Collections

I was born in Plymouth, England on a beautiful sunny day a few years ago. I immigrated to Canada as a child (I was very independent) and was raised in the north part of Toronto, rural at first gradually shifting to urban. For the last twenty-some years I have resided in rural Grey County in the Northern part of the Niagara Escarpment… the best part, other than that over sized water fall. I think it’s called Niagara Falls. I currently live on an idyllic 4-acre wooded property with my partner; visual artist and writer Bonnie Gardiner.

The creative process has been strong throughout my life - from the time I could first hold a crayon. In-class art every Friday was the highlight of my week in public school. I then attended C.W. Jeffries in North York, a high school with a dedicated arts program, followed by four years post-secondary schooling at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD U).

Like some famous Canadian painters you may have heard of, I worked in the commercial art field, raising a family and paying the bills, while developing and exploring my craft. I am an avid painter working mostly in acrylics although on occasion I work in oils, water colour and cold wax (similar to encaustics). My paintings are in a number of Galleries in Canada and can be seen on the internet by googling my name ( or under “good looking guys”). I am also a closet sculptor, working in metal, concrete and wood; however the sculpting I do only for pleasure.

Striving always to improve my craft has led me to teach. Although reluctant at first, I started a painting group, Studio Twenty, where artists could come to paint and where I shared some tidbits of information on how to paint. This led to a greater understanding of how to teach what I know and to my authoring two books on how to paint with acrylics. Both the book and my teaching have become a successful and enjoyable part of my life. Studio Twenty has developed into a group of talented painters who have also raised thousands of dollars for local charities through donated project paintings.

My partner Bonnie is also a painter which makes life a little easier, as being a visual artist becomes a way of life - even when you're not painting you are thinking about painting, or photographing images for your next project, or doing the business side of the art. We have canvases in various stages of completion on review about the house; the art is forever changing on our walls.

I was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and I have always had a desire to create something with my hands. I am especially passionate about acrylic and watercolour painting.

I am a self-taught artist who discovered the world of painting in 1995 purely by accident through a craft store bookshelf. I am constantly in pursuit of inspiration and continually search for new ideas and techniques to challenge myself. I enjoy painting whatever grabs my inner muse, but my favorite subjects are landscapes, flowers, abstracts, glass and still life. I exhibit regularly in group shows and many of my pieces hang in private and corporate collections throughout the world. I am represented by several galleries in Halifax, NS. In 2018, I began the practice of daily painting…..one small painting every day for artistic growth. I also began my journey of painting en plein air on a regular basis. I continually find inspiration in the mediums themselves by exploring with different techniques and textures. Painting gives me the freedom to explore hidden perceptions and express them by blending closely observed reality with colour, texture, patterns and light. I do not subscribe to the idea that an artist has only one true voice or style of painting.

Exhibitions:

-Contributing artist at the Teichert Gallery, Halifax, NS since 1998.

-Represented by 14 Bells Fine Art Gallery, Halifax, NS 2017 to present

-Group exhibition at the Teichert Gallery, Halifax, NS 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009,2010, 2017, 2018

-Holiday on the Harbour Charity Ball, December, 2008

-Group annual juried show – NS Public Archives, 2009, 2010, 2017 (CAS)

-Group exhibition at Mic Mac Mall, 2008, 2009, 2010 (DVAS)

-Group exhibition at the Craig Gallery, 2008,2009, 2010, 2017(DVAS)

-The Lunenburg Art Gallery, 2010

-Group floral show at 14 Bells Fine Art Gallery, Halifax, NS 2018

-Solo show “This Place I call Home” at 14 Bells Fine Art Gallery, Halifax, NS 2018

-The Old Anderson House, 2010

-L’Arche annual group show, Halifax, NS, 2010, 2017, 2018

Awards:

-First Place (Pauline Manning Award) CAS annual juried show, Halifax, NS 2017

-Honourable Mention floral/still life CAS annual juried show, Halifax, NS 2010, 2017

A lifelong resident of Halifax, Nova Scotia, artist R. J. Marchand is inspired by the natural world of his native province and beyond. For thirty years he has been working almost exclusively in acrylics, inks, and watercolours. His paintings exhibit an eclectic range of influences including impressionist painters such as Monet and Japanese print makers such as Hokusai. His work, which combines both abstraction and realism, often includes representations of animals, suggesting a mystical relationship between the animal and the observer. His work can be found in professional offices and personal collections.

MY VISION

“ Seeing clearly and completely is always the most challenging part of the painting process, and perhaps the most challenging part of the process of living as well. For me, the expression of that authentic vision combines both realism and abstraction to create a story that is at once both real and not real, both a thing and an idea. I love the pure emotional allure of abstraction and the joy in my relationship to the paint itself, while the realism allows me to focus externally on the beauty to be found in the world outside of my studio. That beauty is almost always found in the natural world and the fleeting glimpses that we get of it, and my emotional orientation is invariably one of reverence.

Every work is an expression of the relationship between me and my subject, and more specifically the space between us. In his poem ‘Not Ideas about the Thing but the Thing Itself’, Wallace Stevens captures this tension between the thing as it is and the thing as we see it. That tension, between reality and the way in which I experience reality, is at the heart of my artistic journey. Each painting is both an exploration of the bird or animal that I paint and my subjective experience of it. ”

Artist Robert Lyon has spent the past 3 decades influenced by the Tantramar Marshes and inspired by the birds that inhabit the landscape. His watercolours have been commissioned by Canadian Wildlife Service, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Wetlands for the Americas, Ducks Unlimited and Fundy National Park and can be found in many private collections.

He is also the author and illustrator of 9 books for children and has been the illustrator for 3 others. His studio is situated on the edge of the Tantramar Marshes in Sackville, New Brunswick.

Robert approaches nature with wide-eyed wonder and a deep fascination for the small and intimate moments that make up life.

I graduated from the Ontario College of Art in Fine Arts and spent over 30 years working for an artists’ paint manufacturer in Toronto, during which time to I continued to paint and exhibit. My wife and I retired in 2016 and decided a move to Halifax, Nova Scotia would be an appropriate retirement locale. Devoting as much time as possible to painting and exploring our new city and province are our pastimes. The ever changing light and new terrain continue to be a major artistic influence.

Sanna was born in Finland, and as a young child quickly became familiar with the vernacular of weaving in her home country. Sanna was already an accomplished weaver by the time she came to Halifax, Nova Scotia in the mid 1990’s. It was there she met Douglas Drdul, a gifted stringed instrument maker, beginning a partnership that has led to an extraordinary collaboration of uniquely inspired pieces combining their individual mastery of medium into a singular artistic vision. After studying the virtuosity and subtlety of wool felting, Sanna developed a unique ability to ‘paint’ with fibre. At first glance it seems her images must have been rendered in pastel or paint, reflecting her astonishing abilities as a textile artist. After interpreting the carved wood elements Douglas has created for the piece, the process of creating her ‘felted canvas’ begins. Vividly colored and subtly rendered felt images are complimented by exquisitely carved panels from Black Walnut, Birch and Limewood. In a unique relationship between two artists and two media, a single story is told.

The felted and wood elements come together in a cohesive image that defy the limitations of fibre and wood, creating canvases that exude the nuance of sunlight through mist and the primeval power of the land. Sanna has extensive teaching experience both in Canada and abroad, including: Artist in Residence Program, Central Finland Institute of Arts, Petajavesi, Finland. Sculptural Felt Making Workshop, Hants Shore Community Health Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada. Felt Making Course, Kasi Ja Taideteollisuusoppilaitos, Seinajoki, Finland.

Sanna and Douglas live in Walton, Nova Scotia, Canada with their son Olki.

"I have always been a compulsive maker. To produce an object has been the solvent for a curious, racing mind since I was very young. When I realized many of my ideas were difficult to explain in words and that I was often the only one who cared if they came into existence or not, I knew I was an artist. I graduated from Georgian College in Ontario and then NSCAD in Halifax. Both of these educational adventures were incredible, and they left me haunted with the knowledge that you can not learn enough when it comes to art. Since 2001 I have been rooting around in Nova Scotia finding, salvaging, pack ratting, and reinventing objects. Nothing gets my muse going better than a forgotten box of clutter. Or a blank canvas. Or the uncarved block."

Shelley Mitchell was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now divides her time between Halifax and Lunenburg, NS. After attending her Foundation year at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and studying at Georgian College of Applied Art in Ontario she worked as an architectural draftsman and project manager. Returning to NSCAD, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Painting and Art History. Since then she has shown professionally in both group and solo shows throughout the Maritime Provinces, Ontario and Maine. She was featured in the book “From Land and Sea, Nova Scotia’s Contemporary Landscape Artists” published in 2009 and selected by the Nova Scotian government as the province’s official gift at the Vancouver Olympics. Her work is represented in the Canadiana Fund State Art Collection in Ottawa as well as many private and corporate collections in Canada, the U.S.A. and Europe. She is a founding member of PLANS (Professional Living Artists of Nova Scotia) a group devoted to the promotion of realist art in this province.

"Art is not always a strictly aesthetic process; it is a means of imposing form on our thoughts and experience so we can recognize what moves us. I render the space and objects around me to give meaning and value to them and as a meditation. The resulting paintings embody serenity and balance and an escape into a tranquil moment." - Shelley Mitchell

Tabatha has been drawing and painting for as long as she could be trusted not to drink paint water. Born in Portland Oregon, her formative years were spent between the mountainous greens of the Cascades and the more arid climes of California. She grew up in a family that supported her creative endeavours from a very early age, where the policy of never leaving the house without a sketchbook was strictly adhered to. She is currently living in Nova Scotia, working towards finishing her Bachelor of Fine Arts at NSCAD University with a focus in painting and printmaking. 

Tabatha is mesmerized by the rich colours and tactility of oil paint––having discovered the medium at the tender age of thirteen––and has been enamoured ever since. She is always frustrated and delighted in equal measure by whatever puzzles are posed by each consecutive work.

I was born and grew up in Bermuda but now live permanently in Halifax, Nova Scotia. After a 28 year career as a professor of Biology, I turned my passion to painting in watercolour. My paintings are largely landscapes and/or waterscapes. My subjects include Bermuda scenes, Vermont farmsteads, lakes and rivers, and Nova Scotian marsh-lands, flood plains, and lakes. I also love painting Margaree River, and other Cape Breton scenes. In all my paintings, I attempt to capture the essence of the environment, especially in creating the energy and mood of the subject.

Trevor Novak is a Halifax based visual artist whose practice is focused on digital art and sculpture. He studied ceramics at Sheridan College and received a BFA in ceramics at NSCAD University. Trevor has taken part in artist residencies in Medicine Hat, Cape Breton and Halifax, and is currently working out of a studio in the north end of Halifax. 

Tylor McNeil is an Atlantic Canadian artist living in the west. The fibre of who he is and where his art comes from is still deeply entrenched in his east coast values set in his upbringing.

As a young child Tylor had much difficulty in school. When he and his sister were given oil painting sets on the same Christmas which she quickly grew bored of, he found his natural calling. He started off by taking over both art sets and over the next decades he grew and developed his talent. As he blossomed through art he was supported by his mother, various school teachers who let him express himself through art, and mainly his sister who, in their teens, would ride around on his motorcycle with him, holding paintings to help present his work to galleries for representation. His sister was and still is, one of his biggest supporters. Tylor’s father on the other hand was skeptical as he held old school male values which tied him to a belief of what men should be. This would become an overarching theme later on in Tylors works. Masculinity and struggles between generations and where males fit into society are continual themes originating from these early days. At one of Tylor’s first art shows his father realized his sons’ talent and seemed to finally understand and accept that it was okay to be different and to value Tylor’s talents as they were. Tylor's love of, and skill at oil painting grew through the years leading him to Mount Allison University in New Brunswick where he gained formal training and was happy to receive schooling with a very like minded group of people.

After a couple years of university training Tylor felt he had gleaned what he wanted from school and set out to pave his own way. Tylor spent several years in British Columbia before moving to Cape Breton Island with his wife and child. There he really came into his own and blossomed as an artist creating more cohesive bodies of work. He might say it was the sea and salt air, but it was definitely a transition with the birth of his son that propelled him forward into a full time career. After multiple dabblings into a variety of styles and genres Tylor found great satisfaction and challenge as a nature and floral artist. Over the past four years he has, and continues to hone his craft and skill in this area. His proficiency has paid off in having multiple gallery showings in Nova Scotia, securing gallery representation, and a lucrative contract with Canada Post to name a few highlights. Through this experience Tylor was propelled into becoming a professional artist.

In the past year and a half Tylor has returned to the very west coast of British Columbia on Vancouver Island where he has a private studio and continues to create and grow his talents in florals as well as toying in plein air and natural landscapes.

Watercolourist W. Scott Sinclair was born Halifax Nova Scotia. Scott has lived in Halifax since 1996 after moving back from Toronto. He graduated from Central St Martin’s School of Art and Design in London England in 1978. He currently teaches a drawing/design class part-time at NSCAD. Scott’s watercolours hang in private collections in Nova Scotia, England and Scotland.

Statement

“I started working seriously in watercolours in 2009 after recovering from major eye surgery. I had 9 weeks of recovery time often spending hours each day squinting and sketching waiting for my vision to return. Not to waste any time, I started painting as soon as possible -a way of celebrating the return of my sight

Basically I see myself as a non regional landscape watercolourist. I use a collective visual approach to image creation. Images are generated from many sources -my travels, my site sketches, my photos, my memories. A sense of place, light quality and weather often dominate my inspirations. Always drawn to strong motifs, I work to capture a moment that pulls the viewer into my experience."

Originally from Quebec City, I have worked with many companies and craftspeople in various fields of commercial and cultural exhibitions. I have worked on thematic, scenic, theatrical and television sets as illustrator, designer, technical designer and workshop carpenter. Since 2001, I have been teaching at the college level in a field of design and applied arts. For several years, I felt the desire to bring my work of illustration "commercial" towards a more artistic and creative momentum. From 2008 onward, I have extended my art towards spontaneity which I find more accessible to all. My overall artistic work is both technical and creative. I study its composition by outlining the main lines. I structure the subject of my art by using mortar. Then, the application of gouache and varnish allows reaching a depth of colorations in nuance. My semi-abstract panoramic landscapes are based on themes leaving room for interpretation and imagination of the observer so that they can appropriate the work in relation to their experience and memories.

Zehava is a self-taught painter who loves painting her surroundings: urban and rural scenes in a bold, confident style and flamboyant colour. Zehava was born and raised in Israel and moved to Canada in the late 1980s. After working as a graphic artist for about a decade, she painted a variety of interior murals across Canada, and then started pursuing fine art painting professionally. Since the early 2000’s she has been active and prolific, producing a collection or two per year while working at a local gallery and conducting art workshops and live demonstrations. She has participated regularly in annual plein-air painting events in Lunenburg and Annapolis Royal. Zehava is represented by several galleries around Nova Scotia and PEI. Her paintings can be found in public and private collections throughout the world. Zehava's artwork was also featured in “From Land and Sea: Nova Scotia’s Contemporary Landscapes” by Dee Appleby and the CBC Sharing the View Calendar.