Join us once a month for a demo from a visiting artist and sign up for the full day Sunday workshop to learn how to apply the techniques to your own artwork.
Artist Demonstration/Artist Talks take place on Monday evenings from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
There is no charge to our members for Artist Demo evenings
In Person Demo Evenings and Workshops
DEMONSTRATION – Photo Encaustic with Karen Brown
Monday, March 9 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Join artist Karen Brown for a two-hour live photo encaustic demonstration that offers an intimate look into her layered, process-driven practice. This session explores the intersection of photography and encaustic wax, revealing how image, texture, heat, and time work together to create luminous, tactile surfaces.
Karen will walk participants through her materials and tools, including beeswax, mixed media, heat sources, and photographic substrates. She will demonstrate surface preparation, image transfer techniques, layering and fusing wax, and methods for incising, embedding, and manipulating imagery within the wax.
The session emphasizes process over product, inviting viewers to observe the meditative rhythm of encaustic painting while gaining practical knowledge they can adapt to their own creative practice. Time is built in for questions and discussion, making this demonstration engaging for artists at all stages, photographers curious about alternative processes, and those interested in material-based storytelling.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of photo encaustics, a greater appreciation for the medium’s expressive potential, and insight into how layered imagery can hold memory, repair, and transformation.
DEMONSTRATION – Oil Painting Techniques with Judy Sherman
Monday, April 13 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
We are pleased to welcome Judy Sherman for this 2-hour painting demonstration.
Judy will cover a wide range of skills, including how to understand values, composition, colour, shape, form, and lighting, as well as how to apply effective brush techniques and more. Throughout the evening, Judy will paint and explain various aspects of oil painting while answering questions as they arise.
Judy has juried shows, conducted workshops and has been teaching for over 20 years. She has won awards and has paintings in corporate and private collections worldwide.
ARTIST STATEMENT
THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR TO BE
At first glance my paintings may make you smile but the true meaning lies just beneath. Through the juxtaposition of old master’s style and present-day life, my work is a visual commentary on world circumstances. With a little humour and a gentle nudge, the message is delivered – Judy S
DEMONSTRATION – Landscape in Pastel
Monday, May 4 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
One Scene, Endless Possibilities: Interpreting the Landscape in Pastel
Demo Description
In this two-hour pastel demonstration, Grace Croughan will show how a single, simple reference photo can lead to many different and expressive paintings. By choosing a quieter photo, artists are less tempted to copy and more able to explore colour, mood, and personal interpretation. Grace will share how she approaches colour and value intuitively, simplifies the scene, and uses repetition to build confidence and develop a personal style. This demo is ideal for artists who want to loosen up, trust their instincts, and enjoy greater freedom in their pastel work.
Short Bio
Grace Croughan is a local artist working in pastels and acrylics, known for expressive landscapes inspired by nature and personal memory. She is a Master Pastelist with Pastel Artists Canada and an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists. Grace’s work emphasizes colour, mood, and personal interpretation over strict realism, encouraging a more intuitive approach to painting.
Read more about Grace Croughan
DEMONSTRATION – Stitching Images: Embroidered Collage
Monday, June 15 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
ARTIST STATEMENT
In my artistic practice, I blend digital and analogue collage techniques to create narratives from both found and personal images. By re-contextualizing these visual fragments, I create new stories centered on women’s strength and beauty, intertwined with nature. My work challenges stereotypes and celebrates resilience and individuality. I explore sustainability and our connection to the past by repurposing discarded materials. My process is very intuitive, inspired by surrealism, & nature, breathes new life into older images. I embroider my work using my mother’s embroidery floss, one of a very few items taken when my family was fleeing communist Poland in 1980s.
Biography
Daria Beer is a collage artist living in Toronto, Canada. Originally from Poland, she completed her art education at Ontario College of Art & Design with photography as a major. Her background in photography and working in creative direction for many years brings her past experience into a collage as a new form and personal journey of searching for history, voices and blending memories together, especially when combining old images with new ideas. Her collages predominantly focus on portraying the strength and beauty of women while interweaving the powerful elements of nature. Daria’s creative approach is deeply intuitive, sparked by her travels, surreal art, and profound connection to nature.
As the founder of the Toronto Collage Collective, Daria provides support to fellow collage artists and organizes collaborative meetups where local artists come together to create collages as a group. These gatherings foster communication and inspiration, cultivating a vibrant community of artists dedicated to the art of collage.