virtual art auction: November 6 - 13, 2021

Jennifer Walton’s paintings capture the fragility of place in a rapidly changing global climate. Her most recent work delves into the microenvironments of flowers and pollinating insects. The project came about after she started growing pollinator-friendly plants on her rooftop deck in response to declining bee and butterfly populations. Walton is the inaugural winner of the prestigious RBC Painting Prize, and recipient of a 2nd place jury award in 2007 for the Kingston Prize, Canada's national portrait competition. Her paintings Conflagration, and Brush Fire, won the Juror's Choice Award at the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine Congress Art Show, 2017, Toronto. Her paintings hang in prominent collections such as RBC Investments, Sun Life and Burgundy Asset Management. Her most recent solo exhibition Fragile Worlds was on view at Redeemer University Art Gallery, Hamilton (February-March 2020). She holds a BFA from Mount Allison University and an MFA from Concordia University. She lives and works in Toronto and shows with Abbozzo Gallery.

Michelle Purchase’s art practice involves printmaking, drawing, and installation. She uses natural materials and age-old processes with modern twists. The very physical creation of her work depends on pollinators. All of her papers are handmade, or machine made, from plants like Japanese mitsumata (Edgeworthia sp.), gampi (Wikstroemia sp.), and cotton (Gossypium sp.) which are all pollinated by insects such as flies, wasps, butterflies, moths, and bees. She frequently uses beeswax as an archival sealant, or for encaustic techniques. Even paper from wasps nests has been incorporated in her work. Her artwork focuses on the concepts of comfort and shelter, and how we try to feel connected with, yet protected from, our environment. It is informed by her interests in landscape architecture, field botany, public art, and teaching. She holds a BES from the University of Waterloo, and an MLA from the University of Guelph. In 2019 Ms. Purchase received a Region of Waterloo Arts Award for her work in the arts community.

Mona Turner studied graphic design at Dawson College and studio arts at Concordia University, where she earned a BFA with distinction. A painter working in oils, she lives in an old farmhouse on the Ottawa River in Rigaud QC, where a converted outbuilding serves as her studio, and the ever-changing beauty of nature is on the doorstep. In a recent series of paintings, she explored bowls, containers of the earth’s bounty, made from the earth, and an implement common to humans around the globe. Focusing on these beautiful, sometimes ancient objects, and depicting them in relation to the land, sea or sky, Turner hopes to evoke the beauty and mystery of our relationship with the earth that nurtures us. Turner shows regularly in the Montreal and Ottawa area, and has served on the executive committee of the Artistes Hudson Artists and of the Hudson and Region Studio Tour.  

Tanya is Founder of SHOW YOUR LOVE! Art by People for the Planet. She is an emerging artist who paints with acrylic ink on cradled birch wood panels. She enjoys layering transparent acrylic ink colours on unvarnished wood in order to play with the grain pattern that emerges as a layer of texture. Her work is inspired by the beauty of her surroundings in the North Saugeen Bruce Peninsula, her love for animals and wilderness, and the reflections of our inner and outer worlds. Her maternal Grandfather , "Opa", was a farmer and apiarist who was always happy to show his granddaughters the fascinating inner workings of honey bee hives. 

Teresa’s floral photography captures the innate beauty and complexity of the subject and asks you to look deeper into its world. Spend time to discover the allure and intricacy of nature’s creations. Her work will draw you in and leave you with a sense of calm and wonderment. Teresa ventured into the world of photography following retirement, when the chance to live in Vancouver sparked a passion for floral photography. At times, she photographs at the macro level, or at an expanded view. During the final processing of her images, she uses a variety of techniques and tools to enhance the innate beauty of the subject. Teresa’s work has been on display at Waterloo Region art galleries, cafés, local garden centres, juried craft shows and at the University of Waterloo. She is an active member of the Canadian Association for Photographic Art (CAPA), and the Grand River Imaging & Photographic Society. In 2019, she submitted 4 images to CAPA in a nation-wide competition and was awarded an honourable mention for these images. She recently published an article in the Spring, 2020, edition of Canadian Camera Magazine, the official publication of CAPA.