Artist Kathy Haycock has spent her life dedicated to her passions; nature and art. She comes by these passions quite honestly through the noble influence of her father, well known Canadian Arctic painter Maurice Haycock. She was also greatly exposed to the work of her fathers close painting partner A.Y. Jackson of Canada’s Group of Seven. She lives near Lake Clear in the Eganville area of Ontario. Her influences introduced her to the bounty of Algonquin Park, to the vast Canadian Arctic and even further on to Greenland. Kathy continues to travel to these beautiful and extraordinary places to carry on the work of capturing nature at its best. Her dedication to on-site painting all-year-round in these remote locations can only be considered uncompromising. Kathy is truly inspired by nature itself as she continues to immerse herself in the outdoors. Her passion has her sitting out in the wilderness, quietly becoming part of it, as she paints her experience of being there. Th...
Posts
The spiritual practice of yoga is one of the oldest disciplines in the world, and from that discipline stems the sacred practice of Thai yoga massage. We all know the health benefits of doing yoga; this massage, in essence, is the equivalent of having yoga done to you. Shelagh Binks of Yoga with Shelagh, describes it as a truly unique and beautiful experience, one that is unlike any massage treatment out there. Thai yoga massage is a ‘partner practice’, performed on large, comfortable mats on the floor, wearing loose and comfortable clothing. The practitioner uses their hands, feet, arms and legs to gently guide the recipient through a series of yoga postures, while palming and thumbing along the body’s energy lines and pressure points. Shelagh defines the palming and thumbing as a way to open the energy lines (also known as sen ) that run throughout the body, move the energy through these lines and then close the lines by palming again. Together, the postures and the m...
Joyous, cheerful, exuberant - these words are regularly used to describe the artwork of Margaret McFetridge from Wellington, in Prince Edward County. Margaret was born and raised in Toronto, and has had the good fortune of living in many different places in Ontario as well as spending a decade in Quebec. As a young child, her parents encouraged her art through classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and that passion never left her. Her early career saw her working with watercolours, silk and porcelain paintings. By the 1990’s she was experimenting with oils and that was when she discovered her true medium! That was when she went big – big canvases, big brushes and big, confident strokes. She says that the work just poured out of her and you can feel her energy through these large, vibrant and colourful floral works of art. In 1999, Margaret discovered Wellington. She says “I came to the County with some friends. I could feel the creative energy here, and that was in November! I h...
Peter Rotter is a well known landscape artist from Lakefield, Ontario. He grew up in Toronto, spending his summers and many weekends at the family cottage on Stoney Lake just a short twenty five minutes north of Lakefield. It is here that Rotter finds true inspiration for painting. “The Kawartha and surrounding areas are my muse” Rotter says he began painting landscapes at a very young age. As a child he was “obsessed with a book on landscape painters”, and in particular, books about The Group of Seven were of interest to him. “Drawing and painting the north was just something I did growing up.” His parents were always very supportive of his art, encouraging him with art classes on the weekends and art camps during the summer. “It seemed growing up, I was always the youngest kid with landscape paintings at shows in the Toronto area.” Rotter studied design at the Ontario College of Art and Design and computer animation at Sheridan College. He went on to work in animation fo...
The Wilno Hills, an hour north of Bancroft in the Madawaska Valley, is known by some to be God’s country. It is here that you will find the artist Linda Sorensen . Artist Linda Sorensen shows her art to me in her studio. Linda was born in London, England. She moved to Canada with her mother and settled in Burling ton, Ontario where, as she says, she had the good fortune of Robert Bateman as her high school art teacher. It was the early 70`s and the school was the newly built Lord Elgin High - since renamed after this world renowned Canadian wildlife artist. Under Bateman she studied Pottery and Sculpture, Drawing and Painting and Art History. She also took a course in Textile and Printmaking with Birgit Freybe , now Robert`s wife. She was truly inspired! Linda moved to the Madawaska Valley and recalls heading out “ with a pack on my back and not two pennies in my pocket .” She became part of a back-to-t...
The Wilno Hills, an hour north of Bancroft in the Madawaska Valley, is known by some to be God’s country. It is here that you will find the artist Linda Sorensen. Linda was born in London, England. She moved to Canada with her mother and settled in Burlington, Ontario where, as she says, she had the good fortune of Robert Bateman as her high school art teacher. It was the early 70`s and the school was the newly built Lord Elgin High - since renamed after this world renowned Canadian wildlife artist. Under Bateman she studied Pottery and Sculpture, Drawing and Painting and Art History. She also took a course in Textile and Printmaking with Birgit Freybe, now Robert`s wife. She was truly inspired! Linda moved to the Madawaska Valley and recalls heading out “with a pack on my back and not two pennies in my pocket.” She became part of a back-to-the-land movement and lived off the grid, ``without telephone, running water, hydro and neighbours!” For the next 25 years, she devoted ...
In the Pink The work of artist Brenda Stonehouse of Lindsay Ontario will stop you in your tracks; yes, those vivid colours, strong lines and the striking use of light will catch your eye, but you may also find yourself caught in a bit of serendipity. You may find your mind drifting back to simpler times; it may even bring you back to a moment in your past, a good memory. With the fast paced, ever-changing life whirling by, it is wonderfully refreshing to take these moments in seriously. As a child, Brenda’s family moved around Ontario, so she had the privilege of living in a variety of different cities. From the cottage country of Huntsville and Muskoka, to the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield in North Bay and Thunder Bay, and to the busy city life with Lake Ontario in the background in Kingston and Toronto. With this came Brenda’s appreciation of the diversity in the landscape this province has to offer and that is reflected in her paintings. You will see the rocks, tree...