Collage Art
Kristen makes one-of-a-kind wood-block collages based on great writers of the past, and miniature storybooks she calls “Beatrix Potter for Grownups.” Kristen was born in Deep River, and lives in Lyndhurst and Toronto.
Mixed media
Stephanie is a mixed media artist with roots in the Ottawa Valley. Her work has been influenced by the many places in which she has lived: the Ottawa Valley, Algonquin Park, Toronto, Japan, Vancouver and Newfoundland.
As a student of other Canadian landscape artists, she admires their use of colour, composition and subject matter. Mostly self-taught, Stephanie has taken courses and classes in high school, at the University of Toronto, through the City of Ottawa and workshops run by different art associations.
Primarily a landscape painter, Stephanie enjoys experimenting with composition, colour, techniques and mediums. In her earlier works, trees, water and rocks featured largely. Then, after spending much time in a small outport of Newfoundland and travelling around it’s rocky shores Stephanie began painting the awesome views and colourful buildings there.
Most recently she has been painting the landscape of her childhood - the Upper Ottawa Valley with its fields, rivers, lakes and hills. Stephanie also enjoys playing with non-representational composition with shapes, textures and bright colours. Her style is abstracted and she creates her own stamps and stencils which can be found in the background of many of her paintings. By painting series of works, Stephanie gets a feel for the colours, shapes and mood of different landscapes and composition.
Stephanie believes that artists should be fearless, enjoying the process as much as the finished work.
Stephanie has been an active member of many art groups in Ottawa and is very pleased and excited to be a part the Valley Artisan Co-op.
Alcohol Ink
I love working with alcohol inks because each piece is guaranteed to be unique and impossible to replicate. The inks flow and shift until all the alcohol that suspends the dye pigments evaporates. At that point, the inks solidify into the patterns they formed during evaporation. To reactivate the dyes, more alcohol can be applied, allowing me to manipulate the designs through techniques such as blowing, tilting, brushing, or other movements. Once I am satisfied with the outcome, I apply a UV spray to prevent fading, followed by a finishing sealer. Alcohol inking adds a vibrant splash of colorful abstraction to everyday objects.
Dreamcatchers
Dreamcatchers, which originated in Anishinaabe culture as "the spider web charm," are traditionally woven on a willow hoop and hung near the cradles and beds of babies and children. They are associated with the figure of Spider Woman, weaver of the web of life, connector and protector.
The term "dreamcatcher" is a modern, commercial term, though these objects have become a widespread symbol of Indigenous people throughout North America.
Leslie creates a hoop from prairie willow growing near her home and weaves a web with synthetic sinew. She decorates her dreamcatchers with glass beads and found natural objects such as porcupine quills and feathers.
Leslie descends from the Red River Métis and is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.
