Alfred’s interest in art began at an early age. By his teens, he was sketching and painting, by day and by night, from shore and from canoe, in Algonquin Park. He studied painting under Canadian artist Alex Miller at Seneca College, King City, Ontario.

Two years after graduating, he moved to a renovated country schoolhouse near Bancroft, Ontario. There he established Trout Lake Schoolhouse Studio. Seven years later he relocated to Queen Charlotte City, Haida Gwaii, BC, where he ran Among Friends Studio & Gallery for twelve years. From 1997 till last year, Alfred lived south of Powell River where he maintained a large studio and was also instrumental in starting the Powell River Studio Tour. Since June 2017 Alfred has called Texada home and is establishing his seaside studio in Gillies Bay.

Over the course of 43 years, Alfred has exhibited his prints and paintings in 42 solo exhibitions and 82 group shows. Always in search of new expression, Alfred has worked in watercolours, acrylics, oil, mixed media, collage, woodcuts and lino blocks. His dominant style has been described as expressive realism. Subjects for Alfred’s work range from landscapes and music interpretation to seascapes and urban night scenes. In 2016, a book of Alfred’s night paintings, “Out of the Dark”, was published. Alfred’s work can be found in corporate, private and public collections in Canada and abroad.

“My inspiration comes from nature, music, people and from contemplative silence.

I paint for purely selfish reasons, to express the need deep inside of me to create and to communicate those wordless feelings of the beauty of life and nature that well up within me from time to time. I hope my paintings are friendly enough to allow two events to happen. First, to invite the viewer into the picture and to explore it, and second, to remove the viewer from their daily reality to experience something totally different within themselves at that moment.”

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Amanda Martinson, a longtime resident of Texada Island, has been creating artworks of all sorts for many years. She is known for her oil and watercolour paintings. Although, exploring many subjects, her mainstay has been landscapes. Her focus is composition featuring line, form and colour in sea, sky, rocks and trees, the goal being to capture “the soul of the coast.” But not just the coast; in juxtaposition to it’s lush profundities she loves the desert-scapes of interior BC and the American Southwest.

Mentored by several Texada sculptors she is self taught sculpting the island’s colourful marbles, dolomite and flower-rock. This led to learning lapidary and basic silversmithing. As an alternative to silversmithing, Amanda explored bead embroidery to make bezels for her cabochons and has evolved to making “sculptural” jewellery pieces.

Amanda sees the potential for art in everything and likes to create and “re-create” as a natural extension of her being – it really is the essence of who she is and for her, the “art of living.”

She will have NEW PAINTINGS of abstract explorationes in the style of acrylic flow paintings. The technique creates very organic images reminiscent of cells, patterns in rocks and of water where shadowy figures may suddenly emerge as the eye seeks to organize the image amongst swirly colours.

Amanda is putting on a HUGE “MAKE AN OFFER” SALE to clear out her house of hundreds of artworks to make way for the new. No reasonable offer refused! These works are experiments, practice, hand-pulled prints, old ones, etc., and will not devalue the “good” works previously sold. (Sky Series not included) Prints, cards, stickers and sacred geometry Tshirts for sale as well.

Website: www.crystalmagicdesigns.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmandaCrystalMagic/

Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/CrystalMagicDesign

Instagram: https://instagram.com/crystalmagicdesign

Pinterest: https://pinterest.ca/crystalmagicdesigns

Society6 shop: https://society6.com/crystalmagicdesigns

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Bill is a retired naval architect and structural engineer who has spent much of his life diving or sailing the seven seas, and finds most of his artistic inspiration from nature and the marine environment.

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When Fran and I moved to Texada Island in 1992 we were both making glass beads, and had plenty of glass scraps and a small annealer kiln. I started putting the tiny glass pieces in the kiln after assembling them to look like images and patterns. The results were fun and appealing to me. I glued magnets or pins to these and started selling them at farmer’s markets. I was hooked.

Since “92 I’ve been making and selling functional, whimsical glass pieces. My products include magnets, pins, christmas ornaments, nightlights, swizzle sticks, coasters, trivets, windows and clothing racks. I also make seed beaded earrings.

At one time I sold in 25 shops/galleries from Tofino to Halifax. I have scaled back my business greatly now, but still enjoy working in my shop on a daily basis.

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This talented young artist works in a range of the visual arts including calligraphy and illumination, painting, stained glass, textiles and sculpture. Park on the street and walk down the driveway to the green front door of the house. Charlotte does her work under the name “Septaliger.” She reproduces Medieval manuscripts on homemade vellum, made from the skins of Texada deer. Demonstrations of calligraphy and the Medieval technique of making paint from pigments. Check out the teabag art.

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Danusia started her adventure with clay at Surrey Art Center where she took classes. For the next decade she belonged to the North Delta Potters Guild. As a member of Frasier Valley Potters Guild Danusia had an opportunity to explore many firing technics including wood, soda, gas, pit, and raku. At Kwantleen Politechnic she learend from the best in the field various methods in throwing and hand-building. In 2016 Danusia retired and moved to Texada to chase her dream to build a studio and become a full time potter.

As a practical woman, Danusia prefers making functional pieces that bring art into her daily use. She enjoy making mugs, Tea sets, bows, serving trays and casseroles because good drink or food tasts better when served in a dish that complements it.  

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Debbie is a self taught artist, acrylic being her medium, who specializing in paintings of structures and landscapes. Having moved from eastern Canada, Debbie has painted and photographed the blue water and green hills of the east, and the green water and blue hills of the west. She also enjoys making soap from natural ingredients, and making items from lavender grown on her farm. Knitting is another artistic activity Debbie enjoys, creating handmade items. Debbie moved to Texada island in 2009 and presently works a registered nurse in Powell River.

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Deborah Dumka was born in Northern British Columbia and has lived three quarters of her life in rural communities across Canada, for the most part on the shores of an ocean. She draws on the physical and emotional landscape of rural life to make functional textile work examining our important connections with nature.

Her contemporary landscape-based textile works are created using the sustainable materials and ancient techniques of traditional wet felting. Her works celebrate natural materials and the process of transformation that leaves the mark of the hands on objects. They ask the viewer to examine the importance of our experiences in nature as they imprint marks, impressions and memories. 

From a personal perspective, her works delve into universal themes of deep connections we have to nature, how our surroundings contribute to our sense of wellbeing and how we belong in the world. She is drawn to the intersections: of land and water, of physical and emotional experience, and of craft creation and scientific exploration. 

Her interactive functional floor carpets integrate digital technology, conductive materials and components of wearable electronics to construct immersive interactive experiences of nature using image, texture and sound. 

Deborah holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from MUN (1978) and a diploma from the Textile Studies Program of the Anna Templeton Centre (1994), St. John’s NL. She advocates for the Canadian Craft Community by serving on the board of the Craft Council of British Columbia and as a past president the Canadian Crafts Federation.

She works from her home studio on Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia. 

Her work has been shown in solo and group shows in Canada and Korea.

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Meet gallery owner Doby Dobrostanski. Are you looking for commissioned works, originals or fine art prints? Doby specializes in aviation, automotive, marine, wildlife, murals and landscapes. With over 30 years’ experience he delivers high-quality artwork that matches the client’s needs. Delivering art under tight timelines, when commissioned, can be negotiated. Doby’s motto is: Real art for real people, which ties in nicely with our Gallery on Dogwood’s motto: Art for You. Whether large or small, please don’t hesitate to speak with Doby about your ideas for commissioned work.

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Fragments

My interest in archeology has me thinking of how someone extrapolates their interpretation of a culture by observing and understanding a fragment, be it pottery or any artifact. The fragments that I create are intended to give the viewer pause for reflection.

Genre of work

Painting, trompe l’oeil (fool the eye), sculpture and low relief sculpture. The paintings are inspired by the landscape. The sculptures subject, is in the wood or stone already and I try to bring it out. The low relief work is a form of story telling inspired by Greco-Roman artifacts.

After graduating from art school, Grant McEwan Community College, I spent three decades building and painting for the entertainment industry, working in film, television and theatre. Some highlights include Academy award winning films, Broadway credits and scenery for Disney, MGM hotel in Vegas, for cruise ships, theatres and museums across North America. For most of a year I created sculpture, large and small, for a millionaire in the Bahamas. For the last decade and a half, before retirement, I taught set painting, props and model building, at the U of A and McEwan University. It is now time for my own explorations, instead of bringing other designers visions, to life.

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Joya is a Renaissance lutenist. She has a BA in Music from the University of York, UK and is currently pursuing graduate studies at Longy School of Music in Boston. Born in Haida Gwaii, Joya found inspiration from the landscape from a young age. Several of her early works were exhibited and sold in local galleries and the museum. Growing up in an artist’s home, she was surrounded by art from an early age. She was further influenced by seeing the works of Miro and Chagall on a trip to France when she was twelve.

“Art has always been an important part of my life. Wherever I have found myself, I have felt a need to create art. I work in whatever medium captures my interest whether it be paint, collage, garlands or other decorative crafts. One of my passions is botany which I express in drawings of plants and flowers. After taking an art history course in Florence, I was inspired to begin drawing architecture. I strive to capture a feeling of liveliness in my work.”

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Welcome to the Art of Happiness

Joyce’s acrylic paintings are expressions of joy, part of a healing journey that she would like to share with you. There are impressionist landscapes and florals. Her techniques include loose brushwork and knife work, focusing on the interplay among colour, light and subject matter.

For sale are a variety of canvases ranging from miniatures (4 ins x4 ins) to large (24 ins x 36 ins).

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“Joy of Felting”

Creating with fibre and fabric has been a passion since Joy learned to thread a needle at the age of eight.

First a seamstress, then a weaver, Joy now combines both of those skills with the art of wet felting and the popular surface embellishment technique of needle felting. She creates garments, accessories and decorative art combining silk and wool for beautiful and unique textures and designs.

As a trained teacher, Joy enjoys giving workshops in her local area, teaching wet felting, nuno felting and needle felting techniques.

Joy is largely self and peer taught, and have taken advantage of many workshop and short course opportunities to enhance her skills over the years. She have been fortunate to have lived in several diverse areas of Canada, and to have travelled in many other locations in Canada and abroad. Now, living beside the ocean on beautiful Texada Island, the ever-changing designs and colours in nature around her are of great influence. Her art has a distinctive West Coast flavour.

Joy shows and sells her work locally in her own studio, Felt Forest Studio, in the Gallery on Dogwood, both on Texada Island and in Powell River at Fits to a T. She also sells at the Royal British Columbia Museum Gift Shop in Victoria, and South Shore Gallery in Sooke, BC.

Photos Credit: Roger Hort

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Kathleen Scott has a BA in Creative Writing and Visual Arts, received from Vancouver Island University in 2004. She has worked as a potter’s assistant and a gallery coordinator since graduating. She has been in a number of gallery shows, and had her one and only solo show in 2008.

Kathleen is inspired by her West Coast island lifestyle, bright but naturalistic colours, and various ceramic techniques used throughout art history. She has been focused on hand building and glaze development for the last two years. She is always concerned with how her products feel in the hand, wanting texture to feel luscious, and contours to be a natural fit. She creates functional and sculptural ceramics in her small batch, ceramics studio in Van Anda. 

Last year, Kathleen began using seaweed imprints on her work. Then continued to add flowers and tree leaves during the summer. For 2020 she is working on a 52 Koi in 52 weeks Challenge, in addition to her regular production, posting a newly inspired fish every Sunday. She also creative in photography, painting, crochet, and gardening. You can find her work, and updates on her creative process on Facebook and Instagram under the name, Mud Otter Pottery.

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“Art is an integral part of who I am. From an early age I needed to create, to make things. My Kindergarten teacher was very concerned about me, as I would only draw with a black crayon. I’ve since moved on and now I use the whole box of colour, although I still am partial to the dark side of the palette. I start most of my works by drawing in my sketchbook. I draw, take photos, do some sketches, paint, rework it, get frustrated, and finally come to some kind of resolution with the painting. It is not an easy thing to make art, the self critic sits heavily on my shoulders. Recently I have started to use recycled stainless steel and aluminum for my Texada Island ‘silver’ paintings. What drew me to the use of these metal plates was how the metal surface reflected the ambient light, changing the paintings as the light in the room changes. These are a ‘must see in person’. “

Lori has had a rich career as both artist and teacher. She taught art and math to high school students for twenty-seven years, some being at the first year university level. In 2010, Lori was recognized for her strong voice for the visual arts and her classroom practices by the British Columbia Art Teacher’s Association with the Award for Excellence in Art Education, Graduation Level. Through out her working career Lori has never stopped making art. She has explored the art of painting using a variety of media and styles to create works alive with personality. Lori has a Master’s degree from the University of British Columbia in Art Education. She has also studied at the Vancouver Art Academy. Through her involvement with “Artist for Kids”, Lori had the opportunity to work with many Canadian Artists as their teacher assistant while leading weeklong workshops.

Lori is retired from teaching and paints full time in her beachfront studio on Texada Island overlooking the Georgia Strait, part of the Salish Sea, British Columbia. 

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Morgan is a computer programmer and a web developer. He made this site!

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I first discovered my love for photography in high school where I spent all my spare time in a wet darkroom. For those who have not experienced it, there is a special thrill that you get the first time you see one of your own images gradually come to life in the developer bath. From that very moment, I was hooked on photography. Over subsequent years I was often told that I have a “good eye”. I’ve always thought that the other one isn’t all that bad either!!

I started taking digital images in 2000 when digital photography was still in its infancy. It was somewhat crude by today’s standards – resolution was very low and equipment prices were very high. But that special thrill was back the first time I took a picture of our dog and it appeared on the tiny screen on the back of the camera.

I began to explore all that digital photography had to offer. For the most part I continued on a voyage of self teaching through experimentation. Very soon I looked for a way to separate myself from the photography herd. That was when I discovered digital infrared photography. Digital infrared has an ethereal, almost magical quality that offers exquisite beauty and sharpness. The images can either be “faux colour” or traditional black and white images.

Going back to my black and white photography roots is what separates my work from most of my contemporaries. I think that Ted Grant, the Victoria based photographer (also known as “the father of Canadian photojournalism”) said it best:

“When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls”.

It is with the above thought in mind that I endeavour to capture the soul of my photo subjects, be it people, still life or landscape.

In addition to my black and white images, I will also have colour images for sale in a variety of sizes at Mary Mary’s Cafe in Van Anda during the 2018 Texada Artist Studio Tour.

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Sandy McCormick of Texada Island is inspired by the look and feel of beach glass. She is captivated by its colors, patinas, lustres and textures. Each piece is different in size, shape and thickness. Styles of printing indicate its age and former use. “Each piece tells a story.”

  She began collecting beach glass in 1974 after seeing a friend’s table adorned with sea glass and lit from below. “The glass just sparkled and that’s when I started my own collection.”

  Sandy produces one-of-a-kind works of useful art. Her custom works include wedding centrepieces and birthday, anniversary, wedding and memorial mirrors on driftwood. “Custom work is fun because you include the customers own keepsakes to make it really personal.”

  At first, she adorned picture frames with different colors of beach glass to accent the colors and mood of the photo. “No one else was doing anything like this.”

  Collecting sea glass is a never-ending treasure hunt – you never know what you’re going to find. “I’ve been to beaches all over the world and never saw the scenery. I was always looking down.”

  Sandy says working with beach glass is the ultimate in recycling. A product found in nature, sand, is made by people into glass items. These find their way into the ocean to be recycled by nature into beach glass. Sandy then repurposes them yet again into unique works of useful art.

  “Beach glass art is a way to bring the ocean home without harming the environment.”

Biography

Beachcombing for sea glass since 1974, Sandy McCormick of Texada Island has turned her massive collection into decorative works of useful art. All of her exquisite products are handcrafted slowly, with care and thought going into the selection and placement of each piece. Her work is individually and lovingly designed, combining artistry and function for a look of rich fullness, the hallmark of her art. 

  Sandy’s one-of-a-kind lineup includes mirrors on driftwood, picture frames, wreaths, candle holders, wind chimes, inukshuks and even beach glass curtains. Her custom works are made to match any decor and can include your keepsakes to personalize the art.

  Her collection of sea treasures was amassed from all seven continents and is constantly replenished. Sandy incorporates Texada’s famous “flower” rocks into her work. The island is a beachcomber’s paradise, where unique colors of glass are found, such as canary yellow and golden shades. Other treasures include small bottles, jewellery, cutlery, shells, coins, broken china, pieces of tools and car parts.

  Beach glass art is a way of bringing the ocean home without harming the environment.

  Sandy was born and raised in Vancouver and has lived on Texada since 2006. A mom and grandmother, this former journalist enjoys the outdoors and being in nature. She volunteers for many community organizations and currently serves as Texada’s director on the qathet Regional District board.

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Name : James ‘Steve’ Croasdale.

Occupation : Custom Fabricator. 

     My working life began when I left school and went to work for my Dad in his business servicing and constructing recreational vehicles. In the same industrial complex there was a custom electric sign manufacturer. I have always been artistically minded , so when the sign shop owner saw me painting my motorcycle , and asked me if I could do his sign artwork , I said yes. I learned the basics of all of the 5 -6 trades involved in signwork at that shop. There is no trades certification specifically for sign work , so I mastered the work through experience. I was eighteen at the start.

   Along the way I worked as a custom painter , motorcycle mechanic and a few other jobs but always with signwork as my main income. Neon work was always prominent in this work and I was able to have a neon fabrication shop for ten years , contributing in my own way to Vancouvers rich neon sign history. I still take on the odd neon job and will never tire of the work.

   My move to Texada Island in 2014 was a complete change in environment , climate , and community. New materials , fabrication techniques and procedures have all been put in place in my home and business. Production is now focused on custom items from a number of incredible different woods. Signs are still a staple in my working life , most of them are made of wood now!

   As 2020 is my first time participating in the Texada Island Studio Tour I’m looking forward to meeting our guests and opening my home and business to them. Please make sure Van Anda Custom Works is on your ‘Make Sure to See’ list!

                                                        Thank you; Steve Croasdale.

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I often incorporate my art into functional objects or architecture so it will be frequently encountered. I strive for art which changes throughout the day, lighting conditions and use. In this way I work to create art which continues to surprise and inspire long after the basic function of the object has become habit.

I take much of my inspiration from the nature. One of my specialties, the Prairie School style as typified by Frank Lloyd Wright draws much of it’s original imagery from surroundings and nature. Even the symbols I work with, such as Yin & Yang, contain ideas drawn from the world around me: moon & sun – female & male – water & fire – earth & air – curved nature & angular geometries.

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Creating art gives me time to step away from the mundane and commune with my inner spirit. I work spontaneously, creating shapes and patterns, seemingly at random, but as I work I sense a story evolving within the painting. Though the stories I paint are deeply personal, it is my hope that others will see their own stories reflected within my work.

Since moving to the Pacific Coast my work combines images based on local birds and whales set within ocean views. Intense colors inspire emotional responses in the viewer.

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