Artist’s Statement

With my encaustic mixed media, I am attempting to explore mystery, memories and whimsy.  I like to use vintage image transfers, ephemera, artifacts and organic matter in my work.  These vintage objects carry with them the forgotten stories of other people’s lives that help inspire my creative exploration.

With encaustic I can utilize layering, texture and translucent colours.

The encaustic medium consists of beeswax and damar resin which is sap  from an Asian pine tree.  Oil paint is added for colour.

I hope my art brings a little joy and beauty to those who view it.

Biography

Jakki lives in Kitchener, Ontario but grew up in Chicago, Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona.  She has had a lifelong interest in art and has taken many community art courses over the years in watercolour painting, calligraphy, etc.  But when she took an intensive encaustic course with Fergus artist Supria Karmakar a few years ago, she fell in love with the medium.

The artist is a founding member and organizer for the KW Central Art Walk. This annual neighborhood studio tour has taken place each October since 2008.  Jakki was in the Waterloo Community Arts Centre “Colours of Art” show in April, 2011 and was a featured artist on Kitchener City Hall’s digital “Cube Gallery” in August, 2011.  She has also participated in many local art fairs over the years.

Jakki also creates altered art jewelry, altered books and greeting cards.  She has been a singer/songwriter for many years and plays guitar and appalachian mountain dulcimer.  She is currently learning to play the banjo.

Jakki is excited about exploring creative possibilities!

To contact Jakki:
email: annerino_jakki@rogers.com
flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/jakkila
phone: 519.742.2584

Artist Biography

Susan spends much of her life doing legal work so she embraces the liberty and creativity that photography affords her. She has no formal training in either art or photography but she has eagerly embarked on a journey of self-education.  In her photography, Susan attempts to demonstrate her interest in the passage of time through photographing weathered architectural details, cemeteries and nature.  Recently she has been involved in photographing Waterloo Region’s industrial past.  Her series includes highlights from her travels and her exploration of the past.

Artist Statement 

“Time and memory are true artists; they remould reality nearer to the heart’s desire.”

John Dewey

My photography is governed by an interest in capturing the passage of time, be it seasons or centuries, in the architecture that surrounds us.  My current work includes studies of former factories in Waterloo Region which served specific purposes yesterday, and which may be revitalized today.  Before we proceed with their revitalization, we must appreciate their past.

Cemeteries also speak to me of the passage of time and of the significance of memory.  I have photographed cemeteries, large and small; new and old in southern Ontario and in Mexico.

In my recent photography I have attempted to capture moments from the past as reflected in Old World architecture.  I have a particular interest in medieval history and architecture, and my work includes studies of medieval French abbeys. These abbeys resound with the peace of a time and a life, long past.

To contact Susan:
email:susancampbell@bell.blackberry.net

Artist Statement

When an artist chooses to take the step from making art for pleasure into making art as a career, there are certain obstacles that are not widely discussed that can derail even the most determined creator.  This series is about these obstacles.

Upon graduating from art college in 1992, I set out with all the great intentions of becoming a famous Canadian artist, willing to do whatever I had to in order to achieve this goal – joining numerous local art groups, sending out packages and proposals to as many galleries as I could afford, applying for grants, volunteering at an artist-run gallery and later working for that same gallery.  Like so many artists, I often took many meaningless, low paying jobs in order to make the money needed to further my career, and in 2003 I hit a wall.  Not only was I not succeeding as a professional artist, I had ceased to even want to create art anymore, even as I continued to make art.  I found that everything I read, everything I saw, only solidified the thoughts in my mind that everything I had to say about art had been said before, by artists far more eloquent than I, and felt it was futile to even continue.  However, in 2009, after a conversation with a fellow sculptor about why we make art, I came to realize what exactly the obstacles were that were keeping me from making anything that I felt to be ‘of value’ in my studio.  This lead to the first work in this series, “fear”, and the rest of the series followed.  So far, four pieces in the series are completed, with a total of eight planned.

It is my intention to expose these obstacles through the image most familiar to anyone in the art field – the studio.  My hope is to bring these obstacles out into a place where they can be discussed, and hopefully, conquered.

Biography

l.t.dougherty has been working as an artist since she graduated from the Sculpture/Installation course at OCAD in 1992.  During those nearly twenty years her work has spanned, crossed, and combined numerous mediums including performance art, poetry and short story writing, monocasts, sculptural castings, oil paint and watercolour, and sculptural collage pop-ups.  She is, however, best known for her work in self-defined myth cabinets.  Myth cabinets typically are built using salvaged wooden boxes and objects and combine word, sculpture, paint, and collage.  As director of an artist-run gallery in London, Ontario, she assisted her peers in pursuing their own art careers.  Previously she taught sculptural workshops in a variety of mediums for children and, throughout her life, has volunteered in various art-related capacities.

Dougherty’s current interest has lead her to working on larger sculpture/painted works for exhibitions.  Her work has been shown in various locations across Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, France, Colorado, Texas, and Lithuania.  These shows were both juried and unjuried, group and solo exhibitions.

Her work is in permanent and private collections internationally.

To contact L.T.:
email:dougherty@gmail.com

Artist Statement

The opportunity to explore and experiment with techniques and materials across mediums is fundamental to my arts practice as a mixed media artist. This body of work is a visual exploration of the essence of places often visited and well loved. Technically it is an extension of my earlier work; creating paintings by using hot or cold patination techniques on copper to colour and etch into the surface, before going back in with oil paints to finish the composition.

Biography

Upon completion of a Bachelor of Education, Cathy taught children with special needs for the Waterloo County Board of Education. She left teaching to became a full-time mother and began taking community art courses in drawing, painting, fiber arts and clay. A decision to pursue art seriously led to enrolment as a mature student in the Fine Arts program at the University of Waterloo. Cathy received numerous awards for artistic merit and academic excellence.  Cathy is the founder of the Artists’ Critique Group, the BOX Art Show and Sale, is the General Organizer of that annual November show, and has served as juror for the City of Kitchener Public Art Competition, among other volunteer community art activities. The artist works in Kitchener, and lives in Waterloo with her family where she is represented by Harbinger Gallery. Locally Cathy’s work has been shown at BOX 10, BOX 09, Globe Studios, The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Gallery 96, The Waterloo City Atrium, Walper Terrace Hotel, Eldon Gallery, and Homer Watson House and Gallery.

To contact Cathy:
email: cfarwell@sympatico.ca

Artist Statement

I work without any predetermined concept or source of imagery.  I improvise and  use repetition, patterning, and geometric shapes in my work  and find that improvisation generates new ideas and concepts. This process of repetition stress the concept of meditation and is reminiscent of hand made Persian rugs and the rich colours of Persian tiles which are created using the same concept.

I use  painting, print, and installation  in my art making as suits my projects.

Biography

Fatima Garzan was born in Tehran, Iran.  Fatima has a BA in Economics and studied Fine Arts at the University of Waterloo where she received her Honours Bachelor of Arts in painting and printmaking in 2005.  She has exhibited in Canada and abroad.  Her works are included in the Canada Council Art Bank, City of Kitchener, the University of Waterloo prints archive, and private collections. She is one of the founding members of BOX   a non- profit art initiative in the Waterloo Region.

To contact Fatima:
email: fatima@fatimagarzan.com

Artist Statement

Upon seeing a small image that I had painted, a juror suggested that I might be interested in enlarging on the concept of the image. In the center of interest, this piece had flowers with the background broken into squares and rectangles. The juror felt that it might bring the traditional watercolour medium into our more contemporary world.

In thinking on this, I realized that everything we see today is broken into geometrics. In particular, when we turn on any of our electronic devices like our computers or cell phones, everything is contained in lines, squares or rectangles. It is what we constantly see and the way we have learned to think. However, we also have the need for the organic in our lives to nurture us spiritually, physically and mentally. In meditating and sketching with both aspects in mind, I became excited to do this body of work. For me, it combines the geometric with the organic in a visually pleasing way. The combination also nurtures the basic human needs of spirit, mind, and body.

Biography

Gingerich started her art career in her early fifties by taking four studio courses at the University of Waterloo. She followed this with several weekend workshops in watercolour. From there, it was self-teaching and learning by experience.

She has participated in several juried art shows and teaches watercolour classes at her home studio in New Hamburg.

To contact Marie:
email: stanarie@hotmail.com

Artist Statement

My work as a whole is reflective of my journey through life.  Each piece tells part of the story.  Driven by emotion, my paintings express feelings of ambition, hope, fear, exhilaration and determination.  Bold colors and strong lines represent strength while blended, textured areas speak more to personal growth, passion and the pursuit of happiness.  I feel that everyone, in one way or another can relate to all these emotions and hope that through my work can be inspired and motivated to overcome challenges and create their own poetic life.

Biography

Jennifer Gough is a self-taught abstract painter.  Gough has been working as a visual artist in the Kitchener/Waterloo area for the past five years.  During this short period of time Jennifer has established a strong presence in the arts community.  In 2010 Gough was named one of Waterloo Regional Record’s “40 Under 40″, as well as being nominated for Woman of the Year Arts & Culture, Kitchener Rogers/Oktoberfest.  In 2011 Gough was nominated for the Waterloo Region Arts Award in the Visual Arts category.

Four years ago Gough launched the very successful opening of her own studio and gallery M.E.S.A. (Minds Eye Studio Art).  The gallery is home to her work year round and is host to numerous public and private showings. Recently Gough has expanded her reach and opened the gallery doors to local and surrounding area artists, emerging and established, to help promote arts and culture in the Kitchener/Waterloo Region.

To contact Jennifer:
email: jennifer@mindseyestudioart.com
website: www.mindseyestudioart.com
phone: 519.504.3426

Artist’s statement

“To contemplate a landscape is to feel a deeply spiritual sense of connection to one’s surroundings, and can lead to deeply personal, self-reflexive epiphanies that reinforce the complexity of our experience and our inescapable bond with our environment. When external appearances obscure the inner facts of our lives, it is only through a careful examination of our place in nature that we can peel away the layers to reveal something more truly reflective of ourselves.”

Biography

Originally born in Belfast, Ireland, nik harron immigrated to Canada in 1981, and has recently chosen to make his home in Kitchener, Ontario.

His creative work spans several disciplines, but has focused in recent years on the Canadian landscape. His heavily textural approach to painting bridges the gap between traditional painting and sculpture. Each painting begins with an initially white surface that is sculpted from heavy acrylic mediums which is then coated in many layers of coloured glazes. In some cases, additional detail is added by carving the surface to create fine marks which are sometimes refilled with heavily pigmented paint. Often, additional visual texture is highlighted by scrubbing the surface when wet, or sanding when dry, to emphasize the underlying three-dimensional structure.

Due to the textured surface, the appearance of the paintings can appear to shift dramatically with the natural daily light cycle, creating a dynamic visual experience.

Thematically, for nearly twenty years, his exhibited art has explored the surface of the world as a mirror to the inner landscape, highlighting the inescapable fact that the most vivid realities of our lives are hidden within impenetrable surfaces.

His work is informed by a global approach to image refinement developed during nearly 22 years of commercial and scientific digital image creation, an understanding of the fractal qualities of the natural world, and a nuanced appreciation for the human visual experience— gleaned while working for leading vision researchers at the Visual Motor Research Group at the University of Western Ontario.

To view more of nik’s work, visit: www.nikharron.com
To contact Nik:
email: nik@nikharron.com

Artist Statement

I create images based on my observations looking out the side window.  Everyday glances are given definition.  I use technical drafting elements in my work, creating landscapes that are built like stage sets with defined components. This graphic style preserves the scenes in a concrete manner.

Biography

Jason Keenan was born in Royal Oak, Michigan in 1978.  In 2000, he received a degree in Industrial Design at Pratt Institute, School of Art and Design in Brooklyn, New York. For several years, Keenan worked as an artist and designer in Detroit, Michigan.  During that time he participated in several exhibitions at the Primary Space Gallery in Hamtramck, Michigan.  Keenan currently lives and works in Kitchener, Ontario.

To contact Jason:
email:johngrahamhofstetter@gmail.com

Artist Statement

I have often discovered that the places from my memories are different in reality. A couple years ago, I revisited my old hometown thinking of my playful childhood memories. Frankly, I was disappointed to see differences between places in real and places I have always envisioned them. Then I realized that my good emotions and relationships with people around me at that time added to my memories and created new fantasy places in my mind.  As a result, my sweet memories become brighter and more beautiful while forms become uncertain and lose details. I began to revisit my places through my brush strokes from my memories on canvas. Lately, I have extended my painting to places I never been, but taking the same process and recreating my own places by altering forms and colours.

Artist biography

After graduating from University of Waterloo, majoring in Fine arts studio, Yaeyul has been working as a freelance artist in Waterloo, Ontario. She won C. J. Mills Printmaking Award in 2008.

Her ideas come from daily thoughts, memories and experiences. She enjoys exploring ideas and developing new techniques for each theme.

“The study of art through its creation is her lifelong passion and pursuit.”

To contact Yaeyul:
email: Yaeyul@yahoo.ca
website: www.yeayul.com