In Depth with The Evergreen Artists

We had the opportunity to chat with the nine artists featured in the Evergreen Exhibition this fall! They opened up to us and allowed us to understand their artistic process and what inspired them to paint. Keep reading to learn more about these amazing artists and gain insights into what drives them to keep creating.

The Evergreen artists at Opening Reception!

Ewa Stryjnik

Ewa Stryjnik is a familiar face here at Twist Gallery, Evergreen is the third exhibition she has participated in. Many of Ewa’s paintings are influenced by the vast and uninhabited regions of Northern Canada. Ewa feels it is a privilege to live in one of the most beautiful countries of the world where one can still experience the pristine, natural territories. With her landscape paintings, Ewa invites the viewer to walk through the lands she’s visited and experience the topography; the natural and physical features of the area, as well as, the moods of the weather. 

Labrador 3 (Battle Harbour) | 54" x 48" | $3500 | by Ewa Stryjnik

Over the years, Ewa has adapted her creative practice. For years, she loved to apply multiple layers on the canvas. Allowing for the colours and shapes to peak through, in order to create the complexity of the surface. Lately, she simplifies the layers, opening up bigger fields to bring calmness and clarity to her paintings. Ewa’s paintings project happy and positive energy, which she achieves with bright, saturated colours. 

Theo McLaren

Theo McLaren has been drawing and painting for over 40 years. Recently, Theo has adopted monoprinting; she enjoys this technique because it is a more spontaneous and intuitive method of mark-making. 

Her favourite piece from the Evergreen is “River Flow.” It is a piece inspired by watching the tide in New Brunswick. She was fascinated by the patterns the water was leaving behind in the sand. 

River Flow | 20" x 14" | $400 | by Theo McLaren

Theo’s current artwork is about a memory of a place, traveling through the Canadian landscape. When you are alone in the forest or in the vast hills you think about where you have been or where you are going next. Or sometimes you pass by without really looking - but that image stays in your mind and resurfaces later.

Monique Parlevliet

Monique Parlevliet started working primarily with oil paint in 2021, after painting with acrylic for years prior. She finds the motivation to create in the hopes that those around her will enjoy it. When she finishes a painting, Monique always makes sure to share it with her family because she knows it will put a smile on their faces. 

When creating, Monique tries to not spend a load of time on one painting. It is easy for her to get caught up in “small details”, which you can tell from her beautifully detailed work. She likes to keep her paintings on the impressionist side, which she can easily end up overthinking and overworking if she spends too long on it. 

Beaver Valley | 16"x 20" | $1100 | by Monique Parlevliet

Monique finds inspiration from seemingly plain but scenic views of trails, fields and lakes in places she travels to. Growing up in a small farm town, she is influenced by her love of fields, which is something that some people might see every day but never fully appreciate. Monique used to think that landscapes had to be beautiful and one of a kind to be worth painting, like giant mountains or a crystal clear lake. She has since come to appreciate the beauty in more common scenes

Nerso

For Nerso, Evergreen is his first group exhibit and that makes it very dear to his heart. It is a new experience, meeting other artists, and gaining new perspectives. Overall,  Nerso is very excited to take part in the exhibit. 

As an introvert, Nerso is accustomed to painting in the nook of his basement. He still manages to create even when natural lighting is scarce. Out of Nerso’s whole Evergreen collection “Pink Parasol '' is his favourite painting. 

The Pink Parasol | 24" x 24" | $1100 | by Nerso

 Family is very important to him. The branches symbolize the protecting arms of a family and the pink parasol itself represents the bonds within a family, characterized by deep affection, respect, loyalty, and unconditional love. What viewers can take away from his art is a state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.

Michael Brennan 

Michael Brennan’s motivation to paint fulfills the need to practice creativity and freedom. After years of making art for other people commercially, it feels good to have the freedom to make his own choices and make something for himself. Michael is endlessly experimenting with materials, paints, brushes, and surfaces. Constantly trying out new things or painting at new locations to keep him stimulated every day. As an artist, Michael finds he is learning something new about art, so he can't get enough.

Sunrise Sunflower Farm | 18" x 24" | $900 | by Michael Brennan

The hardest part of creating a painting for Micheal is making it look fresh and spontaneous. He finds it easier to get the look he’s after when working from life, but there are times it just doesn't work out and it is better to just start over instead of reworking. That is one of the reasons why he enjoys painting with oil. He can wipe and start over. 

For Evergreen, Michael shares his space in the gallery with his aunt Maria Grazia. They come from a creative family, so he finds it nice to have a collaboration where they can showcase work together. We couldn’t agree more!

Maria Grazia 

For Maria Grazia, painting is equivalent to a type of meditation. Her focal point is what inspires and moves her the most in life and that’s why most of her subjects include the natural world, whether it's the sky, water, trees, or flowers. 

Maria has learned over the years that ALL paintings go through an “ugly” or not-so-desirable stage. Back when she was first learning to paint she threw away a lot of paper and painted over a lot of canvases because she would not like something she painted and just give up. Now Maria knows that it's only a natural part of the process and if she keeps at it, the piece transforms right in front of her eyes. 

Quiet Is The Night | 11” x 14” | $240 | by Maria Grazia

The paintings Maria features in Evergreen specifically highlight the sky. Maria loves the sky and that’s why she paints it. She lives on the 20th floor of a condo and it faces the West, so almost every night of the week she is treated to a beautiful light show of various stunning colours during sunset. Nature is a master artist and it inspires her!

Janet Horne Cozens

Janet Horne Cozens is drawn to painting Canadian landscapes because they were part of her childhood, growing up in Northern Ontario. Even after decades of living in Southern Ontario, she still feels that sense of "home" when traveling north and experiencing the rocks, the trees, the water, and the skies of that area. 

Painting landscapes is a very personal expression of Janet’s life journey. Janet sees herself as an ambassador of the Northern Experience, not only the physical world but also of the culture and spirituality that exists in Northern Ontario. It's hard for her to explain in words but there is a different feeling that you experience when you are outdoors there - a sense of awe at the natural world, a connection to the land that is fostered by the natives, a sense of vastness and separation from others, and a serenity that one cannot find in the hustle and bustle of the big city or urban sprawl. She tries to convey those impressions and experiences to the viewer in my work. 

Reflections (BLACK RIVER) | 30" x 40" | $2000 | by Janet Horne Cozens

Janet’s style of painting is influenced by Canadian artist, Tom Thomas. When Janet studied at Ontario College of Art (now OCAD), she used to spend hours pouring over his small plywood oil sketches that were kept in drawers in the gallery, taking in each brush stroke. Janet’s favourite work of his is Morning, now in the Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound, because of the colours that he uses in it: purples and pinks and mauves. 

Janet loves indigenous art of all styles because at first glance it seems so simple, but as you look at it you become aware of the artist's personality, culture, and personal experiences coming through in the art. 

Heather Munsie

Throughout Heather Munsie’s artistic career, she’s had lots of support and inspiration. Heather and her husband travel to find references for her paintings and her husband’s enthusiasm and support keep her going. 

When she first started painting, living in Calgary, Heather had a mentor who pushed her to deeply analyze a scene and gave her the confidence to pursue painting as a career. Heather is inspired by master painters and her current favorite is William Blaire Bruce (b. 1859) from Hamilton, Ontario. 

Rapids Amphitheater | 22”x 30” | $1000 | by Heather Munsie

Prior to being a painter, Heather was a geologist. Both geology and painting involves looking at the bigger picture and working down to the details. Heather has an appreciation for the complexity of how the terrain was formed and strives to paint accurately to best depict the geology of the landscape. 

When she’s outdoors it’s easy to feel the energy of the scene because it engages all senses. “The trick is to hold onto the energy of the location and bring that into the studio.” Heather will ask herself these questions; “How do I make this scene feel stormy? How do I make this ice feel glassy? What texture is needed to make the water feel frothy?” By paying attention to how something feels, she can vary the texture of the paint and brush strokes to best suit the scene. 

As an artist Heather wants viewers to notice the little things – the glowing ochre tinge on a tree or the vibrant rust color of water when the light hits it. There’s so much variety outdoors and she strives to bring those details onto the canvas so that the viewer can experience what caught her attention.

Danilo Ursini

Danilo Ursini’s inspiration is dictated to represent the intersection of an imaginary line between reality and fantasy. For Danilo painting represents a way of learning himself, representing a subject, with the background with the lights (strengths) and shadows (defects). Danilo likes painting without judgment, he tries to be as objective as possible, like a photo, which stops in a special instant. 

His painting style is inspired by his love of the Group of Seven. Many of his paintings feature trees, they represent an extraordinary being that moves in time and space, like following and changing every season, every year. Danilo’s painting Fall n3 was inspired by reality. It was autumn, Sunday afternoon, and he was sitting on the coast of Lake Algonquin Provincial Park.

FALL n 3 | 15” x 60” | $1250 | by Danilo Ursini

Closing Thoughts…

Each individual artist represents the meaning of Evergreen with their own unique style and creative process behind their paintings. Taking inspiration from the natural world, their artwork is a great reminder of the brilliant landscape across Canada. 

We would like to thank all of these fantastic artists for their dedication to creating beautiful and meaningful art. Of which, our Evergreen exhibition would not have come to life in the way it has. We hope that Evergreen motivates you to explore the Canadian outdoors and to embrace and preserve the beauty of nature for future generations to come. 

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Meet the Gestures Artists

With work so breathtaking, words are necessary to describe the beauty of Gestures. Twist Gallery’s two-month-long exhibition displays 8 local Toronto artists’ brush strokes, showing just how intentional and deliberate each stroke is. Experience the feelings illustrated in this exhibition, it is sure to leave a mark

→ Join us at 1100 Queen Street West, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 AM to 6 PM ←

Gestures Opening Reception

Join us for light appetizers, refreshments, music, and a chance to meet the artists.

Thursday, April 7th, 2022 | 6 pm to 9 pm

1100 Queen Street W

Along with the incredible works done by our various artists it is important to us that we get to know each artist more personally. We asked each artist to send in a short paragraph explaining a bit about who they are in order for us, and you to feel more connected to them outside of their work! All of the artists from this exhibit have such incredible stories and explanations for why they love their craft, and we invite you to learn more about how they came to be who they are, and why they decided to create. Keep reading to get the full story!

MEET THE GESTURES ARTISTS

Alice Kelso

Alice Kelso is a Canadian artist, teacher, and social advocate. Though based mainly out of Hamilton and Toronto, she has also shown her work at pop-up exhibitions in the UK. As a graduate of OCAD University's painting program (BFA) and Sheridan College's social services program (SSW), she teaches (and learns) through an anti-oppressive and holistic framework. Alice's work is abstract but representational and her process is expressive and cathartic. It showcases the patterns created by natural growth through texture, mark-making and colour harmonies; conceptual interconnectivity between art and science, people and the world around them.

Andrea Higgins

Andrea is a contemporary self-taught artist with a background in music, film and dance. 

Her work is physical and improvisational, driven by emotion captured through an abstract lens. She describes her works as a dance with one's self, spontaneous and free, releasing energy and emotions in a limitless direction. 

Similar to the way music creates a soundtrack to our lives, colours play a role in the background of our everyday moments yet carry meanings that vary from person to person. 

Andrea lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Andrea Rosara

Andrea Rosara is an interdisciplinary artist from Venice, Italy. He works primarily in the media of painting and drawing and has an interest in printmaking. He holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Art and a Master’s of Fine Art/Visual Studies in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. Andrea has exhibited his work in a wide variety of solo and group exhibitions in Venetian galleries and art festivals including Atelier 3+10, the Festival of Contemporary Art Giudecca, La Fenice Gallery, Techwood Venezia, and Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. He is now based in Toronto, Canada.

Caroline Chorazy

Caroline Chorazy is a self-taught, Toronto-based abstract artist specializing in acrylics and gold leaf. She draws her inspiration from natural elements in an attempt to capture organic movement and flow in all of her artwork. Her use of gold leaf and pigment gives each piece a unique gesture and ability to change appearance or shape in cohesion with the room and light.

Moses Salihou

Moses is a contemporary artist whose artwork reads like visual poetry; subjective & limitless in its interpretation.  His inspiration and creativity are sourced from his surroundings, the environment and his imagination.  Moses’ creative process is guided by a desire to establish a dialogue through his work without setting any limits.

As a versatile artist, Moses uses various supports (canvas, paper, reclaimed materials) and mediums (oil, acrylic, watercolour, pigment and charcoal).  Originally from Cameroon, Moses now calls Toronto home and his artwork is proudly featured in private collections in Canada and abroad.

Seokhoon Jun

Seokhoon Jun loves family, friends, and nature. Currently studying art therapy at Toronto Art Therapy Institute with an interest in how art and spirituality come together in life. Glad and grateful for the opportunity to connect through art.

Valentina Youkhanna

Valentina Youkhanna is a self-taught artist who has always had a creative side since childhood. She spent a lot of her time as a kid drawing, colouring, and painting. In her early 20s, she began painting with acrylics and it’s been love ever since. She is not only passionate about the arts and creativity but also had a career as a mental health worker and facilitated art groups for those facing mental health and addiction challenges. In her late 20s, Valentina decided creativity would take the main seat in her life and pursued an education in hairstyling which ultimately led her to work in both professions. By 2019 she would dedicate and commit more time to her creative outlets and left the mental health sector to solely focus on her hairstylist career and art. 

Valentina is passionate about healing through art and believes everyone is creative. She believes everyone has gifts and talents in the arts but as time goes on and people “grow up” they forget what it means to play, to have fun, and let your mind be creative. She hopes to see more people tune into their intuition and create from the heart and soul to express or heal. She values community, supporting one another and believes there is abundance for all in the art world and no need to compete because as she states, “no two people can draw the same line.”

Vian Ewart

Vian’s early career was in the graphic side of journalism. About 15 years ago Vian had the opportunity to go to the Gallery School at the AGO, and then the Toronto School of Art, and then the three-year adult art course at Central Tech Art School. For several years since, Vian has been part of the ProjectArt studio group in Toronto. He has also been involved with a number of group exhibitions from the Praxis Gallery to Lennox Contemporary to Don Valley/Forest Hill and most recently Gallery 1313. Last year he completed a couple of commissions in Canada and the U.S.

We hope to see you there!

This exhibit is one of the longer ones, and we felt that this was necessary due to the complexity and emotional depth inherent in a lot of the artists pieces. We hope that this blog post gave you some insight into why each artist decided to express themselves through this medium, and how their art has helped shaped their life. We are excited to see you at the new exhibit Gestures and hope this work will inspire you in the way it was meant too.

Get to Know the Artists From Chromatics! March 2nd-26th

This month Twist Gallery has chosen 7 local Toronto artists to be a part of our Chromatics Exhibit. Each of these artists has their very own unique inspirations, creative processes and messages they display in their art. Their artwork communicates the same theme of expressing themselves through the use of bold and vibrant colours. How they use and express these colours is entirely unique.

→ Join us at 1100 Queen Street West, Tuesday to Saturday from 11 AM to 6 PM ←

Liz Szymczak

Liz Szymczak’s painting journey started in 2018 as therapy for anxiety, post-heart attack. She initially started painting rocks that she gathered from her walks at the lake. From there she jumped to small canvases, and now Liz’s largest piece to date is 36” x 48” and she hopes to go even larger! Painting opened up in her a well of creative energy that lay dormant for most of her life. Now painting is her sanctuary! All of her work is intuitive and many of her works have appeared to her in dreams. Liz’s only hope is that her art makes the viewer feel- because that is what makes life so beautiful!

Tamar Kevorkian

Tamar is an Armenian Canadian painter born in Beirut, Lebanon. Tamar grew up in Montreal, where she studied Fine Arts at Concordia University and Photography at Dawson Institute of Photography. Her infinite imagination and inspiration from her life experiences along with the influence of Pablo Picasso give life to an empty canvas.

Tamar’s preferred mediums are acrylic, oil pastel, charcoal, and ink, using brushes and palette knives of various sizes. She brings forth harmony to explore and create the visual imagery of her cubist graffiti paintings. Now living in Toronto, Canada, Tamar actively paints both on canvas and on digital media.

“Art should have no boundaries, therefore I paint freely and boldly because Art always matters.”

— Tamar Kevorkian

Judith McKay

Judith McKay is a Toronto-area abstract surrealist artist. Her intensely coloured, vibrant landscapes and portraits are influenced by magical realism and surrealistic dreams. The concept underlying her work is that of inseparable and contradictory opposites. The playful duality of abstract and representation—altering perception and reality. Interconnectedness and dissolving boundaries permeate her work—one element flows into another, merging and mixing, creating something altogether new. We think we recognize the places and people in these paintings but they are not as we remember them.

Her artworks featured at the Chromatics exhibit depict powerfully ethereal women spirits and sensual flowing skies, birds, and flowers in vivid, hopeful colours. Her mission in creating these works is to offer an alternative elsewhere, an escape from the chaotic world we find ourselves in. She uses acrylic on canvas; painting with swirling motion to give a sense of floating in ambient air. 

Recent exhibitions include the Loft Gallery Group Exhibition, The Artist Project, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, HIRAETH, a solo show at the Urban Gallery, Toronto and FUSION, a shared solo show with Moses Salihou at the Freedom Factory Gallery, Toronto. Her work can also be found in private and corporate collections across Canada, the US, and overseas.

Adeeba Aslam

Adeeba comes from a deeply artistic family of painters, potters and clothing designers with roots in Pakistan. She is a self-taught artist who derives inspiration for her work from her spirituality, lived experiences and interactions with her community.

Over the past several years Adeeba has been trained with and is currently under the mentorship of a prominent Canadian artist, Catherine Shea.

Influenced by expressionist painters, Adeeba typically doesn't have a plan before exploring the canvas. She works with acrylic paint and selected mediums using unconventional tools and techniques to create her abstract pieces. Using bold colours, spatial and organic structures, Adeeba’s paintings evoke an ethereal depth and drama in telling her stories. The process of painting is both a deeply emotional and meditative experience for Adeeba.

Adeeba’s work has been featured at various locations in Toronto, where she was born, raised and currently resides.

For more information about her work, contact adeeba.aslam@gmail.com. Check out her Instagram: @adeeba.aslam.art.

Andrea Higgins

Andrea is a contemporary self-taught artist with a background in music, film, and dance. Her work is physical and improvisational, driven by emotion captured through an abstract lens. She describes her works as a dance with one's self, spontaneous and free, releasing energy, and emotions in a limitless direction. 

Similar to the way music creates a soundtrack to our lives, colours play a role in the background of our everyday moments yet carry meanings that vary from person to person. 

Andrea lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Check out her Instagram: @andreahigginsart.

Giuseppe Mandarino

Rooted in Italian tradition, Giuseppe was born in November 1976 and raised in the Downsview neighbourhood of Toronto. Giuseppe has been passionate about putting paint to canvas since his childhood. Experimenting with his artistic style by fusing a combination of textures, colours, and mediums his creations are one of a kind pieces developed through emotions, surroundings and human connections. Giuseppe speaks through his work, and each paint stroke is an expression. His art is created to channel feeling, movement, and inspiration for those that view it. With a love for his hometown of Toronto, Giuseppe has created custom work for an array of local art collectors, entrepreneurs, and admirers. The world that surrounds us has inspiration everywhere if we take the time to notice it, which Giuseppe displays on his canvas.  

“Do something you really enjoy and it will never feel like work. I’m grateful for my family’s support, and for the opportunities I have been given.”

— Giuseppe Mandarino

Kim Benoit

Creating art is the perfect occasion for an artist to explore happiness. Experiencing art is a mindful activity which allows time and space to experience an emotion. In the paintings from Kim’s series “What Is Happiness?”, she proposes to expound on happiness. What aspects of art make someone feel good? Making a painting that aims to have someone explore their happiness or even to guide them to feel happy is no easy task. She needed to find a visual vocabulary to define happiness. All artists choose a palette to convey the mood. Dark colours can be calming or depressing, bright colours can be uplifting or overwhelming. The use of space can attract or repel. Loose brush strokes and flowing organic shapes can be freeing or disorienting. Strict movement and controlled geometric shapes can evoke safeness or confinement. All of these elements affect the experience. In Kim’s series ‘What Is Happiness?’ She selected paintings that are bright, flowing, and organic for the Chromatics exhibition. To see Kim’s other paintings which express stricter controlled geometric expressions, go to kimbenoitart.com.

The artist’s portion of the proceeds of the sale of these paintings will be donated to research and programs which support people with a mental illness.

We hope to see you there!

Meet Anna Medvedeva!

“I truly have a passion for creating art in whatever form. There’s beauty everywhere. I can interpret that and bring what I feel to the viewer and that is the most important thing for me. The amazing world of colors is my day-long joy and obsession.”

— Anna Medvedeva

“Extracting the Abstract” artist Anna Medevedeva

What is your collection about?

 My search for new forms of expression led to my Color Field painting series. My paintings are all about nature, feelings and elements of landscapes.

How did you start out as an artist?

I began painting in my early childhood. I studied in Kustodiev Art School and Academy of Fine Arts in St-Petersburg, Russia. In early 2000’s I moved from traditional realism to my current abstraction.

“Green and Blue” by Anna Medvedeva

What inspires your art?

My inspiration comes from everyday experience and extensive travels. I try to convey the mood and feelings of places and perceptions of those memories. I transform my vision into poetic abstraction, diffused with spiritual resonance and discover the hidden beauty harmony of colour.

Can you walk us through your process of creating an art piece?

My current passion is monotype printmaking. Its unique and original painting made on smooth surfaces such as silicone pad, plexiglass or gelli-plate and transferred on paper. Thanks to this technique, I create unique paintings that cannot be copied or repeated.

The medium of monotype is a form of painting favored since the 17th century by artists such as Rembrandt, Matisse, Chagall, Picasso, Gauguin, Sam Francis, and many others. I spend a lot of time coloring and re-coloring shapes and lines until the dynamics between elements come together and a definite composition arises. I had many lovely and calming feelings working with this series.

Meet Susan Weisz!

“My aim in painting is to explore the creative process. I constantly experiment with different techniques, the goal being to produce paintings that are thought provoking and visually appealing. Ultimately, I paint because it brings me great pleasure. If I can transfer some of that pleasure to viewers of my art, then I have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.”

How do you describe your relationship with art? What does art mean to you?

Art can provide a variety of reactions: it can soothe, challenge, provoke, inspire, delight, or evoke no emotion whatsoever. Art allows me to see things differently and provides me with a creative outlet that can be either rewarding or frustrating, but always encourages me to push forward.

Same Story, New Perspective #1, 24x24, $575

How did you get into creating abstract artwork? What does abstract mean to you?

I began painting mostly landscapes, seascapes, and florals. Eventually I started to think of different ways to paint things beyond the traditional. I liked the results. Being able to explore different ideas without feeling constrained appeals to me. I find it interesting how the same painting can evoke strikingly different responses from different observers.

Walk us through your journey of creating an art piece.

There is no single path to creating one of my pieces. The concept for the artwork could be extrapolated from photographs, from which I isolate different sections and use each of them as a reference to create an abstract painting. A series may develop almost by accident, by observing how a specific paint reacts on certain papers. The exploration continues by deciding how these new designs can be made into esthetically pleasing pieces of artwork. Other times I may be preoccupied with a shape, such as a circle or something more random, like drips, and I would experiment, creating a series or paintings. Sometimes there is no plan to begin with- just a substrate, paint, (and perhaps other media), and the tools used for application. My paintings may be used to send a message or just to create an image born from my imagination.

Dollar & Sense #1, 24x24, $575

Whose techniques do you study, admire or aspire to follow?

I studied the techniques of the instructors whose art classes and workshops I attended. I enjoy the work of artists who cover a broad range of styles such as Steve Driscoll, Angela Leach, Lawren Harris, Tom Thompson, Jackson Pollock, and the black and white pieces of Paul-Émile Borduas, to name a few.

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You can find Susan’s work right now at Twist Gallery until Friday, February 28th, 2020 and purchase her work under our “Artwork” section. Follow Susan Weisz’s work on her website and Instagram.