Her wearable art practice includes cowls, scarves, berets and jewelry. She draws on her Orcadian heritage, the sea, and domestic history for her imagery.
You can find her work @fibrelass on Facebook and Instagram.
Lindsay Watson
Lindsay Watson is an emerging artist (currently residing in Ottawa) who works with oil paint, mixed media and photographs to “construct” alternative truths to real-life situations. She had long been fascinated by the connection between story-telling and history, both small and large scale, and tries to reconcile that in her imagery by making works that can be read in a number of “true” – but often conflicting – ways.
