An Artful Escape

Elena Henderson was born in 1965, in the city of Tula, located near Moscow, Russia. She came to Canada in 1996, settling in Toronto, Ontario, and in 2009 obtained a degree in Design from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto. Elena’s latest floral abstract series uses a variety of textured acrylic paint and mixed media. The resulting canvases feature a quiet and calming colour palette with organic shapes and an overall sophisticated and elegant feel.

Sherry Czekus is a Canadian painter who completed her MFA at University of Western Ontario in London, ON and a Bachelor of Art with Fine Art Studio Specialization at University of Waterloo. The public domain, specifically the city, is a site of observation of urban crowd culture and its participants that Czekus explores through painting.

Lesley Luce is a Canadia mixed-media artist whose work explores cultural memory and hidden histories, driven by her own curiosity and designed to spark it in others. Her goal is for viewers to be captivated from afar and rewarded up close—uncovering a layered narrative that invites and celebrates curiosity. She brings her ideas to life through intricate concentric circles, each composed by hand-placing thousands of tiny paper fragments – each one a detail, a clue, a piece of the story.

Susan's practice involves selecting images of everyday places and assigning them a subjective graphic meaning. In this form of expression, gestures and shapes start to invoke a feeling of being transported to these places. By photographing landscapes and working the images through a lens of emotion, Susan brings beauty and form back to their most simple compositional elements: color, shape, structure, perspective, light, shadow, and value. Whether it's the architecturally lined streets of Toronto or a rural community in Newfoundland, Susan's unique aesthetic is the dominant theme in her work.

Kezleigh (Amy Merritt) is a new media and digital artist from Muskoka, Ontario. Her practice explores the fragility and complexity of the human psyche, delving into memory’s flaws, subconscious irregularities, and the dreamlike layers of inner communication. Kezleigh’s work has gained significant recognition in the contemporary art scene, having presented her art both nationally and internationally with growing acclaim.

Julie Hawkins is an abstract painter from Woodstock, Ontario. Her works are created out of intuition through spontaneous movement and expressive brushstrokes. Julie’s painting practice is an integral part of her ability to live a full and mindful life. Julie has exhibited her work in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, and New York City, and has been working as a professional artist for over twelve years.

Julia Veenstra is a renowned Canadian artist and entrepreneur known for her lively composition and vibrant use of colour. Her artistic journey has led her to focus on capturing the vivid landscapes of her native Canada, for which she has gained national recognition. Having lived in various countries through her life, Julia incorporates diverse influences into her impressionistic and representational style. She chooses acrylic as her medium of expression due to its immediacy and the ability to create bright and vivid colours.