Urban Scenes: An Art Portfolio by Shawn Demarest
Powell Paint, oil and graphite on panel
Shawn Demarest’s painting portfolio focuses on urban scenes, viewed through rain-coated or fogged windshields and windows. The artist’s works seem to paradoxically offer a sense of warmth by showcasing stormy, snowy, and chilly scenes as something seen through a protective barrier.
I really like seeing the contrast between daytime and nighttime scenes in Shawn’s…
The Performance Art Portfolio of Monique Blom
Meating the Challenge, durational participatory performance at Nuit Blanche YXE 2017 (collaboration with Arantxa Araujo)
Monique Blom is an artist who works in mixed media and performance art. In her performance practice, Blom address social and political issues, using her own body -- in addition to the physical settings and spaces where her performances take place -- to send a message.
The Storyboard and Concept Design Portfolio of Alan Wade
Alan Wade is an illustrator who works in film and advertising, creating storyboard and concept design work for commercials and other short pieces of media. Based in London, Alan has worked with a variety of companies in the United States and the U.K.
It’s really fascinating to look through Alan’s storyboards and see how a commercial or TV spot comes together. The artist’s drawings are gestural, but…
Nature and Landscape: A Photography Portfolio by Ivan Petrov
Ivan Petrov is a photographer based in Kamloops, B.C. Ivan produces photographs creatively and for commercial projects, with a focus on nature and landscape.
I enjoy the bright, clean aesthetic that Ivan brings to his photographs. In our previous feature of Ivan’s documentary and fine art images, we looked at the artist’s urban and natural landscapes, collected in his Fine Art Photography gallery.…
The Paint and Mixed Media Portfolio of Ben Reeves
Between Dog & Wolf (installation view)
Ben Reeves is an artist based in Vancouver, BC. In his practice, Reeves uses a heavy, layered application of paint and mixed media, along with deep and cohesive colour palettes, to create works that express familiar themes and landscapes in a new and fascinating light.
Untitled
I’m really enjoying the works in Reeve’s recent series Between Dog & Wolf. The works in this series comprise a…
Exploring Imagination: Art by Stephanie Cormier
Stephanie Cormier is a Toronto-based artist who works with various media, including found objects and unexpected construction materials, to create strange assemblages exploring imagination. The artist’s works take on an appearance that’s at once alien and vaguely familiar, like an object from a dream.
The artist’s recent series Something From Nothing is made up of works that express imaginary objects. As…
Music and Social Justice: An Art Portfolio by Marilyn Nelson
East to the West, oil on canvas
Marilyn Nelson’s artistic practice is inspired by music and social justice, both significant interests for the artist herself. The artist’s paintings tend to be abstract, though in recent works, Marilyn has experimented with the addition of text.
Where is the love?, oil on canvas
I her ongoing series Subliminal Reflections, Marilyn uses a musical lens to explore concepts of not only abstract…
Textural Mixed Media: An Art Portfolio by Mary Chalmers Main
Mary Chalmers Main is an artist who works in paint and textiles, creating colourful abstract and figurative works. Mary paints a variety of subjects with a painterly, gestural hand, sometimes incorporating textural mixed media details.
Vincent's model, acrylic on canvas
The works in Mary’s Acrylic Paintings gallery evoke peaceful, almost pastoral natural scenes. While the artist sometimes incorporates elements of…
A Portfolio of Vibrant Artworks by Vesa Peltonen
Vesa Peltonen is an artist based on Ontario. In his practice, Vesa utilizes bright colour and a digital aesthetic, often blending photography and forms of digital manipulation and painting to create intensely vibrant artworks.
Vesa’s art portfolio spans a wide range of subjects, from musicians, to landscapes, to more bizarre, experimental abstract imagery. The artist’s recent abstract works are a…
Spirituality and Connection: The Art Portfolio of Chía Ortegón
Candice, coloured pencils, gold leaf, acrylic paint on wood
Chía Ortegón is an artist originally from Bogota, Colombia. Chía’s artworks span a range of media and styles, though the artist imbues every work with a sense of spirituality and connection.
In our previous feature of Chía’s transcendental art, we looked at the artist’s abstract paintings and portraiture, and the way that she sometimes combines…
Calling Attention: The Art Portfolio of Barry Scanlan
The Road to Extinction, acrylic on newspaper
Barry Scanlan is a mixed media artist who often uses his practice as a method of calling attention to social, political, and environmental issues. Barry’s works tend to be colourful and stylized, incorporating text that lends each piece a punk or DIY-esque aesthetic.
Profits. Wealth. Money. Nothing Else Matters, acrylic and paint pens on newspaper
Barry’s recent series of work, …
Geometric Abstraction: The Art Portfolio of Graham Hall
Graham Hall is an artist who, in recent years, has been producing works of geometric abstraction. The artist tends to use acrylic paint to create his images, though his technique embraces every facet of the acrylic media, sometimes with hard, clean edges and other times with textured, painterly strokes.
Provincial Wonder Place, acrylic on canvas
I really enjoy the works in Graham’s 2017 series Secret Work.…
Whimsical and Technical: The Art Portfolio of John Brickels
John Brickels is a sculptor who works with slab and extruded stoneware clay to create intricate figures of buildings, machines, cars, and robots. The artist’s works sometimes combine clay with found objects for a look that’s both whimsical and technical.
In our previous feature of John’s artworks, we looked at the artist’s cartoonish Americana aesthetic. I enjoy the way that John offsets his…
A Portfolio of Photographs and Paintings by Joseph Peter Sullivan
Joseph Peter Sullivan has lived throughout the United States and continues to travel, though he is currently based in Minneapolis. The artist creates photographs and paintings that express an interest in abstraction through light, shadow, and texture.
I really enjoy Joseph’s photographs. These works play with the viewer’s expectations of what a photograph can be, and what information it can reveal or…
Canada's Prairies: The Art Portfolio of David B. Scott
Last Giant Standing, oil on canvas
Painter David B. Scott was born in New Zealand and spent time throughout Europe and North America before coming to Canada. The artist’s current body of work focuses on the natural landscape of Canada’s prairies, with occasional architectural and animal figures.
Looking Through, oil on canvas
I really appreciate the level of detail in David’s paintings. The artist’s recent works in particular…