Honorable Mention #3

Irina Grobman

Irina Grobman is an award winning artist currently residing in Richmond Hill, ON. Irina came to Canada from Ukraine in 1999, fell in love with the country and is very happy to call it home ever since. She is proud to have been featured in a number of juried shows and having won multiple awards. Irina paints predominantly in oil, and her interests are in portraiture, landscapes and cityscapes. She also enjoys watercolors for the figure base works.

Honorable Mention #2

Grace Downer

Plein air and studio artist. I enjoy painting landscapes and cityscapes and my style can be described as Representational with some Impressionism. I have participated in several competitions and presently I am one of 80 artists selected by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection’s plein air competition in Kleinberg. I accept landscape commissions.

Honorable Mention #1

Oksana Baczynsky

The world is a harsh place. News assaults us constantly with painful reminders of the ugliness surrounding us. My response: is to search out the beauty that surrounds us, and capture it in paint. When I create art, it fulfills the needs of my soul. In sharing my art I hope to provide the same spiritual peace for my viewers. The beauty and majesty of the Canadian landscape is the single greatest inspiration for my art. For me, the grandeur of our country constantly nourishes a great love, awe and inspiration, untainted by the harshness I hear and see every day.
The media that I use are primarily transparent watercolour and acrylic. Watercolour provides the luminosity of colours and ethereal quality that I use to capture the mood of a scene, the essence of a flower, or the mystery of a figure. To convey the more rugged aspects of the Canadian landscape I often turn to acrylics for their solid textural aspect and boldness.

Best Human Interest

Caterina Liberatore

A background in fine arts with some graphic design experiences can lend significant skills to any artist who develops an interest in painting. Caterina’s inspiration was owed to years of admiring the Group of Seven. Acrylics, pastels and watercolour are her current mediums of choice.

Most Original

Karen L. Bowen

Karen L Bowen is a King Township artist, painting \’Canada\’s Countryside and Shorelines\’, oil on canvas. Her signature \’mosaic\’ style captures the contours and the light that connect the heart and mind with natural scenes around us. Karen\’s work has won several awards and has been featured in many juried shows, Gallery exhibits and in the March 2021 issue of Arabella Magazine. Karen was a top-ten seller at the McMichael Fall Sale 2019. See her website gallery, karenLbowenart.ca and visit her studios in Newmarket or Midland, Ontario.

Best Architectural Feature

Joe Trimmeliti

Joe Trimmeliti is a graphic designer by profession who lives in King City. He is a nature lover and outdoor enthusiast. As a member of King Crafts Studio he enjoys painting in a variety of media.

Best Natural Feature

Donna Greenstein

Donna loves animals. She grew up helping in her dad’s animal hospital tending pets. Horses and dogs were her art subjects from the time she was young and Donna spent all the money she earned from babysitting to go to horse stables on weekends. In 1974 Donna and her husband moved to their 50 acre organic cow-calf farm south of Schomberg, Ontario. She has moved in 2019 to south west of Cookstown.
After retiring from teaching high school Computer Science in June of 2001, Donna started painting precise watercolour botanicals, progressed to bird subjects and farm life. She loved painting her own animals plus those of farming friends. For the most part she prefers animal “portraits”, close up head shots. As of 2013, Donna has converted to oil painting, a medium she loves.

Donna is a member of Kaleidoscope, a group of six York Region friends. She was previously the Treasurer of the Schomberg Horticultural Society for six years and the Treasurer of Botanical Artists of Canada for four years.
In 2017 she was represented in the prestigious Next2 at the Arts & Letters Club on Elm St in Toronto. 2014 and 2015 Donna showed in the “McMichael Autumn Art Show” in Kleinburg and in many “Studio Tour King” and “Schomberg Street Gallery” shows.
Donna is represented by Ethel Curry Gallery in Haliburton, Ontario and Eclipse Art Gallery at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville.

Best In Show

Susan Walker-Ing

Susan Walker-Ing has painted since she was a young child. Using art as a solace during lengthy hospital stays as a child, she has always know she wanted a career in art.
Susan graduated honours in Art History at York University, concluding her art history degree with an Italian Art and Architecture course in Florence, Italy.
This inspiration set the stage for many return excursions to Italy, Spain, France, Greece and a true love of the challenge of plein air painting.
Formerly employed as a clerk and then an Assistant Registrar at McMichael Collection. Susan can be seen painting locally and all over Canada.
Exhibiting her work has won her numerous awards in watercolor, oils, acrylics and pencil categories.
Former founder and President of “Aurora’s Creative Connection, A centre for the arts”, an artist run cooperative earned her the Johnson’s Cultural Achievement award for her contributions to the arts in York Region.
Susan has taught art in a variety of mediums to young and young at heart for over 40 years.
Choosen for “Portait of Artists” series by Roger’s this program is available if you search Susan Walker-Ing’s name you may view her painting plein air, samples of her work and her interview.
Susan captures the essence and spirit of the land that gives the viewer a chance to connect to nature and experience its serenity and its drama.

Mary Morganelli

Mary began her journey as a Canadian artist when she landed in Toronto from her hometown in Ceprano, Italy at age six. As a child immigrant in a strange place vastly different from the small village she’d left behind, Mary struggled to adjust to the culture and language of her new home.
At school, she found it difficult to communicate with her teacher and other students at first. With determination, dedication and the relentless ability to overcome obstacles and keep a positive attitude, Mary quickly became fluent with English and flourished as a student.
Mary’s love and passion for mixed media arts surfaced in high school where she nurtured and developed her artistic expression through classes and private lessons. Marriage to her high school sweetheart and motherhood had her refocus her energies and attentions to raise her young family for a number of years.
That same passion and indomitable spirit prevailed in her artwork when she refreshed her skills in 2010 and committed to expanding her portfolio. Since then, Mary has immersed herself in private lessons, honing her skills and techniques, producing numerous paintings on a variety of subjects and experimenting with various mediums – a collection she shares through her dedicated website, Mariellart Gallery.
Mary’s portfolio currently includes detailed portraits, beautiful landscapes and flowers, animals, birds, still life, children and more. Often the work of Mary’s hands comes from an outpouring of her heart onto canvas. The storms of life are reflected in her work with a determination to make something beautiful from devastating loss – evident following the passing of her 3 year old child to a dreadful disease.
Capturing the hearts and imaginations of her dedicated clientele and those who’ve commissioned her work, Mary has earned countless accolades from other artists. She’s has been featured in newspapers and magazine articles for her Alzheimer painting, “Forget Not,” created from the sorrow of witnessing her father suffer with the disease. The Alzheimer Society has used this inspirational piece to bring awareness to the debilitating disease.
Mary seeks to tell a story with her paintings, offering glimpses of peace, serenity, relaxation, inspiration, life purpose and deeper meaning with many of her pieces. Others are just done for fun and to further master her skills as an mixed media artist.
Mary won her first award at the 57th Aurora Art Show in May of 2019 and was honoured to be presented with first prize in the Acrylic category by the Mayor of Aurora.

Mary’s ultimate desire is for her creative gift to touch lives, bring light and joy, a smile to your face and beauty to your eyes.
Visit Mary’s virtual gallery and find something special in acrylic, oil, watercolour, charcoal, pastel or ink for yourself, your home or office or as a gift that will be treasured for generations. Be sure to send her a message and let her know how her art affects you. She’d love to hear from you.

Evangeline Munns

I am an experienced artist who has participated in many solo and group art shows, art galleries and have won awards frequently. I have taught painting workshops for several art organizations in Ontario. My work has been illustrated in several art magazines and appeared on the covers of 2 of them.