Exhibit at Etobicoke Civic Centre Art Gallery
399 The West Mall Etobicoke, Toronto, ON M9C 2Y2
Exhibition Date: August 30 to October 02, 2015
Participating Artists
Biljana Baker | Karen Cummings | Doug Mays | Nancy Newman | Doreen Renner | Bruce Stonehouse
BILJANA BAKER
Biljana is a full-time watercolour artist who resides in Thunder Bay, Ontario. She was born in Yugoslavia, came to Canada in 1964 and grew up in Toronto. After high school she studied Fashion Design and Fine Arts at Ryerson University and upon graduation was employed in Toronto as a Fashion Designer.
The softness and spontaneity of watercolours are the motivating factors in her unique presentation. Innovative mat carving also adds another dimension to her work.
She has participated in numerous group and solo shows across Canada and the United States. Her paintings can be found in private and public collections worldwide.
Biljana has studied with many prominent artists in Canada, USA and Europe which has led to a career teaching watercolours in Thunder Bay at Confederation College, the 55plus Centre, and Learning Through the Arts and CAHAP programs.
Her involvement in the Thunder Bay Art Community has been very extensive and very rewarding. She produced several prominent shows -- People, Places and Things, Flavour and Flair, and Superior Creations. She organizes workshops by bringing in prominent artists and promotes student artists through sponsorship.
I am a textile artist and I would describe my current work as collage for which I use fabric and fibre as my medium. My eclectic collection is an opportunity for personal expression based on the classical form of machine and hand stitching. The endless possibilities created by arranging and rearranging cloth, and creating diverse surfaces, provide a lifetime of potential work. My work is at times careful, contrasted by moments of fast machine-stitched frenzy. The harsh differences between the rates of speed, with which I work, hopefully, help convey a message. The hand of fibre extends a visceral sense of comfort and warmth, whereas the arrangement challenges and sometimes intimidates/startles the mind.
After studying art through High School, Doug went on to college where he applied his passion for art & architecture culminating in graduation in 1971 in Architectural Technology. For the next 30 years he enjoyed a successful business career in the Hamilton, Ontario area until early retirement in 2002. Throughout his business career he had the good fortune to study with several well-known Canadian and American watercolourists, which laid the groundwork for his second and current career as a watercolour artist and instructor.
Nancy, a retired art teacher and practising artist, has studied and taken workshops with wonderful Canadian artists including Karin Isenburg, Brian Atyeo, Linda Kemp, Art Cunanan, Pauline Holancin, Jake Mol, Margaret Roseman, Barry Coombs, John David Anderson, Elisabeth A. Gibson, Jean Pederson and Gordon Mackenzie. In addition she has been fortunate to work with well-known American and international artists such as Janet Rogers, Tom Lynch, Sterling Edwards, Karen Vernon, and Alvaro Castagnet.
My motivation as an artist is driven by the desire to make the best of this life. In doing so, I create paintings which are inspired by literary, social, political and environmental sources. As well, my own valuable life experiences are important as they pertain to human dynamics.
