2019 Studio Tour April 27 & 28
April 21st & April 22nd , 2018
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Click HERE to see brochure or
Download Tour Brochure HERE | Map HERE
2018 Organizing Committee Contacts
A Studio Tour is the public's opportunity to meet artists in their home studios. These two day events allow you to explore a designated area and visit artists.
Although the work is available for purchase, of greater importance is the opportunity to learn about the artistic process and vision. Artists really love to talk about their work.
Artists’ Bios
1. Host - Colin Whitebread: Painter
Colin began drawing and sketching at a young age and never lost the excitement of representing what he saw with a pencil. He then explored paint, pastels, and many other materials. Self taught initially, he spent 10 years at OCAD developing his skills. Colin taught high school art for 30 plus years as well as religion and philosophy. After retirement he turned to painting full time and has shown his work in Stouffville, Port Perry, and Niagara. He has been a member of the WSST and DWST for several years.
“Art history and theory has been a lifetime passion of mine. After years of exploring a wide variety of styles I am presently interested in more imaginative and abstractly interpretive subject matter. As acrylics are my primary medium I have experimented more and more with textured surfaces using a variety of mediums. Collage is often added to my works. Colour defines my work primarily as I use bold colours to create a visually and emotionally strong impact. More and more, total abstraction is becoming a defining principle of approach to a variety of surface structures. Again, theory as it aids developing a concept is important.”
1. Guest - Cheryl Fulcher: Jeweller
Cheryl Fulcher’s jewellery is art in metal. Growing up with the influence of invention and attention to detail, she has brought a flow and balance to her chain link necklaces and bracelets. Starting from various gauges of sterling silver, she hand winds wire into links making timeless classics and original designs. Her earrings are complimented by semi-precious stones. After being a perpetual night-class student in Jewellery arts at George Brown College for 16 years, Cheryl has now set up her own studio.
1. Guest - Ed Keith: Potter
In 1970, Ed began his exploration of clay, sculpture and pottery as an elementary school teacher in Scarborough. From 1973 to 1998, he taught pottery at Scarborough summer art camps for students and adults. Between 1970 and 2014, Ed did extensive exploration of Raku firing techniques. After he retired in 2001, he became a member of Aurora Potter’s Guild. From 2001 to 2015, Ed taught sculpture and Raku firing to members of Aurora Guild and taught adult sculpture and pottery classes at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre. Ed also organized and supervised “Rakudu” Day events at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre and at Don Mills Collegiate for 19 years. He has exhibited at Pine Tree Potters’ (Aurora), the Beyond the Craft show in Stouffville for 5 years and as a member of the Stouffville Studio Tour for 10 years. From 2013 to 2015, he also demonstrated and supervised Raku firings at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics Arts (Toronto) twice annually.
1. Guest - Gordon Reidt: Sculptor
Gordon is a self taught stone artist with minimal formal training. Training included advanced sculpture workshops at the Haliburton School for the Arts, the ZIMART Program sculpture workshops (with Zimbabwe sculptors) and, studying Jade carving in BC with Jade Artist Deborah Wilson. Gordon is involved with Studio Tours, Juried Art Shows, teaches workshops and has 6 sculpture students.
Out of my love of nature and the desire to freely express myself, I became a sculpture artist about 12 years ago. The freedom of expression appears in sculpture as a way to portray nature in poses and colours people normally do not tend to see.
My work is continually evolving towards more abstract art. The work of Michelangelo and the late E.B.Cox, a local sculptor, inspire me. I continue to push to grow as an artist using harder and more difficult stones.
When starting a sculpture, I tend to maximize subjects within each stone respecting all stones as a limited resource.
2. Host - Christl Niemuller: Painter
I am a self-taught artist allowing my imagination to express the world around me and inspired by my travels and my garden. I am influenced by colour, texture and shapes and like to work in various media including oils, watercolour, mixed media and encaustic, painting and layering until images begin to emerge. Often I don’t know what will appear. Perhaps, an abstract painting of knights on horseback from a long ago morning spent playing with my grandsons or a sunset landscape recalling a joyous hike. I paint because I love to, with every blank canvas a new journey into the unknown.
2. Guest – Pat Neal: Weaver
3. Barbara Thompson-Hoover: Raku Potter
Feeling the smooth clay slip through her hands has led to a few decades of fascination with this media. Barbara is essentially a self-taught potter but by searching the Internet and attending numerous workshops, she has acquired new techniques. This also entailed many years of experimentation.
The Raku process is exciting and unpredictable resulting in pottery with iridescent, crackle, and metallic colours. The combination of using earth, fire, and water produces exquisitely beautiful pieces that are truly on of a kind.
4. Hanneke Koonstra: Painter
Born in the Netherlands. Went to U of Toronto and earned by BSC. And BEd. Taught Special Education and Art for the Durham Board of Education. 2001 Took a medical leave and concentrated on painting. Took many workshops and joined several art groups including the Uxbridge Studio Tour , Oshawa Art Association, and the Schoolhouse Painters. Entered numerous juried shows. Received honourable mention in the Pine Ridge Juried Art show this fall.
Living on the Oak Ridges Moraine, I am surrounded by nature and that inspires me in my paintings. Liking the transparency of watercolours I am drawn towards that medium when painting flowers from my garden or the birds that frequent my feeders. I am also inspired by my travels back to Europe and camping trips in Ontario. I also enjoy experimenting with oils and acrylic both in representational and abstract paintings.
5. Yvonne Meissner: Painter
Yvonne was born and raised in St. John’s Newfoundland, and is now residing in Claremont. Since taking up residency in Ontario in 1966 she has maintained close emotional ties with her family and friends back home. Painting has always been her passion. In 1995 Yvonne decided to pursue formal artistic training at the Ontario College of Art and Design and she became a graduate in 1998. Yvonne has participated in many solo, group and juried shows since graduation.
“I am intrigued by events that occur in leaves, twigs, snow and ice, as a result of seasonal changes. These images from nature represent for me visual symbols of the continuous change in all life forms. I work on canvas and wood. I am particularly interested in the tactile qualities resulting from painting and layering with mixed media. This process results in low relief abstract forms.”
6. Host – Kim Lowes: Photographer
Kim Lowes is an award-winning professional photographer whose first love is wildlife and nature scenes. On childhood excursions with his father, Kim developed a love of nature and wildlife which he has explored through the lens of his camera for over 40 years. He believes that his images capture their unique beauty and will encourage us to protect them for the future. Kim presents these life forces on his property in Uxbridge, hiking throughout Ontario and travelling to destinations such as Australia, Botswana, China, England, Mexico, Nepal and the United States.
6. Guest – Monica Gennaro: Jeweller
From a very early age Monica Gennaro was fascinated with jewellery. However, it was only in 2007 that she turned to jewellery making by using beads and wire. Soon realizing that this limited her, Monica enrolled in the three year George Brown College Jewellery Arts Program, one of North America’s largest and best equipped jewellery programs, where she earned the Certificate of Jeweller.
The inspiration for Monica’s jewellery comes from the natural beauty that has surrounded her for the past 12 years: the patterns on tree bark, the shapes of flower petals and leaves. These elements are incorporated in a number of her original handcrafted art-jewellery creations. All of her beautiful and diverse pieces are handmade solely by her in her Stouffville, Ontario studio. Monica works mainly in sterling silver and gold using traditional methods of jewellery making: sawing, annealing, forging, soldering, and piercing. In most of her exquisitely made pieces, she incorporates precious and semi-precious stones in a bezel setting.
Monica’s unique collections include an eclectic and broad selection of styles from stylized geometric shapes to nature inspired lines and forms. True pride and workmanship is evident in the high quality of each Beke creation. Every finished piece is a true work of art.
6. Guest – Wendy Bermingham SCA, OSA : Painter
Wendy Bermingham is a full-time artist and a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design. As an artist of the contemporary landscape, she delights in the abstract exploration of textures and the expression of movement while being sensitive to the patterns and colours of light. Working in oils, Wendy wants the viewer to see every brush of paint, to feel the motion of her palette knife but most importantly to see what she sees, the abstract inside the realism and the blurred line between them. Her style would be described as impressionistic realism.
Wendy is an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artist (OSA) and The Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) and a member of the Ontario Plein Air Society, East Central Ontario Art Association and PineRidge Arts Council. Wendy’s work is in private collections across Canada and the United States.
“Painting in oils is my absolute passion to which I dedicate every single day. I explore the blurred line between realism and abstraction using texture and expressive brushstrokes to look deeper and to find the essence of the scene. I’m excited by the dance of light, the movement or curve of a branch as it creates dynamic designs and textures upon our natural world.”
7. Host – Gayle Temple: Glass Work
I am a self-taught glass artist and business graduate from York University. I find glass incredibly beautiful. I’m fascinated with how glass interacts with light and how it captures the light’s living energy. It is constantly changing as the light changes around it. I started with tumbled glass, then coloured and stained glass, and now kiln fired. Some of my pieces are whimsical and bursting with colour and others are very calm, clear and structured. I’m highly influenced by nature, the changing seasons and my own environment. As I continue to learn, I continue to evolve and so does my work. Much of my inspiration comes from not knowing what I may be creating next, and the prospect of what can be created. The possibilities are endless.
“I began working with glass by recycling broken pieces of it once it was tumbled. My first projects were small: pendants, bookmarks, candle holders. Soon I was producing larger pieces, everything from full scale light fixtures to vases. I continue to create these pieces and I have expanded my work to include kiln formed glass. I am intrigued with the results of using warm glass, in particular the freedom of expression with shape, colour and texture.”
7. Guest – Amanda Brittin: Jeweller
Amanda Brittin is a self-taught silversmith with an educational background in Archaeology and Anthropology. Cultural symbols are often present in her work and her rustic gemstone, bronze and silver jewelry is influenced by Bronze Age artisans. Amanda has exhibited at several galleries and shows, including the Aurora Cultural Centre, The Rail’s End Gallery and One-of-Kind Craft Show.
My work is quite rustic and celebrates the heritage of early forms of metal-working from northern and southern European cultures – this interest comes from my educational background in Archaeology and Anthropology. I love to mix vibrant gemstones with both silver and bronze hand-forged metalwork and create an ancient feel to the pieces, while highlighting the colours and lightplay of the stones. The hammer on metal and combination of careful detail work and playing with fire is inspiring – I am never quite sure how my pieces will end up until near the end of the work!
8. Tricia Webster: Sculptor
Tricia is a sculptor from Claremont, Ontario creating unique garden art. Having a love of gardening and a passion for art, she puts these together to produce pieces that will enhance the beauty of any garden. She is self-taught and takes great pleasure in turning recycled material into exceptional pieces, each with its own story. Courses in Fabric Art can also be taken in her studio.
9. Host - Patricia Lynes: Painter
Patricia has been painting for over 20 years studying fine art at the University of Guelph, Emily Carr and Ontario College of Art and Design and Dundas Valley School of Art. She has exhibited in group shows in B.C. and Ontario including the Milton Studio Tour (2007‐2013), Artists in the Country Show (Flamborough) and Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts (2009). Lynes’ painterly landscapes and figures convey an impression of place or a moment in time by emphasizing the physical beauty of form, colour and light. Paintings are windows open to life and memory. Like landscape, they provide solace and inspiration. Patricia prefers plein air and low light painting, working primarily in oils. She also works in acrylic. Her paintings strive to encompass in gesture the altering states of the natural world especially through the changing light of the seasons. Residing in both Claremont and Carlisle, she strives to capture the changing character of local landscape.
9. Guest – Cathy Lombard: Potter
I’m a Toronto native with a varied background in the fine arts. I spent the academic part of my artistic career at the Ontario College of Art, where I graduated in design, and the University of Guelph, where I obtained a Bachelors Degree majoring in Fine Art. As well as ceramics, my early work was in metal, where I worked as a sculptor and on commissioned pieces with Ted Bieler.
I have returned to traditional wheel thrown ceramics, drawn to the technical discipline, creativity and stillness the work entails. I enjoy the potential of marrying commodity with delight and the tactile pleasure of drawing, tooling and working with clay and unpredictable glazes. My style reflects an admiration for Canadian potters Robin Hopper and Kayo O’Young, as well as Navajo artist Maria Martinez.
I’ve spent most of my life moving further out into the hinterland and am now at home here in the bucolic wilderness on the moraine, in a place that nourishes my spirit and inspires my work.
9. Guest – Jasmine Rutschmann: Metal Artist
Jasmine grew up in Port Perry where she learned to use a plasma cutter in her Dad’s welding shop. She is a self-taught artist and has displayed and sold her work at various art shows in and around Durham Region. She recently had her first art show in New York where she sold a few of her pieces. She also won best in show for juror’s choice for the 2015 and 2017 Uxbridge Juried Art Show.
I love the simplicity and peace, that plasma cutting brings into my life. Finding inspiration from nature and patterns, I have managed to create a variety of landscape scenes featuring trees, mountains and wildlife integrated into a picture representative of Canada’s natural beauty. Floral designs in a variety of sizes, based on the reclaimed materials I choose are interesting and unique because they are carved out of various found objects. From shovelheads, wheelbarrows and oil tanks I love finding old metal and giving it a new life.
10.1 Jean Beettam: Painter
After retiring from Bell Canada in 2000, Jean and her husband Ken moved to the Lindsay area and it was then that she decided to pursue her keen interest in art. She took many courses with local artists, working in watercolour and then began a four-year course with Pauline Bradshaw, aa graduate of the Toronto Academy of Realistic Art. This is how she learned and trained in the classical tradition.
Jean also enjoys painting in watercolour. She paints landscapes, florals, seascapes and local barns. Jean has entered and sold paintings in various shows and her work can be found in private collections locally, across Canada and in the United States.
10.2 Sarah Porter: Jeweller
I've been interested in arts in some form or another for my entire life, and have loved jewellery in particular ever since receiving my first necklace of wooden beads as a baby.
After having brief affairs over the past 10 years with leather work, painting and stained glass, I took a simple jewellery stringing course, and it was then that I found true love!
I love to mix silver chainmail and wire wrapping techniques with semi-precious stones to create pieces that I love.
I take much of my inspiration for colour and movement from nature. When I part with a piece, I feel a pang of regret that I won't wear that one-of-a-kind piece myself, and that's how I know I've done a good job!
10.3 Ann Rosa: Painter
Her art career started only after she returned home, she was married and while her daughters were young. Ann is a self‐taught artist who has attended numerous art courses and workshops. In 1999 Ann decided to take the leap and began working full‐time as an artist. Over the last 15+ years Ann has been involved in many group artist art shows and has exhibited in dozens of solo shows and group shows in the GTA.
As a self‐taught artist, Ann believes that this has enabled her to create and play as she pleases. No rules, no rights, no wrongs and no limits for her passion and joy. Subsequently because she allows herself freedom with her art, she creates a very diverse scope of work both in subject matter and media. She paints in watercolour, acrylic and encaustic and also creates wall sculptures.
The inspiration and starting point for one of my watercolour series “Uncle Jack’s Suitcase” was the inheritance of my great‐uncle’s suitcase full of old family black and white photographs. I didn’t know who most of the people were but I knew I needed to paint them so I gave them the breath of life with my brush, gave them a story and a kind of immortality behind the glass. I tried to capture a feeling and hoped to spark within the viewer a memory of time or place or person, a nostalgia.
10.4 Edward Lehming: Photographer
My photography focuses primarily on nature and landscapes, though I have ventured into the world of abstraction, architecture, portraiture, and street photography. To me photography is the art of communicating the feeling and object or scene invokes for me, deliberately. It’s about finding beautiful things in ordinary places. My photography has very little to do with what I see and everything to do with how I see them as well as how they make me feel. Call me a photographic impressionist, if you will. I want people to look at my photos and sense the experience I had when making it.
Lately, my focus has been on pursuing the art of photographic abstractions, using lighting, motion and strong vertical elements to create the “God Light”, “Wooden Movements”, “Golden Path”, “Shift to Shiver, Boreal Paths”, and “Spirit of the Spruce” series of photographs. Joining the recently formed “A Place for the Arts”, artist’s co-op in Bancroft has allowed me to show many of my works in a beautiful creative space where other artists share their works and ideas.
Many of my photos have been featured in magazine articles, websites, and church bulletin covers. I’m also a prolific blogger, sharing my images and the thoughts and process that are involved in my art on a daily basis.
My intent, through blogging is to share my photographs with a broader audience and be able to share, in words, some of my thoughts about the experience that goes along with actual photo.
10.5 Libbie Burns: Felted Fibers
Skills learned as a frame loom tapestry weaver and spinner have lead directly to a love of wet felt making. In recent workshops with Liz Clay from the UK (Gros Morne Park) AND Marjolein Dallinga from Quebec, I have learned numerous techniques used to transform 2D hand made felt fabric into 3D wearable art.
“For me wet felting is a painting and sculpting with wool. It is artistic work according to traditional methods. Nature’s beauty is incorporated in my work in an abstract, intuitive manner. Connecting fibres, colours and textures into wearable garments using wool, silk, water and soap provides endless challenges, inspiration and satisfaction.”
10.6 Raymond McNeice: Painter
Ray is, first and foremost, a painter “en plein air”. His style is a product of a long career in graphic design ... a concern for shape and form, eye movement and spatial relationships. His medium of choice is transparent watercolour. Ray likes its brilliance, its immediacy and its transportability. His work has a sense of movement leaning toward an objective abstract approach. Painting with controlled washes, working smoothly with an eye toward the balance of forms and shapes give his work its distinctive character.
He has participated in a number group and juried exhibitions at The Latcham Gallery, solo exhibitions at The Beacher Café in Toronto, The Kent Farndale Gallery in Port Perry. Ray was educated at the Ontario College of Art and had a 46 year career as a Graphic Design Professional and Creative Director in Toronto. Ray is a strong advocate for the visual arts community in York Region sitting as Board Chair of The Latcham Gallery and the Stouffville Studio Tour.
2018 Organizing Committee:
Gordon Reidt Artist reidtathome@sympatico.ca
Colin Whitebread Artist colinwhitebread@gmail.com
David Green DWAC dr.green@sympatico.ca
2017 Tour and Artists | 2016 TOUR AND ARTISTS | 2015 Tour and Artists 
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