George Bates

George W. Bates was born in London, England. He came to North America in 1954, living in Toronto and Los Angeles before settling in Vancouver, Canada, in 1956. His approach to painting draws from both the realist and impressionist traditions. His influences include British impressionist, Alfred Sisley, as well as the great marine painters Montague Dawson and Norman Wilkinson. Bates also learned much from his friend of thirty years, Edwin C. Lockey.

Bates is a Charter Member of the Canadian Society of Marine Artists and was elected Senior Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists in 1983. Married, with three children, Bates resides in West Vancouver. His favored subjects are the places he constantly revisits, and has come to know best through his art: The Pacific Northwest, California, and the American Southwest, but also the street scenes and landscapes of Europe, especially France and his first homeland, Britain.

Max Hayslette
 

Every image begins in my head, says Max Hayslette, the combination of a long dance between memory and imagination. Memory colored by imagination is the root from which my images grow. As is my practice in all of my paintings, I choose a subject - sometimes more than one - study it or them well, and then mentally disassemble the parts, mixing and reassembling them into a new image with a new spirit, which is my own. Hayslette was born in Rupert, West Virginia, in 1930. His first one-man show took place in 1946, before he began his formal art studies at the American Academy the following year. He completed his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1952, where he worked closely with Alexander Archipenko and Egon Weiner.

Hayslette considers himself a romantic artist, one who seeks to give his works a warm and gentle spiritual quality. For him, the essence and spirituality of his subject are more important than detail, and he finds that he can grasp this spiritual essence more completely when his subject is illumined by the dawn twilight, halfway between light and dark. Says Hayslette: Painting is a silent medium, and well suited to exploring the ethereal qualities of early morning light, before the sounds of the day invade the scene. Painting is a process, which is accomplished in silence, but when everything works right, it culminates in a triumphant symphony for the soul. The viewer of Max Hayslette's work will witness a symphony of color and light, and their soul will be naturally and effortlessly won over by a quiet triumph of beauty.

Brent Heighton

Brent Heighton has been painting professionally for over twenty years. He experiments with different colors, styles and techniques managing to capture the light and life of the subjects and scenescapes he paints. His watercolours and oil paintings are expressive and his work continues to grow and mature as he pushes his creative boundaries. "Art is one of the few things in today's world that is completely personal and original and expresses what a person is. It can inspire feeling, expression and passion in others."

Working as a fulltime Artist has allowed Brent to travel extensively throughout Europe and all over the world with his family in search of inspiration intrigued by the difference of light in each place. During the past few years Brent has traveled to Mexico numerous times. The architecture and the people keeps enticing Brent back." I find Mexico helps my creative juices to flow and I love the color of the light."

Continuing to explore new ideas and approaches to painting, he never stays in one place creatively. Recently Brent was asked  by a large U.S. wallpaper firm to design using his style of painting. Working with the textile industry has opened new doors in experimenting with texture and color that he had never thought of before.

Ted Goerschner
 

Goerschner loves the freedom of being an artist, and the people and the places that he is able to visit. Fulfillment for him is the happiness he is able to bring to others with his special talent. The artist hopes his work "gives joy to the viewer. I feel art should lift up the spirit, not drag it down-TV takes care of that." Years of studies, observations, challenges, successes and lessons permeate the walls of his studio, a telling picture of an artist's lifelong commitment to perfection - transferring nature onto canvas. The artist attended the Art Student's League in New York; the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art, New Jersey; and the University of Florida in Tampa, FL. His work appears in numerous publications, has won many distinguished awards, and appears in many public and private collections, including the Holiday Inn Corporate Collection, the Mr. Kevin Costner Collection, and the Household Finance Corporate Collection.

Marta Gottfried

Marta Wiley's art is as colorful, captivating, and varied as the artist herself. Born in Mexico City, Wiley is of European, Irish and Cherokee descent. As a child, there was a wild streak in young Marta that her grandmother, also an artist, helped channel into the fine arts. Time and maturity have not stilled the childhood energy and verve of this artist. Wiley's passions run as deeply and soulfully as her dignified figurative creations.

My concerns are for the planet, the evolution of the human species, and the balance between the environment and those who are responsible for its continuation. I believe in being aware of personalactions and reactions in order to place the utmost responsibility on the individual. I believe in the individual as a source ofultimate manifestation - in balance and beauty with all living creatures. This is what turns me on the most - the ultimate attainment of the Highest Self - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

It seems that Wiley's quest for Highest Self has led down several avenues of expression. In addition to her poignant and intense concern for the environment, Wiley is a gifted singer and songwriter. Her inspirations follow varied paths - from themystical and mythological experimental films of Maya Daren, to the far-reaching expanses of Carlos Castenada's writing tomeditation and self-imposed discipline. These inspirations are all evidenced through her art - the dreamlike and alluring figuratives, the romantic, fantastical quality of her settings, the bold texturing and decisive detailing. All combine to produce a piece that is equally seductive as contemplative.

Julianna Moore James

Noah Li-Leger

Born in 1984 to parents who are artists, Noah Li-Leger grew up surrounded by art. As a child, the studio was his playground. His exposure to a wide variety of art, including the great museums of Europe and North America, fuels his creativity and inspires him to experiment with many different artistic mediums.

Apart from painting, Noah also makes kinetic sculpture, which can be found in collections in Montreal, New York, Paris, and other cities worldwide.

Noah's approach to painting reflects his strong interests in design. His paintings emphasize form and color, rather than literal subject matter. Thus his paintings capture the eye, leaving interpretation to the viewer.

Don Li-Leger

Don Li-Leger is a renowned B.C. artist whose body of work spans three decades. Born and raised in British Columbia, Li-Leger early on demonstrated a keen interest in art and an affinity for the natural world around him. This symbiosis of art and nature has been an instrumental force in Li-Leger's life and in his decision to become an artist.

Li-Leger pursued studies in art and natural science in 1970's and over the next twenty years he built a reputation as a realist painter and printmaker. In the late 1990's Li-Leger began creating a serious of color-saturated acrylic paintings that evoked abstraction bu included elements of geometry, natural phenomena, calligraphy and collage. These texturally rich canvases have been described as Asian Fusion paintings and are characterized by a restrained color palette and architectonic arrangements. Informed by a number of influences, including Asian art, Eastern philosophy, and abstract art, Don Li-Leger has said that this genre of work...grew out of my intensive involvement with monoprints, where I improvised and combined various imagery with broad areas of rolled-on saturated color. 

When Li-Leger starts a painting, he often doesn't know what direction it will take, preferring to find the journey in the act of discovery. His goal is to be freely expressive, pure and spontaneous, using fewer brushstrokes to say more. He is meditative when he paints, drawing upon the deep universal well of common symbology and images to create works that connect profoundly with the hearts and minds of his audience. Although painting and showing his artwork consume much of Li-Leger's time, his family and his home and garden continue to be the wellspring of his creativity: I've had numerous mentors throughout my life: family, neighbors and fellow artists. The orchids and irises represented in my paintings are those I grew in my perennial garden therefore they hold personal meaning.

Laurie Maitland

Keith Mallett

For Keith Mallet, painting is a spiritual journey. It is a journey that started in childhood and continues to this day. Keith has worked as a painter, etching artist and ceramist. His subject matter ranges from still lifes to abstracts. In recent years, he has devoted his talents to themes that portray the beauty and strength of the African American experience.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1948, Keith studied painting at the Art Students League and Hunter College in New York City and LA Valley College in Los Angeles. His work has been exhibited throughout the world and is in corporate and private collections. A variety of television shows and movies have featured Keith's artwork and his paintings have graced the covers of several books. He has also enjoyed considerable success with numerous sold-out limited edition prints and was honored with a commission to paint the official limited edition print commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's historic breakthrough into major league baseball.

When asked what he wants viewers to take from his work, Keith states, "It is my desire, through my artwork, to depict the positive aspects of the African American experience. If I can show but one child the strength and beauty of her past or the bright hope of his future, then I feel I have accomplished my goal."

Mark Merrill

Mark Merrill is an artist-missionary with the Christian Cultural Development Foundation, working among
artists, street children, and prostitutes in the Philippines since 1991. Merrill donates his paintings entirely
to the Christian Cultural Development Foundation. He has been a professional artist since the day following
his High School graduation in 1976 when he started apprenticing under John Q. Archer, designing and
fabricating large paintings and specialty projects.

His formal education began with Marketing/Advertising at Miami University of Ohio, and he later received
a BFA with honors in painting and holography from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Applying his degree to a career, he has been Director and Curator for an international Fine Art Holographic Museum and Gallery in
the business district of Los Angeles, California. Since working for God full-time, he has been painting a variety of images over the
past ten years. His work is collected and displayed throughout the world.

Michael O'Toole

Michael O'Toole was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1963. His interest in art began with drawing at an early age and painting has now become his all consuming passion. Michael studied architectural design at BCIT and pursued a career in architectural illustration, living for a short time in Toronto, before choosing to devote his time fully to his art.

He now resides in White Rock, where he paints in a variety of media including watercolors and acrylics. His work appears in major private and corporate collections, and he has had many successful shows in Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island.

Nancy O'Toole

Nancy O'Toole is well known for her dynamic use of color intensity and luminosity in her impressionistic
paintings. Although well versed in several media her favorite media at present is Acrylics. Nancy has painted
a variety of subjects including Portraits, Floral, Still Life, and diverse Landscapes. At present recent travels
through Europe has been the inspiration for many of her Landscape paintings.

She is sought after by collectors of fine art and has paintings in Corporate and Private collections throughout
North America, and Europe, The United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Japan, and many other countries around
the world. As a full time artist Nancy has numerous Solo and Public exhibitions to her credit and her original
paintings have been featured in Galleries throughout Canada, U.S.A., Singapore and Ireland.

Leif Ostlund

Loran Speck

California-born artist Loran Speck draws inspiration for his paintings from the realist artists of the Renaissance, such as Rembrandt and Rubens. He creates highly-detailed images, and has been compared to the great Dutch masters with his brilliant use of light and color.Speck's artistic flair extends beyond his art, onto the frames that encase his original works. Gilded in gold leaf and hand-carved in his own framing and gilding studio, each frame is in itself a work of art.

Speck has been exhibiting his art in Carmel-by-the-Sea for over 25 years. He also participates in events and
exhibitions in Dallas, Houston, Santa Fe and Hilton Head Island.

Her personal artwork has been featured in group and solo exhibits. She and her husband Brad, also an artist, currently reside in the San Francisco bay area.

Yvette St. Amant

Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Yvette St. Amant pursues her production of art and photography in
the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Trained with a Bachelor Degree of Fine Art, majoring in painting and
drawing, she takes her knowledge of the basic elements used in fine art and applies them to her photography.

As a painter, many artists have inspired Yvette. Two in particular are abstract artists, Juan Mira, and Frans Marc. She has always been intrigued by Frans Marc's use of bold and rich colors in a non-realistic way, converting beautiful scenery and animal paintings to abstract art. Yvette likes to use a similar technique, creating shapes out of shadows and highlights to maintain an abstract element to most of her work. She feels that her most successful pieces convey a loose and free flowing feeling to the movement of objects and paint on the canvas. As a photographer and painter, with knowledge in graphic design, Yvette is able to use a technique of combining her photographs with
graphics in planning many of her paintings.

Linda Thompson

Linda studied at Natal College of Art and Design in South Africa between 1976 and 1979. She was voted
Top Student in her final year, qualifying with distinction in Textile Design. In 1981, she won the coveted
Shell Design Consumer Award for designing five of the ten award winning fabrics. While working as head
of a design studio between 1983 and 1989 she was developing her own personal style of watercolor
painting and pencil sketching. She later worked as a freelance artist doing commissions in a variety of media.

Between 1993 and 1997, Linda worked as a creative textile designer always exploring new techniques
resulting in a fresh new look. During this time she set up a gallery where she was able to exhibit her floral
watercolor studies and latterly her very popular large acrylic on canvas paintings. Linda has recently settled in Calgary where she
continues to explore her creative talents. Linda exhibits annually at the New Image Gallery in Calgary Alberta.

Michael Thorstad

Michael is a native Georgian raised in South Carolina who completed a degree in Illustration and Photography at the Atlanta College of Art  in 1994. Following graduation he did decorative painting finishes and murals throughout the region. 

In 2000, Michael won the Cultural Council's Palmetto Tree Project award for his design which is now on display in Queensland, Australia.  Michael has been specializing in textile art creation and editing for the past 10 years and is inspired by contemporary lines, minimalistic industrial art and the reinterpretation of classic art in a textile format.