Robert Bozak attend the Kootenay School of Art in BC from 1963 to 1964. He then went on to receive an Honours Diploma at the Alberta College of Art in 1967 and a MFA from York University in 1988. Until about 1969, Bozak worked primarily as a potter, moving into a variety of media from lithograph to neon.

In 1972 he became interested in representational imagery. He says in his AGO Artist's with their Work series, "Television was mainly responsible for involving me with my environment and, as a result, for my using it as a source for art works. People and their activities are important to me - my activity is that of documenting this importance." Throughout the 1970's and 1980's he did a series of portraits of great Canadians such as Stompin' Tom Connors and Foster Hewitt.

He was also an active player in the London, Ontario art scene. He along with Curnoe and Favro was a founding member of the Forest City Gallery, one of the first parallel galleries in Canada. Since 1997, Bozak has been a regular participant in "Fire and Earth" the Contemporary Canadian Ceramics exhibit. Bozak has had many one-man exhibitions, including one at the Woodstock Art Gallery in 1978, and is represented in several important public collections.

Amanda was born, grew up, and currently resides in St.Thomas, Ontario. She has always been drawn to creative endeavours and fell in love with printmaking while attending the University of Western Ontario, from which she graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Art degree in Visual Arts, a Graduate Diploma in Arts Management, and a Bachelor of Education degree. She has been building her body of work by creating limited-edition multi-colour relief prints using mainly

linocuts for over ten years. She continues to print through the partnership she has enjoyed with the Riverside Print Group from Cambridge, Ontario, who have generously allowed her access to their printing press over the years. She is also experiments with hand pressing linocuts in her own studio at home. She is a current member of The Art Emporium with a permanent display in the boathouse gallery, and has shown at many outdoor art festivals throughout southwestern Ontario, in local group shows, and in other galleries in St.Thomas, London, Woodstock, Waterloo, and Brampton.

Amanda considers her art-making process to be one of both deconstruction and reconstruction of landscape spaces. The design process divides the landscape into shapes but the printing process rebuilds the landscape through the layering of colour. This creates something familiar but precarious, as nature is, and comments on the beauty and destruction of natural spaces. For her, the printmaking process is symbolic: as many of these places are being destroyed, her art-making process allows her to put them back together, building them piece by piece. But there is always the moment of realization that the reconstruction is symbolic, and in reality all we have left are these reconstructed images and not reconstructed spaces.

Written by Miss Carolyn Curtis, 1973 (from the files of the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre)

"Born in 1903 in St. Thomas, Ontario

Attended Wellington Street School.

I always liked to draw as a child - when around 12 years old did a few watercolours and pastels, mostly from imagination - had no training except what was taught in school in those days.  A neighbour woman took me one day to show my efforts to Mr. Ross Osgood. I don’t recall what he said of my work but I remember his as a kindly man.

I attended St. Thomas Collegiate, graduating in Jr. Matriculation in 1922 - graduated in Household Science at Alma College in 1924 with the intentions of going onto McDonald Hall in Guelph to study to be a dietitian.  Because of a hearing problem, was advised not to take up this line of work. My mother then suggested that I go to the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. I was not at all enthusiastic, but agreed to try it out for a year, enrolling in September 1924.  The year stretched out to four, at the end of which I graduated in Commercial art under Mr. J. E. H. McDonald.

This was an interesting period as several of the teaching staff were members of the famed Group of Seven, namely Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. McDonald, Frederick H. Varley. Others were J. W. Beatty, Emanuel Hahn who taught sculpture, George A Reid who was the principal of the school then, Robert Holmes, noted for his paintings of Ontario wild flowers and others.

I had taken up Commercial Art with the idea of earning my living in that line, but at that time there were few openings for women and also the Great Depression come along about 1931.  I taught handicrafts (which I had learned while at Alma College) in Y.W.C.A. and Girl Guide camps in the summer and also for a short period at Alma College. When the Second war came on, there arose a demand for honour rolls for churches and schools and I did a great deal of lettering on forms supplied by the Government.  In the following years, I also did illuminated addresses and certificates for the City of St. Thomas, local organizations and individuals, where the careful training received under Mr. J. E. H. McDonald came in useful. Their were also several Books of remembrance executed.

In the meantime, I did some outdoor sketching in pencil and studied composition under Mrs. Lila Knowles at Alma College, using that medium.  I also studied lino cuts under Mr. Harry Tallman at Alma. This was about 1934. Because I was interested in black and white work, Mrs. Knowles suggested that etching might be a good medium for me to follow so in February, 1977 I went to Toronto and studied under Mr. Harry Wallace for a few weeks.

In 1939, I studied etching by correspondence under Mr. Harry Sternberg on the staff of the Art Student’s League in New York.  He proved to be an excellent teacher as I was also taught the rudiments of composition. Later, because of the war, there was a shortage of metal so I went back to lino cuts, working on my own, in my spare time.  I began to send work to the Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers. On the strength of the linocuts I was accepted as a member in 1944. In 1945, I studied aquatint Etching under Mr. Sternberg again, Because I had a tendency to be rather “tight” in my work, he suggested doing studies in black and white wash in order to correct this.  This proved to be a turning point as I became interested in watercolour painting, and made my first attempts at outdoor painting in that medium while on a holiday in north Bay in August 1945.

In 1947, I had the opportunity to study for a week under Mr. Nicholas Hornyansky, noted for his very fine aquatint etchings.  He was a kindly, conscientious teacher, but his methods were the opposite of Mr. Sternberg and I found myself in difficulties.  However, I was becoming more and more interested in watercolours and finally dropped the printmaking line. I remained however as a member of the S.C.P.E.&E. Until 1958.

While the early training received during the four years at the O.C.A. was a great help, when I finally took up the watercolour medium in 1945, I leaned mostly from books on the subject in the local library and elsewhere, and sent painting to the Groups shows held each year also in the Library.

Early in 1966, my sister-in-law, Mrs. John F. Curtis had some interior decorating done in her home.  I was commissioned to do six small watercolours of local landmarks for her. They created much interest to friends who came to the house which in turn led to more commissions.

At the October meeting in 1966, The Women’s Art Association had a combined showing of Mrs. Lila Knowles’ and my paintings in the parlour of the Y.W.C.A.  In April 1969, the University Women’s Club had an art auction at the Memorial Arena with proceeds being used to form a nucleus of the work of Elgin County artists.  I put in the “Old Church in October” and several lino cuts as my contribution. Later, who paintings, the Cedarhurst house at 76 Talbot Street and the Amasa Wood Hospital were purchased for the permanent collection at the Art Gallery which was opened in 1970.  Several paintings were sent to the regional show held in the 20/20 Gallery in London, in December 1971. In April 1972, I won third prize for watercolour “Lilacs” at the Second Annual Juried Show at the local Art Gallery. I took part in a four man show in the local gallery in January 1973". ~ Carolyn Curtis 1979

My work is a eulogy for disappearing landscapes, written in simplified shapes, complex textures and jewel like colour. Reflective of my fascination with the abstract patterns and structures of nature, a reverence for the ancient arts of frieze and mosaic, and more contemporarily of the impressionists use of line, colour and texture.

My art has addressed many environmental issues, but none are more dear to my heart than habitat loss. The tenacious bits of wild that defy human activity are important pollinator corridors, and safe haven for many creatures.

They are also innately beautiful.

I feel compelled to record that which is disappearing under pressure from monoculture, development, and climate change.

Bio

I’m an artist.

I was born that way.

I grew up in East London in a working class family.

Dad was a Scout Leader, Mom Brown Owl, both were avid naturalists. My sibs and I were raised to have a deep reverence for the earth.

The eldest of three I was always referred to as ‘the artsy one’.

Art Background

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to make art.

My first success in art was winning an art contest as a child, the prize- lessons at the London Regional Art Museum, now just called Museum London.

My first commissioned work was designing postcard art for my father’s printing business.

I was also ‘employed’ drawing designs for the church bulletin, and school yearbook.

I went to Beck for grade nine as Beal’s art program didn’t start till grade 10, and stayed as one of Mary Redecops’s art geeks. The work I’m doing now is directly descended from a piece I did for my graduating portfolio, though it’s taken several decades to circle back to it. .

As an adult  I self taught for many years, I eventually entered the Western Fair Fine Art Competition in 2005, and won. I then took every workshop and lesson I could find, eventually joining several guilds, and participating in all of their shows. The list is in my CV.

I organized studio tours, art in the parks, and art collectives, I’ve coordinated and consulted on art show’s, and judged competitions, again a full list is in my CV.

 Teaching

Over the years I’ve done a lot of teaching, I’ve taught out of my home studio and at various other locations including PUC Spectrum classes, Op Art a Community Living London initiative, Youth Correctional Services, St Thomas Public Art Centre etc for 30ish years.

In 2011 I became certified as an artist educator, and I have been presenting art based programming in long term care facilities since then, with an emphasis on special needs programming.

From my studio I teach both adults and kids in private and semi private classes. We explore a variety of media, and art styles, often studying an artist and their work, then trying our hand at that artist’s style. We have fearlessly tackled printmaking, assemblage, sculpture, collage, papermaking, intarsia, and so on, plus  many many styles of painting.

I emphasise creative problem solving, along with basic skills in composition, colour mixing, value study and line management. Most of all we have fun.

 I also teach workshops, and do art pARTys.

Process

My process involves using various acrylic mediums to create an image in relief, then using transparent acrylic  glazes to bring the image to life. 

Images usually start as a sketch done plein aire and taken back to my studio for refinement. The sketch is transferred to terraskin, where the textured layers are developed. Multiple layers of glaze are applied to give a very deep complex colour layer to the work. The work is mounted on cradled wooden supports ready for hanging or framing.

I generally work on several pieces at once to allow for drying time between layers.

For more information visit Robin's Facebook .

Robin Baratta's exhibition, "Disappearing Landscapes", has been rescheduled for November 13 to December 23, 2021, in Gallery Three.

Biography

Mary Donlan is an artist based in St. Thomas, ON. She was educated at McMaster University and at the University of Western Ontario, receiving a BFA in 1989. She has exhibited her work in both solo and group shows through out Ontario and British Columbia and is the recipient of several Ontario Arts Council grants.

Artist's statement

My painting is rooted in the history of abstract art and I work from a collage aesthetic. I love abstract art and I am interested in how an artist develops a vocabulary. I use collage to address how we create – merging, synthesizing, layering material on material, pattern on pattern, fragment on fragment, building up an image. So that is my chosen process - layering. I see the process of layering, merging, changing, interweaving and synthesizing as simulating the creative process.

 Currently my paintings are artistic explorations of material. I use paper, acrylic skins, paint shards and sometimes even textiles, to reference the surface of things, to convey a sense of fragility, vulnerability, and impermanence.

 I used to be a happy polychromatic painter. In recent years I have minimized colour and simplified my images. I use acrylic mediums and paints to create luminous surfaces, to embody positive, high energy and resilience. Softness and strength. I use paper, fabric and acrylic skins also because of their ability to convey vulnerability and impermanence, and because they wrinkle really well.

 We are at one with nature in our frailty and mortality.

I have been very influenced by Canadian abstract painters - Les Automatistes, Ron Martin, Jack Bush, Paterson Ewen (with whom I studied at UWO), Ronald Bloore,and Painters Eleven, Cy Twombly, Rebecca Morris, Christopher Wool and many other contemporary abstract artists. Recently I have become interested in Minimalism, in artists such as Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman. I also enjoy contemporary textile art.

Mary Donlan 2020.

Education

B.A. (sociology), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, 1971

B.F.A., University of Western Ontario, London, ON, 1989

M.L.S., University of Western Ontario, London,ON, 1979

Exhibitions – Solo (selected)

Layer by Layer, Woodstock Art Gallery, Woodstock Art Gallery, Feb. 17 – March 24, 2018.

Into the Garden. Campbell River & District Public Art Gallery, Campbell River, B.C. July 2 – Aug.6, 2010.

Seed Bed, Comox Valley Art Gallery, Courtenay, BC, Jan 16 – Feb 27, 2010.

Plant Memories. TAG Gallery, Tidemark Theatre, Campbell River, BC, January 2010.

Symbols & Nature. Thames Art Gallery, Chatham, ON, May 23-June 29, 1997.

Charter Series. Spencer Gallery, Weldon Library, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Nov. 1995 - Jan. 1996.

Collages. Blyth Festival Gallery, Blyth, ON, June 16 - July 8, 1995.

Paintings, Collages. Forest City Gallery, London, ON, Oct. - Nov. 1994

Paintings. Cornwall Regional Art Gallery, Cornwall, ON, Sept.- Oct., 1993.

Ladder paintings. Embassy Cultural House, London, ON, Nov. - Dec. 1992.

Paintings. Visual Arts Centre of Newcastle, Bowmanville, ON, July - Aug., 1991.

Square fetishes. Carnegie Gallery, Dundas, ON, Feb. 1991.

Exhibitions – Group (selected)

Annual Members' Show and Sale, Forest City Gallery, London, ON. 2018, 2019.

Annual Juried Exhibition, St Thomas-Elgin Public Art Center, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.

Visual Elements 59, Woodstock Art Gallery, July 15 to September 23, 2017.

144^th Open Juried Exhibition, Ontario Society of Artists, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON., April 2017.

Comox Airport Art Exhibition, 2012-2013, Comox, BC.

Annual Members' Show, Campbell River & District Public Art Gallery, Campbell River, B.C., 2008 (Award of Merit), 2009 (Honorable Mention), 2010, (Jurors' Award), 2011.

Art of the Paddle, various locations, Campbell River, 2010.

Red, Redder, Reddest, Nanaimo Art Gallery, Nanaimo, B.C. Feb. 2008.

Gallery Artists, Art Sales and Rental, Museum London, London, ON, 2005 – 2006.

London Artists Studio Tour, 2005, and 2006.

Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, ON 2003.

Trias Gallery, 80 Spadina Ave., Toronto, ON 2003-2005.

Disappearing Landscapes, SCI Caledon Centre, Alton, ON Oct. 2002.

15th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Glenhyrst Art Gallery, Brantford, ON Sept.7 - Nov. 3, 2002.

Galleries: Nanaimo Art Gallery, Sales and Rental, Nanaimo, B.C. 2008-11

ArtWorks, London, ON, 2006-2007

Museum London, Art Sales and Rental, London, ON 2005-2007

Trias Gallery, Toronto, ON 2003-2005

Upcoming Exhibition: Mary Donlan, St Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre, St. Thomas, ON, 2021

Artist Statement

"I was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada with my family when I was a child.  I spent half a century living in Toronto before moving to St. Thomas, the home town of my partner, Neil Hubert.  I think I started to paint as a exploration: what could I produce, and what would something I made look like?  I still paint for the mysteries, and also because of the pleasure it gives me.  Being self taught, my studio is like my won private school where I learn something every day through tips from friends, and trial and error.  When it's working and I'm in the moment, time flies and when I wake up sometimes there's a finished canvas on the easel.  If it isn't going great, time can stand still.  Either way, I just enjoy being in my studio, creating my won images in my own environment I like people to feel good when they look at my work and if one of my canvases make it's way to their home it becomes part of that person's daily life then hopefully they get to share in that moment when it all came together" ` Robin Grindley

Robin has exhibited extensively in Toronto, ON and his  work can be found in many private collections. 

Upcoming exhibition: St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre April 17 to May 29, 2021

See  to view more of his artwork.

2019 Exhibitions

Railway City Arts Crawl, group show, February

Art and Soul Café, Port Stanley, January to May

Harbourfront Art Show, Port Stanley, August

Solo show at SOMA Chocolate, Toronto, August

Juried show at St.Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre, In The View of the Artist, September

Group show at Windjammer, Port Stanley, November

2018 Exhibitons

Railway City Arts Crawl, group show, February

Art and Soul Café, Port Stanley, January to May

Harbourfront Art Show, Port Stanley, August

Solo show at 401 Richmond, Toronto, August

Juried show at St.Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre, InThe View of the Artist, September

Group show at Windjammer, Port Stanley, November

2011 to 2017 Exhibitions

June / December 2017, Windjammer Inn, Port Stanley

September 2017, St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre

July 2017, Illumine Gallery, St. Thomas

May 2017, Art and Soul Café, Port Stanley

June 2016, Illumine Gallery, St. Thomas

June 2016, Windjammer Inn, Port Stanley

December 2015, Windjammer Inn, Port Stanley

Since 2010, I’ve participated in the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre annual Art Crawl.

As well, I have a solo show at Southern Accent Restaurant in Toronto every June.

Pre—2011 Exhibitions

May 2010, Art Gallery of Hamilton Art Show and Sate, Hamilton

Spring-Summer 2009, Arts in Elgin magazine

June 20-21, 2009, Southern Accent Restaurant, Toronto

May 23-24, 2009, Elgin Studio Tour, St. Thomas

July – September 2008, Jaydancin, Port Stanley

May 17-18, 2008, Elgin Studio Tour, St. Thomas

November 10-11, 2007, Southern Accent Restaurant, Toronto

September 22-23, 2007, Port Stanley Art Tour, Port Stanley

July 8-9, 2007, Outside Art Festival, Sparta

December 7-9, 2006, 401 Richmond St., Toronto

June 8, 2006, 80 Mill Street, Toronto

July 15 and December 8-10, 2005, 401 Richmond, Toronto

May 14, 2005, 80 Mill Street, Toronto

July 24 and September 4, 2004, 80 Mill Street, Toronto

Robin Grindley

Artist Statement

"I was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada with my family when I was a child.  I spent half a century living in Toronto before moving to St. Thomas, the home town of my partner, Neil Hubert.  I think I started to paint as a exploration: what could I produce, and what would something I made look like?  I still paint for the mysteries, and also because of the pleasure it gives me.  Being self taught, my studio is like my won private school where I learn something every day through tips from friends, and trial and error.  When it's working and I'm in the moment, time flies and when I wake up sometimes there's a finished canvas on the easel.  If it isn't going great, time can stand still.  Either way, I just enjoy being in my studio, creating my won images in my own environment I like people to feel good when they look at my work and if one of my canvases make it's way to their home it becomes part of that person's daily life then hopefully they get to share in that moment when it all came together" ` Robin Grindley

Robin has exhibited extensively in Toronto, ON and his  work can be found in many private collections. 

Upcoming exhibition: St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre April 17 to May 29, 2021

See  to view more of his artwork.

Christopher Golding was born and raised in St. Thomas ON.  He is the grandson of Janet Golding, former mayor of St. Thomas from 1985–1991. He is an energetic emerging street artist that uses a variety of mediums including paint, ink, marker, and spray paint to create his street styled creations.  He is inspired by the everyday and casual conversations.  His images are built layer by layer with each supporting what comes next to create a complex picture plane.  His imagery creeps into his spaces just as the location of his work.    As a street artist, Chris also creates work on unusual surfaces such as store front windows, vinyls, boats and even machinery.  You can find many of his "Legal Walls"  throughout the streets of St. Thomas and Southwestern Ontario. One example of his unique style can be found on the rear of the Art Centre.   For more on Chris and to follow his art journey, you can find him here.

"Legal Walls"

Mitchell Soup Company, St. Thomas, ON

LVS London Vape Shop, London, ON

RM Sotherby's, Blenheim, ON

2019 Performer "Art Battle London", a tournament of live painting, London, ON

Your Highness London, London, ON

Live Painting performance, The Chefs Table, Fanshawe College, London, ON

Forest City Vapes, London, ON

North 49 Vapes, St. Thomas, ON

Zeta Psi Theta Phi Chapter, University of Western Ontario, London, ON

The London Vape Shop, London, ON

Fogged up, London, ON

Talbot Teen Centre, St. Thomas, ON

St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre, St. Thomas, ON

London Airport U Wash, Veterans Memorial, London, ON

Elgin County Railway Museum, Box Car #1, St. Thomas, ON

Back Alley Bar and Grill, St. Thomas, ON

Artist Statement:
The human form is more than just subject matter. For me, it’s the melding of the infinite variety of the shapes and structures with equally unique personalities that provides me with the artistic opportunities for interpretation, the fuel for the expression on canvas if-you-will, of that person’s life and voyages; travels that never take us in straight lines. Likes, dislikes, loves, triumphs, stories, passions, perversions, all provide me with the ammunition for expression with paint to show to others the unique beauty I find in each and every person. This is how I honor the lives of my subjects, and subsequently my own. Like many, I have often struggled to overcome the loathing of my own body, explaining why I often use myself as the subject matter. That said, it’s my own journey that led me to believe that in order to respect and paint the life of another, I should first be able to embrace painting my own. Respect myself... respect others. This is what translates into ever evolving and new perspectives.

BIO:
Angela Hardy is a widely published Canadian portrait and figurative painter whose work has graced the covers and feature articles of numerous international magazines such as American Art Collector, Southwest Art, CFAI Contemporary Fine Art Intl., Visual Language, Poetic Pin-Up, O&S and MiPOesais. As well her art has been showcased and regularly published in PoetsArtists Magazine for the last 7 years, and displayed at Zhou B Art Centre. With features on CBC TV, CBC Radio, and a variety of front page Canadian Newspaper articles.

Her work can also be found in the collections of prestigious North America and European Fine Art collectors such as Howard Tullman, International famed photographer Dr. Andy Gotts MBE MA FBIPP, and Canadian collector Bob Buckingham.

"Angela Hardy's work is simply breathtaking. It oozes depth and feeling and gets under the skin of her subjects. Each brush stroke adds another layer of passion and feeling from this amazing artist, and I am proud to have her work in my collection." Says photographer Dr. Andy Gotts.

Bob Buckingham, Lawyer and collector writes, "Angela's pieces, whether they be a soft, sensuous still life or bold portraits of her avant-garde friends, all reflect the magnificent colors she was infused with as a child, raised under the aurora borealis of Labrador."

Angela holds an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from NSCAD University, Halifax, NS, Canada.

You can find more of her work on her website or on Facebook

Dang ho was born in Palawan, Philippines but now resides in Canada.  His is a proud Vietnamese/Canadian artist working in St. Thomas, On.  Dang attended the Goodman School of Business at Brock University and received his undergraduate degree with an emphasis in entrepreneurial studies.

Dang's work expressive and colourful artworks explore the icon of celebrity and have been exhibited at the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre's "In View of the Artist", during the Railway City's Annual Arts Crawl and Jac's House.

His works are included in many private collections.

You can view more of his work on Facebook

Mary Intven Wallace, award winning artist, educator, and author, shares her love of the land, sea and sky in her contemporary paintings of the Canadian landscape. In her artwork, she shares her view of this wonderful world as a place of vibrant colour. Mary's landscapes brighten the walls of galleries across Canada, many private collections, and are also featured in her published books.

Mary began painting after her first magical trip to Algonquin Park more than a half century ago. Her enduring enthusiasm for Canada’s land continues to flourish, especially when she paints at her woodland studio in the Algonquin Highlands. Honouring the intrinsic balance and beauty of the natural world is a consistent theme in her work. The luminous colours in her paintings conjure connections to the dynamic energy of land, sea and sky.
Her vibrant artworks grace public and private collections around the world, winning awards such as the International White Raven Award and the National Outdoor Book Award. Mary is a longstanding Haliburton School of Art and Design faculty member. Recently, the YMCA of Western Ontario recognized Mary as a ‘Woman of Excellence in Arts, Culture & Education’ for her community contributions as artist. 

Born in Brantford, Ontario and now living in St. Thomas. Studied Advertising Art/Design Mohawk College, Hamilton. First full-time job was as a graphic artist and later Art Director for a design/print firm in Paris, Ontario. In London, Ontario, after putting in a stint as a writer/producer at CBC affiliate CFPL-TV, Dennis returned to painting. He later opened and operated a gallery from 1987 to 1992 that showcased paintings and sculpture of local and regional artists.

Kalichuk’s works are in hundreds of private and corporate collections, mostly in Canada but also many countries worldwide. He has participated in dozens of group and gallery shows in Canada and the U.S.

Dennis is a multi-media artist who tends to work in series. The artist’s current work includes a series of simplified and stylized landscapes called “Earth Tones”. Preferring to work from memory or field sketches, the elements in the scenes are depicted as simple, pure shapes.

The artist created a bold watercolour painting series that captured the sensation of movement of birds and animals in the “Metaphysical Fauna” series. “To accomplish this I use colours and abstracted backgrounds, merged with the subject, of what I imagine to be the aura of energy created by the moving bird or animal.” That series comprises over 200 paintings. He now uses that same technique to capture the energy and excitement of music and sports in his portrait series of original paintings.

Kalichuk’s work also includes semi-abstacted sculptures from Brazilian soapstone and art guitars. In 1998 he began a series of art bikes built from a collection of one-speed cruiser bicycles, mostly from the 30’s and 40’s.

The artist most recently branched out into original music and has written and recorded 4 studio albums as Jumbo Train.

One Person Shows: Elsie Perrin Williams Estate, London “Annual” – 1990

Waverly Mansion, London “Annual” - 1992 SANDY SNELGROVES GALLERY “New Works” 1993

Crouch Library, London “One Man” - 1995

MICHAEL GIBSON GALLERY “Landscapes” – 1996

Imax Theatre, London OPENING – 1996

One Day Show & Sale, Covent Garden Market – 2002

Home Studio Open House Show & Sale, St. Thomas – 2003,05,06,07

St. Thomas Studio Tour – 2007, 08

30^th Anniversary Show – CASO Station St. Thomas - 2018

Group Shows: Lambeth Art Festival, London – 1990, 91

Waterfowl Art Festival, Easton Maryland - 1992

London Regional Art Gallery “Victorian Christmas” – 1993 CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE – 1994

St. Paul’s Annual, London – 1992>2002,04

Wildlife Art Festival, Orlando Florida - 1994

DUNDAS VALLEY SCHOOL OF ART – 1993>2002, 05, 06, 07

London Fall/Winter Art Fair – 1994,95,97,98,99

MICHAEL GIBSON GALLERY Annual Miniature – 1995,96

MICHAEL GIBSON GALLERY Group Charity – 1997,98

OPEN AIR –Art Bikes/Benches/Canoes, London – 2001

St.Thomas / Elgin Public Art Centre Annual Auction – 2003 -07

Appreciation Of The Arts, St. Thomas – 2004, 05

Portside Gallery Annual Miniature Show, Port Stanley – 2006

Port Stanley Art Guild group show, Port Stanley – June 2006, 07

STEPAC 1000 Words Of Nature (3 artist) St. Thomas - 2014

PAINT ONTARIO – Lambton Heritage Museum – 2016, 2018

AEOLIAN Winter Art Show – London, ON - 2017

Railway City Arts Crawl, St. Thomas – 2019, 2020

Articles: SITE/SOUND Magazine, “Prints” – 1/1991

Ontario Living Magazine, “Gallery” – 1991

Hamilton Road News, “Drawn To Community” – 1993

Forest City News, “Artist On The Move” – 8/1995

SCENE Magazine, “Gibson Gallery Show Review” – 1996

Wildlife Art Magazine, “(painting photo)” – 3/1996

Couch Potato to Baked Potato, book “(front cover painting)” - 1998

Inspired By The Thames, book “(painting photo)” – 1999

Celebrating 30 – St. Thomas Times Journal - 2018

Broadcast: CFPL-TV, News, “One Person Show, @ E. Perrin Estate” – 1990

CFPL-TV, Behind The News “D. Kalichuk: Artist/Runner” – 1994

CFPL-TV, Arts & Entertainment, “1 Person Show, Winery” – 1996

The New PL, Arts & Entertainment, “Art Bikes” – 9/2000

Born in St. Thomas, Ontario, Ron Kingswood developed a strong interest in the outdoors as a young man hunting with his father. During his teenage years, he was enamored with the realistic paintings of Don Eckelberry whose work frequented the pages of Audubon magazine and with whom Kingswood would establish a mentor/student correspondence. It was on Eckelberry's recommendation that Kingswood sought formal training at H. B. Beal Secondary School in London, Ontario where he studied colour theory and composition. Around this time, Kingswood discovered the works of fellow Canadian Robert Bateman, the acknowledged dean of wildlife painting who would encourage Kingswood to pursue a fresh vision he could call his own. After achieving enormous success with photo realistic work, Kingswood was advised by Eckelberry to resist the tightly rendered highly illustrative approach. The result of finding his own vision is "a distinctly impressionistic style that is radically different from that of any other wildlife artist.  His mastery of colour, his visual composition, and highly original approach to his subjects are influencing the evolution of animal art." (Southwest Art, June 2001)  As art critic Todd Wilkinson notes, "Although Kingswood, who spends weeks each year in the field as a naturalist, pays homage to animals in his works, he considers his subject matter secondary to the flood of colour flowing off his palette in abstract streaks, rivulets and muted mosaics." Kingswood currently lives and works in Sparta, Ontario.

Born 1959, lives in Sparta, Ontario.

Education

H.B. Beal Art, London, Ontario

University of Western Ontario, Bird Ecology and Ornithology

Selected Exhibitions

2018 An Uncommon Road, Jonathan Cooper, London

2016 Bold. Large. Layered. Minimalist. The Wildlife Art of Ron Kingswood, Jonathan Cooper 2014 Jonathan Cooper, London, UK

2012 Odon Wagner Contemporary, Toronto

2010 St.Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre, St. Thomas, Ontario

From her birthplace in Zim, Usborne, Ontario, Lila Knowles at the age of 20, went to Toronto and studied at Moulton College and with Farquhar McGillivray Knowles.  Dr. Dobson, then Principal of Alma College, viewed her work in Granto and immediately hired her to teach art in September, 1926. This appointment lasted 28 years, interrupted briefly when her husband of one year Farquhar McGillivray Knowles, died in 1932.  Thereafter, she spent summers sketching on the Atlantic Coast and at Colpy’s Bay near Owen Sound, exhibiting her work their in 1937. Other exhibitions have included : The Robert Simpson Company Ltd., Toronto (1944), Alma College (1946), The Little Gallery, Toronto (1951) and the Ontario Loan and Debenture Company, St. Thomas (1967).  When William St. Thomas Smith died in 1947, she purchased his home at 97 Stanley Street and lived their until 1971 when she entered a nursing home. Many area artists have benefited from Mrs. Knowles instruction, both professionally and privately. (From the files of the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre)

The following artworks are a few examples from the permanent collection.

Elizabeth is a self taught professional painter of over twenty years. She works exclusively in oil as she believes the colours and textures allows her to truly capture the complexity of light and dark.  She believes that to truly bring a painting to life, it has to capture the viewer's interest quickly and then draw them into the painting.

Patrick Landsley was born in Winnipeg in 1926. He studied at the Winnipeg School of Art under Lionel Lemoine FitzGerald and Joseph Plaskett (1947-49)  and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School of Art and Design (1950-51) before moving to Paris to study at the Academie Montmartre under Fernand Leger (1952) and at the Academie Ranson (1953). Patrick Landsley taught at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts's School of Art and Design from 1954-66 and at Concordia University's Faculty of Fine Art for almost 30 years (1966-95). His watercolours and mixed media works with oil on multiple levels of masonite are brilliantly coloured and have the appearance of relief collages.  His work is often inspired by the landscape of Greece - its ancient sites, villages, mountains, plains, valleys and sea - a consequence of his frequent trips over the past 15 years.  Patrick Landsley lives and works in Woodstock, Ontario, where he often works as a set designer for the local theatre.

The following is a selection from the permanent collection

Clark McDougall was born in St. Thomas in 1921. At the age of 16 Clark left high school determined to become an artist. He would ride his bike north of St. Thomas into North Yarmouth and paint watercolours directly from nature. He taught himself proper technique from library books and sought advice from local artist William St. Thomas Smith. In 1950, at the age of 29, Clark traveled to Montreal and Quebec City where he first experienced the paintings of Henri Matisse. He now realized that colour and line could be used in a completely different way. By 1952-3 Clark was working as a “Fauve” painter, where his colours were intensely vivid and non-naturalistic.

A coronary in 1957 forced Clark to paint from photographs in his studio. His painting style changed where the outline became very important to the structure and design of the painting. Clark’s unique “black enamel” style set him apart from other regional artists. His first exhibition of these "black enamel" paintings was in 1968 at the 20/20 Gallery, London. In 1976 the Volunteer Committee at the London Regional Art Gallery commissioned a painting, “Site”, to commemorate the building of the new gallery. In 1977 the Vancouver Art Gallery organized an exhibition “Clark McDougall: Paintings since 1953”.

Regardless of the style, however, Clark had a highly individual way of interpreting his beloved landscape of North Yarmouth. Clark McDougall passed away of a brain tumor in 1980 at the age of 59.

Below you will find selections from Clark McDougall's work from the collection.  We have divided the selections into categories. Drawings, Barns and Rural, Landscapes, Cityscapes and Portrait/other.