ERNEST MARZA

Born in Transylvania, Romania, and emigrated to Canada in 1956. Mainly self-taught with training at the Kootenay School of Art and San Miguel De Allende, Mexico,   where he studied painting and sculpture.

Mr Marza has been a full-time artist for over thirty years. His dynamically brushed oils are richly coloured and ornately framed.

Most of his works are in private collections,  plus a few corporate offices across Canada, and the United States.

Mr Marza is perhaps best known as a restorer of oil paintings. His special skills include gilding, repairing patinas on bronze, and executing complex framing jobs. Mr Marza is also a collector and connoisseur of art nouveau and symbolist art.

Mr Marza now lives in Victoria, BC., Canada.

CAREN HEINE

Inspired by and artistic upbringing and the spectacular  natural beauty of British Columbia,  Caren Heine began showing as a professional artist at  the age of fourteen. Primarily painting botanical subjects in watercolour, Caren is also known for the exquisite architectural and animal subjects which she creates in watercolour, acrylic, or pastel.

In 1979 the Federation of Canadian Artists elected her to the status of  A.F.C.A., the youngest at that time to receive that honour. For the past three decades, Caren has been enthusiastically  received in solo and group shows across North America, and with the Royal Society of Painters in Miniature in London, England. She has also exhibited in touring shows throughout  Canada, the United States and Europe; sponsored by the Government of British Columbia, The University of British Columbia, the Federation of Canadian Artists, and the Canadian Nature Federation.

Her versatility and honed aesthetic have led Caren to apply her considerable skill to other artistic disciplines. She is a trained Interior Decorator, experienced muralist and illustrator, who has won three commissions from the Canadian Mint, two of which were produced as the world’s purest gold coins.

Caren is much sought-after as a teacher for classes and workshops, and the  Painting Tours she has led with other members of her artistic family since 1992.

HARRY HEINE

Harry Heine lived in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

His career as an artist spanned forty years. He was a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, to which he was elected the only Canadian member in 1980. He was a Vice President of the Canadian Society of Marine Artists and of the Federation of Canadian Artists. He was made an Honorary Citizen of the City of Victoria in 1985 and an Honorary Alberta Artist in 1983 in recognition of his contribution to the Visual Arts. He was also a member of the Northwest Watercolour Society.

His work is in many public collections including the Legislative Buildings of the Government of British Columbia; Washington State Arts Commission Collection; Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, England; Mystic Seaport Museum, U.S.A.; The Provincial Maritime Museum, B.C.; Government House Collection, B.C.; The Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatchewan; Edmonton Art Gallery and the Alberta Art Foundation.

He painted murals for Expo ’86 in Vancouver, Syncrude Canada, the Royal Canadian Legion in Edmonton and the towns of Vegreville, Fort Saskatchewan, Chemainus and Chetwynd. Painting commissions include the Canada I Society (America’s Cup), Telecom Canada, H.M.C.S. Malahat, the Government of B.C. and Beautiful British Columbia Magazine. Other works range from carved murals and ship models to posters and book illustrations. He was made a Life Member of the Sail & Life Training Society and the Vintage Vessel Registry.

Heine shared his techniques through demonstrations, workshops and classes throughout Western Canada and overseas as guest lecturer for P&O Lines’ Swan Hellenic Cruises. From 1986 to 2004 he conducted private painting tours to varied locales in Europe, Asia and North America. His co-host on many of those trips was teacher and watercolourist, his elder daughter Caren Heine. His son Mark is an illustrator and fine artist and his youngest daughter Jennifer is a graphic designer and fine artist. All three children have been involved in gallery exhibitions with their father, including the major retrospective held at Winchester Galleries in June 2005. (From Wikipedia)

SID BARRON

Barron was born in Toronto on June 13, 1917, the son of Daisy Hilda Wormald. His family moved to Victoria in 1919 where he grew up around the shipping port at Victoria’s breakwater. He began working as an artist in 1940, painting in watercolour and tempera (as he was allergic to oil paints). His painting subjects were harbours, ships and beach scenes. Sid was married three times; he and his third wife married in 1977 and after numerous travels they moved to Coombs, BC in 1987 and opened their own studio and Country Gallery, which they operated for 10 years. Barron died at Mount St. Mary Hospital in Victoria, BC on April 29, 2006 at 88 years of age.

Collections of his work can be found at the Victoria Art Gallery, the Glenbow Museum, the National Archives of Canada, the Okanagan Heritage Museum and in private collections in Canada and the USA. (From Wikipedia)

ANDRES BOHAKER

Artist Andres Bohaker was born in Prince Edward Island, Canada, where he developed the love of the land and the seacoast.

His family later moved to Ontario, where his high school art teacher noted and nourished his natural artistic ability. As well, the famous Canadian artist Alexandra Luke of Painters Eleven mentored Andres.

With this attention and Andres’ talent he was accepted out of high school into the third year of a four-year art college program. After graduation from art-college, he worked as a commercial artist in the field service for a major insurance company, and advertising and publishing house and the University of Toronto.

In 1967, feeling a strong desire to express his fine art, he moved to Montreal, Quebec, to paint full time. The artistic, cultural vitality of Montreal was stimulating for Andres, and he gained much support and valuable experience.

After several years in Montreal, Andres moved to Victoria where he worked as a natural history illustrator for the provincial government. Wanting to again pursue his fine art, he left the government in 1978 and has been painting full time ever since.

Andres has had several on-man and group exhibitions and has won awards in juried shows across Canada. He was past vice president of the Federation of Canadian Artists [island chapter] and has led workshops in Ontario and B.C. He is often asked to teach art courses and frequently gives demonstrations and critiques to local art groups. Andres also has been asked to select art scholarship recipients of graduating high school students. He is a juror for the “Pleine Air Paint-Out” in Sidney B.C. Andres’ work can be found in several corporate and private collections in a variety of countries including Japan, England, Australia Canada and the U.S.

JOAN BARRON

Joan has been enriched by the arts her entire life. Born in Vancouver, BC, she was raised in an artistic family. Her parents encouraged her ability, as her mother is a self taught artist and her siblings either paint or are musically accomplished.

She grew up in California and attended schools in the San Francisco Bay area. Winning awards for art excellence started early. She graduated from UCLA in Fine Arts with a design emphasis. Further studies continued at the Art Academy in San Francisco and Visual Arts in New York. Exploring all mediums has been an on going interest.

Her conceptual and design development absorbed her for over twenty years in the graphic design and advertising industry which led her from San Francisco to New York, to Los Angeles and Vancouver. Her awards in this field are numerous.

Joan’s painting is truly “unreal”. More than a gratuitous description, it best explains her style of creating images that are subtly balanced between abstraction and representation. While traditional training often influences artists towards realism, Joan is drawn to the theory and technique found in the contemporary art world. She admires artists in the Cubism period along with contemporary abstract expressionists. While layering vibrant colour and fluid, motion-filled strokes, she strives to depict the sensation of a moment in time, leaving more for the viewer to experience.

 

KEITH HISCOCK

Keith Hiscock was born in Victoria and has been working as a professional artist since 1974. At seventeen Keith knew that he wanted to be an artist and by the age of twenty three was working full time at his chosen profession.

The Pacific Northwest has played an important role in the inspiration of Keith’s work, as it is indeed a place unlike any other in the world. From earlier explorations into abstract art to his present day representational realism, this self-taught artist’s work displays a unique style.

In his early work he was using mostly watercolour depicting rural and coastal scenes. Evolving he moved into larger works in acrylic on panel and canvas.

In 2001 Keith began to paint out doors on location and the switch to oils became a necessary requirement. Working en plein air allows a faster and looser approach to painting. Outside, the tiny details aren’t important but capturing the essence of time and place is. To get all the pertinent information recorded effectively in one sitting improved his power of observation and has enhanced his ability in the studio.

He has been an artist in residence at the prestigious event “Painters at Painters” since its inception in 1994 in Campbell River B.C.