Ana Isabel is a self-taught artist whose artistic endeavours started off with a simple leap of faith in 2020. Her artistic style has been shaped and moulded by personal experiences growing up in South America as a child, and later on, as an adult living in Canada. Her art can be characterized as both modern and abstract.

Beata gets inspiration from nature and her extensive travels in the world. Through layered texture and carefully chosen colours, she interprets nostalgic, elusive and tranquil emotions of her ever-changing surrounds. Through her paintings she creates real and imagined places where people can contemplate and take time to enjoy the beauty of the world.

Everything Cathy makes reflects her love of texture, colour and whimsy. She dyes and sews fabrics and is engaged in an ever-evolving process. Cathy loves  shibori, the Japanese art of manipulating fabric to resist dye and create pattern. She also does fabric collage, embroidery and works with some vintage and upcycled fabrics. Her creations are practical and she likes to think of them as everyday art.

Elena NL started her path as an artist 20 years ago in realism with classical mediums: pencils, watercolour and oil. However, she found these quite boring, so she moved to surrealistic impressionism in her oil and whimsical collages and paintings in her mixed-media art. Her current style combines whimsy, vibrant colors, and traditional elements with a unique twist, resulting in a modern vintage aesthetic. If you love Alice in Wonderland, you'll understand Elena's world in full.

Erin Beneteau is a multidisciplinary artist based in Gatineau. Her main medium is wood, where she makes boxes and propagation stations. She has also ventured into sculpture with polymer clay, making forest floor scenes, including mushrooms and mosses. She's been known to make little creatures out of felted wool! Drawing has been a major passion throughout her life, as well. There's nothing off-limits!

Istvan’s inspiration is nature, particularly landscapes and florals. Istvan uses photography to collect reference material and explore his emotional response to nature in preparation for work in studio. His preferred media is currently acrylics and watercolour/gouache. When not painting or rambling with his camera, Istvan enjoys learning about art, art history and biographies of famous painters. His favourites are the impressionists and expressionists from the 19th century.

Janet is a mostly self taught silversmith working in silver, copper, brass, and gemstones. She designs in a clean, modern style inspired by nature and she loves mixing metals, texture and colours in her work.  Her work ranges from simple silver and gemstone pieces that make a statement to hand etched copper and brass cuffs and pendants.  She believes that jewelry is one of the few things you can wear to express your personality and style. Be authentic, wear what you love!

As a creative and spiritual individual, Joanne has chosen to paint as a source of meditation and a way to express herself. Joanne believes the cultural mosaic of the world was not meant to create differences in humanity but rather offer diversity to heighten the human experience.

Julie is an impressionistic landscape pastelist and oil painter. She paints en plein air (on locations) during Ottawa’s four seasons. She applies the principles and elements of art in her paintings such as composition, line, colour temperature, value, etc. She is the founder of the Ottawa Plein Air Painters where she leads the group through the joys of plein air painting. She teaches art to beginners and advanced artists during her non-painting time.

A relative newbie to the world of art, Madhavi discovered her love for painting and specifically watercolors during the long dreary months of Covid. As silver linings go, this was the best and she hasn't looked back since. Her watercolor paintings often have meditational value for her and help her unwind from the pressures of a busy full-time career and other commitments. Madhavi loves painting any subject that speaks to her heart.

Melissa Henderson, of Tree of Life Pottery, has been a potter for over four years. She specializes in functional bowls of varying sizes and shapes. She also creates small to medium-sized planter pots. She is a lifelong learner, and is very excited to continue to develop and hone her pottery skills. Her goal is to join other local artists in giving the community accessto beautiful, one of a kind works of art at reasonable prices.

As a self-taught artist Rachel has dabbled with various mediums until she was introduced to oils, her medium of choice. Her paintings’ subjects vary as an emotional response to both personal and travel, nature, her family and friends and her vivid imagination.

Ruth is passionate about nature and colour. She particularly loves the unique properties of watercolours. She produces pieces that often reflect trees and she likes to install them in antique wooden windows to frame them, so it appears like you are looking out the window. She also produces greeting cards using watercolour. P

Sierra Killam is a Toronto artist living and working in Ottawa, Ontario. Her kindergarten teacher proclaimed that she was destined for art school, but Sierra found her way to a Master of Science degree instead. After a creative childhood full of drawing, knitting, and quilting, she turned to art in earnest to cope with the stresses of graduate school. Painting offers endless challenges and rewards, and Sierra thrills at the magic of transforming a blank surface into an expression of joy.

Tom Murphy has been carving wood and stone for over 35 years, using traditional hand tools on stones such as soapstone, serpentine, and chlorite. A former environmental professional, his lifelong respect for nature shapes his work, often inspired by fish, birds, whales, mushrooms, and trees. Tom first carved chalk as a boy and returned to carving later in life, guided by mentor and friend Rod Palliser. He now focuses on stone, drawn to the patience and precision it demands and the way each piece reveals its hidden colour and veining.

André is a self-taught sculptor with over 40 years of experience in woodcarving. In the most recent years, he has explored underglazing and opted to pursue clay sculpting. As an expert in relief sculpting, he strives to create 3-dimensional illusions in wood and clay, and with his painting.

Bilgin started playing with clay, seriously, in about 2013. He likes building different forms with clay, functional or not, and making a note of his thoughts and feelings at the time. He’s amazed to discover every day, many of the beautiful and individual pieces that ceramic artists and artisans have created over thousands of years, and are still creating today. In ceramics, ‘the sky is the limit’ for creativity.

Cecilia Chan is an Ottawa-based artist with a passion for landscape and cityscape painting, working primarily in oil and acrylic. Her style is rooted in Impressionism, characterized by vibrant colours and expressive brushstrokes that capture the energy and atmosphere of a scene. In 2023, she returned to painting en plein-air, reconnecting with nature and rediscovering the joy of creating art outdoors.

As a self-taught artist, Elizabeth lives and works out of her home studio in Ottawa when she isn’t in the classroom teaching. Elizabeth blends acrylic paint on canvas to capture moments of beauty found in everyday life. She strives to evoke an emotional response by capturing fleeting, ephemeral moments from nature, and the majestic beauty of landscapes in which she finds herself.

Gerry has spent many years collecting found objects whose shape, size, texture, and colour appealed to me. He was subsequently inspired to assemble these pieces into both abstract and representational sculptures. The objects that he collects are from a bygone era, such as rusted machinery, automotive parts and farm implements. He also likes to incorporate old toys and games into these creations. Gerry feels that others could appreciate these old objects re-imagined into new forms. These pieces lend a playful air of nostalgia to any environment.

As a self-taught fibre artist, Jackie creates playful, visually dynamic fibre artwork using traditional hand-weaving techniques. She loves the tactile experience of working with natural fibres and the challenge of creating abstract designs that leave room for personal interpretation. Weaving is a free flowing, spontaneous and meditative process so each piece is an originally designed and handmade work of art.

Growing up in small Northern Ontario communities, Janice always loved the various natural landscapes, mostly attracted to all bodies of water and the beauty surrounding them. She started painting as a teen and had a few pauses over the years until 2016. She now paints acrylic landscapes in her studio in Orleans. She infuses vibrant colours into her work with plenty of glazes while trying to capture the most stunning moments that her photos could not quite accomplish.

Joel is a young man with Down syndrome blessed with a unique artistic vision. Joel has been doing art for many years, and his singular style has evolved through participation in various local art groups as well as through his own experimentation. His primary medium is ink, and he also experiments with water colours and acrylics. His joyous creations capture themes of life, family, friends, and love.

All her life, Linda has loved jewellery and so, 24 years ago, Linda Jones Jewelry was born. Over time her techniques and style have evolved and are still evolving. She has taught classes in Ottawa and Montreal on how to work with silver. A couple of her pieces have appeared in publications in Europe and the USA. She is most proud of the Goldart Award for Best Jewellery she won at the New Art Festival in Ottawa in 2023.

Mark Frutkin is an Ottawa author of 19 books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, including the Trillium-winning novel, Fabrizio's Return published by Knopf Canada. His most recent book is a collection of short and medium-length essays titled The Walled Garden published by Guernica Editions.

Tuuma furniture highlights the timeless, natural beauty of wood through innovative, custom designs. Every piece aims for balance between function and form, utility and refinement. From these principals, a piece of functional sculpture is created for your home.

Roanne’s mixed media art is rooted in reflections on everyday moments, often overlooked. Her collages juxtapose ephemera with more delicate papers, as she plays with layers and texture, on substrates of upcycled materials such as reclaimed wood. Her work has found new homes across Canada and the US.

Sandra was born in NFLD and moved to Ottawa at a young age but NFLD is home. Started painting in 2017 and fell in love with the flow of colour and texture. She works with acrylics mostly but also with oils, inks and fluid paints. Texture is an element in most of Sandra's work.

Sonia's first book, The Lebanese Dishwasher, co-won the 2012 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest. She has two poetry collections Turkish Delight, Montreal Winter and A Samurai’s Pink House. Her novel The Allspice Bath was the 2020 IPPY Gold Medal winner and the 2020 International Book Awards winner for Multicultural Fiction and a finalist in the 2020 Ottawa Book Awards. Her first children’s picture book Samantha’s Sandwich Stand was published by Renaissance Press in 2021.

Barbara loves creating, whether it's with using metal and gems to make jewellery or painting in media such as watercolour, acrylic, ink, coloured pencil, or marker. The drive to create is strong so any time that can be spent doing so, is a blessing. Barbara aims to make original one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces and art that often represents nature and all its beauty.

In 2020, Caren realized a dream of starting a creative side hustle to her busy career as a graphic designer. One of her specialties is higher end raised pet feeders made out of various hardwoods. All of her work is well thought out and her pieces are utilitarian as well as beautiful. Offerings include coasters, hangers, unique ornaments and gorgeous charcuterie boards.

Born in Košice, Slovakia, Darina immigrated to Canada in 1980 with her young family. She returned to painting in 1995 and has since studied with leading contemporary artists across North America, always seeking to learn and refine her skills. Her work has appeared in exhibitions with Arteast, Art Network Ottawa, the Federation of Canadian Artists, and Oil Painters of America, earning numerous awards. A major solo show at the Slovak Embassy in Ottawa featured 56 of her paintings. Working primarily in oils, Darina paints a wide range of subjects, finding in her art both joy and a peaceful refuge for the soul.

While painting primarily in oil and acrylic, Ellen seeks to capture and communicate the energy of nature in her work. It is “the force that through the green fuse drives the flower”. She has curated and organized many local exhibits and art events.

Heather is an artist and illustrator specializing in drawing with various media including pen, ballpoint pen, pencil and recently water colour. Her drawings are inspired by allegorical literature and film and informed by her life experiences. The female protagonists in her work often face peril, isolation and both physical and mental struggles, but respond with creativity, imagination and resilience. Recently, Heather has started to work paper into two or three-dimensional layered pieces and paper sculptures. The layering of the paper creates a physical and psychological depth, allowing the viewer to be drawn ever more intimately into the magical worlds and narratives embodied in the art.

James Gregory is a Geologist by education. His original inspiration to carve rocks came from an Inuit stone carver in the Canadian Arctic, and later from the beautiful red rocks of Sedona, AZ. His degree in Geology doesn’t make him a better artist, but it does give him an appreciation of the history of rocks and the stories they tell. He looks for rocks that have a personality that speak to him, literally saying, "Take me home and make me into something beautiful."

Creating original artwork inspired by her environment, Jean has been influenced by the many different places and events of her past. As a Scottish born, Canadian artist, her love of the natural world has inspired these works. Her canvases show a strong sense of colour and movement, and have come from the fleeting memories of the nomadic childhood she enjoyed. She continues to travel and explore with her paints wherever she goes.

Julie explores art through colour using different mediums, primarily fibre and acrylic. As a fibre artist she creates hand made wet felted scarves, shawls, wraps, and framed abstract artwork. She uses high quality merino wool and silk in a multitude of colours. Her wearables can be both worn as a beautiful statement piece plus many can be displayed on the wall as artwork. 

Lindsay Watson is a contemporary oil painter, based in Ottawa, who finds inspiration in the world around her.   Starting with photographs, (all her own), of the small and beautiful moments of her life, such as toys strewn on the floor, kitchen scenes, or landscapes, Watson upcycles this imagery into contemporary oil paintings that range from nearly abstract to photorealistic.  

Marta enjoys exploring shapes, textures, colour, and light in her mixed media abstract acrylic pieces. As abstract art is left to the interpretation of the viewer, Marta finds the creative process very meditative. It is truly therapy for the soul. Marta has a knack for bringing balance, movement and colour harmony into each of her pieces.

Pattie Hendry Klus is a retired palliative care nurse. Her extensive experience with caring for patients (who represented all of society) is reflected in her writing. She has a collection of published essays and poems, and her first published book is The Adventures of Auntie Pasta. Pattie also enjoys painting original watercolour art cards and book marks, and producing photo cards. She came to painting in her 60's which proves it’s never too late to learn new things.

Rola Alameddine Bleik is a lifelong learner with an academic background in Visual Arts . Rola immigrated to Canada, bringing with her a rich cultural heritage that continues to shape her artistic journey. Her art is a vibrant celebration of the beauty she discovers in nature and the diverse cultures she has encountered. Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions and juried shows

Sara is inspired by the incredibly diverse surfaces of water, land and sky. Her abstract landscapes depict nature constantly changing light and reflections. She uses a variety of materials to create paintings rich in colour and texture. The balance of layering and removing paint in her artwork gets beneath the surface and creates depth and luminosity.

Sue Daugherty has been an artist for most of her life while teaching Visual Art in secondary school, college, and sessionals at university for many years. Now, she is retired and can focus on her own art more than teaching others!