Michelle is a member of the faculty at DVSA. She paints in oils, acrylics, and watercolours and can be found painting Plein Air in areas around Dundas.

After graduating from Sheridan College with a degree in visual arts majoring in Classical animation, she continued her art education with a degree in Advanced airbrush at Mohawk college. She has been a partner at the Jordan art gallery and has been involved with the advisory board at the Grimsby art gallery.

Loretta Meyer is a First Nations Photographer.  She has 3 grown children and 5 grandchildren.  She has always had a camera in her hand from the time she was a young girl.  Photography is therapeutic to Loretta and she loves the freedom of expression photography gives her. Loretta also has a Boutique Portrait Photography business as well as the this fine art page you have landed at.  Loretta will also do commissioned pieces as well.  She is currently living in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada with her husband and rescue dog, Mrs. Kravitz.  

Amanda Hammill is an artist living in the Ancaster area. This is her third year participating in the Work in Progress exhibition. Amanda works with alcohol inks on non-porous surfaces such as Yupo paper and ceramics to explore ideas about transparency, depth and the interplay of color, shape and texture. Working with a medium that is fluid and unpredictable, she creates surrealist images that echo mood and focus on the beauty of improvisation rather than the depiction of form. She uses a variety of techniques and tools (brushes, air, a blade of grass, fire, sponges, old credit cards) to blend and manipulate form and texture from puddles of ink. She often finishes her pieces with several coats of epoxy resin to accentuate the vivid colour of her work. Amanda is a member of the Alcohol Ink Art Society and the Alcohol Ink Art Community.

Jill Birks paints in her home studio in Ancaster, Ontario.  Life drawing studio time at Artists’ 25, was followed by classes at the Ontario College of Art & Design. She apprenticed and then worked as a scenic painter at Bratton Designs, as a muralist with Brian Lorimer and Bill Wrigley’s Glow Studio. Having painted commissioned work for many years, her work resides in casinos, hotels, restaurants and event spaces ie: Cirque du Soleil & Roger’s Center. Her art also adorns the interiors of numerous homes.

Jill enjoys creating spontaneous abstracts on canvas, with grounded reflections of summers at Lake Huron, to a deeper inspiration of the earth’s natural power and wonder. Onto endless possibilities, while humankind continues our exploration and study of the universe…

At a very young age, Sally was introduced to the world of fiber arts by her mother and grandmother, and by the time she became a teenager, she had developed a love for sewing, cross stitch and needlepoint. Later in her teens, she started to crochet, followed by machine and loom knitting. Currently, her focus is on using yarn to create a modern perspective on the traditional arts of crochet and knit.  Sally loves to share her fiber arts knowledge and has been regularly teaching classes for the last 12 years. Having grown up in Hamilton, she resides in Milton with her husband, two children, cat and dog.

Art has always been a passion of Brenda’s; “my favourite subjects were Art, Theatre Arts, Marketing and Drafting”. After taking a painting course in the 90's my paintings were selling quickly, being hung at offices and restaurants. I took a few years off while battling a rare lung disease and dealing with personal issues which eventually led me back to creating art. This time my choice of medium was Alcohol Ink using an air brush and many other techniques to create my paintings. The substrate for this medium is called Yupo Paper. It's not actually paper because it's made from plastic. Non-porous surface allows the alcohol inks to flow so much more than watercolour. I am inspired by colour, nature, shapes and people. Most of my alcohol ink works are Abstract. These inks did what they wanted, when they wanted and there were many wonderful surprises when painting. As of late, I have turned back to watercolour and some of these paintings are more detailed, not as abstract. I look forward to talking in more detail at the show!

Tazeen Davar is a landscape and still-life artist. Her medium of choice is acrylic paints on canvas.  Her work is inspired by the beauty of nature and is rich in colour, detail, and texture. In her artwork, Tazeen explores how different forces of nature coexist in harmony. Through her art, Tazeen aims to bring a sense of peace and belonging to the viewer.

Courtney Downman is a Canadian Glass Artist and Instructor. Courtney began working with glass in September of 2012 after enrolling in the Craft and Design program at Sheridan College.

Upon graduating Courtney worked as a Teaching assistant in the glass program at Sheridan. In 2016 Courtney was awarded a two-year artist-in-residence fellowship at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, ON.

​

This past year Courtney worked as an artist-in-residence in the Glass studio at Sheridan College. Courtney is currently completing her Bachelors in Craft and Design at Sheridan

​

Caroline Wiles was born and raised in Quebec, she began singing and playing guitar at age 11. She became a full-time professional musician at age 18, fronting a rock band. By her early 20s, she was living in the Toronto area and writing songs. A self-taught artist and songwriter, she's spent a lifetime honing and practising her craft. Her self-titled first album appeared in 2000, followed by 2006's I'd Like to Know, 2016's Lovers Lane, 2019’s Living In The Now and 2021’s Grateful. Her first two releases earned multiple awards — the whimsical Little Boobs won the Ontario Council of Folk Festival’s Songs From the Heart Award in the humour category, and the songs Taken, I Believe, The Man That I Love and The One received honourable mentions at the Billboard Awards, John Lennon Awards and Unisong Awards. Lovers Lane garnered her nominations for Best Female Artist and Best Contemporary Folk Recording at the Hamilton Music Awards, along with two Music Industry Award noms. Grateful earned her the best reward she could ever receive. Gordon Lightfoot (her songwriting hero) listened to each of the songs on Grateful and said there was “a lot of really strong material ,wonderful vocals and harmonies.”

As a performer, she's shared the stage with artists such as Ian Thomas, Tom Cochrane, David Bradstreet, Tom Wilson, Blair Packham, Wendell Ferguson, Carter Lancaster (Gordon Lightfoot), and Rick Fines — and moonlights in the local trio McCurlie, Doidge and Wiles. Not bad for someone who's also raised a family and held down a career in dental hygiene for much of her adult life.

Her latest record Grateful is her most mature and uplifting work to date which includes the first cover song she’s ever recorded, Gordon Lightfoot’s Talking In Your Sleep. The 10-song release captures one of Canada's best-kept musical secrets at the height of her powers, brilliantly showcasing her unique blend of thoughtfully moving lyrics, intimately and endearingly warm vocals, and timeless pop songcraft. It's a sound that recalls immortal artists like Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell, Heart, The Pretenders, Anne Murray and Karen Carpenter. A sound that takes thousands of hours to develop. And a sound that takes decades of living to fully and truly embody.

Caroline is grateful for long-running partnership with world-renowned, award-winning producer Bob Doidge. The owner of Hamilton's famed Grant Avenue Studio has worked with everyone from Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot to U2, often in the company of old pal Daniel Lanois. He's also helmed all of Wiles' albums, and works his audio alchemy once again here, setting her lyrics and vocals against a flawlessly crafted, tastefully understated blend of pop, rock and folk. "He's a musical genius," Wiles says. "I don't think he even has to put much thought into it. He just does what feels right and it always turns out great. I just trust his ability. After all, he's been doing this a very long time.”

Wiles is finally following her true path. And her own advice. "I'm very passionate about songwriting, and now is the time in my life I can finally pursue it and give it the attention I've been craving to give it. Music is a gift I was given. And I feel it's a calling. I'm meant to write songs that inspire people and give to others. It's not about a need for attention. I'm not doing this for fame. I'm not doing it for fortune. I'm doing it because I feel it's what I'm supposed to be doing: To make music that's enjoyable and uplifting. That's my goal and that's my purpose."