Marie and Margaret

 A picture from last year's Tour at a very popular spot, four artists at one studio. On our Tour every location is a studio of at least one of the artists, therefore some of the stops have more than one artist! 

The Studio Tour artists have started gearing up for the 2012 Tour Weekend.  

Ray McNeice and Margaret Grandison are happy to be again hosting their good friend, potter Marie Messina and their talented photographer son, James Wilkes. This made for a very busy household last year as witnessed by Marie and Margaret taking a much-needed break behind the kitchen counter.

 Thanks to Ray for the write up and James for the picture.

Grace MacPherson

Grace MacPherson is part of a family of three generations of artists that are members of the Stouffville Studio Tour.  In her late 80’s she is a prolific artist who still enjoys painting in watercolours.

She has always been interested in the creative arts and pursued her interest in watercolour painting since her retirement from the business world. Grace attended workshops with many prominent artists through the Elderhostel program, classes at the Haliburton School of Fine Art, and the Loyalist College, Bridgewater Retreat.

She is an active member of the Art Guild of Scarborough, Cedar Ridge Creative Arts Centre, Kinmount and Area Artisans Guild and Scarborough Arts. Her paintings have appeared in juried shows and won several awards including Best in Show.

Images from the Haliburton Highlands where her family roots reach back to the early pioneers is a constant source of material. Traveling coast-to-coast in Canada, and visiting Montaigut-le-blanc (France), Israel, and the Caribbean has also been a great inspiration.

Grace has lived in Scarborough over 50 years. She enjoys her family and all the opportunities retirement has offered.

Glowing

To see Grace’s latest work don’t miss the Art Guild of Scarborough 50^th Anniversary Show this upcoming weekend. 

Centennial Recreation Centre, 

1967 Ellesmere Rd., Scarborough

http://theartguildofscarborough.com

Ray McNeice

At the Cornerhouse on Main in Stouffville are 11 of Ray McNeice's recent watercolours.

Ray is, first and foremost, a painter in the “plein air” tradition. His style is a product of a long career in graphic design… a concern for shape and form, eye movement and spatial relationships. His medium of choice is transparent watercolour. He likes its brilliance, its immediacy and its transportability for field sketches. Ray paints with controlled washes, working smoothly with an eye toward the balance of forms and shapes that give his work its distinctive character. His strong design and composition sense leans toward an objective abstract approach.

Visit Ray's new blog to see his work.

A blog about blogs

Several of our Tour artists are now blogging..... for some they have been doing this for awhile and others are just beginning to chart their artistic journey. Blogs are an excellent way to follow the progress of an artist. Take a look. 

Valerie Ashton          http://valerieashton.blogspot.com/
Allison Bullock         http://allisoncreativelicense.tumblr.com/ 

Diana Bullock           http://dbullockalternativesinart.blogspot.com/

Jennie Creeggan        http://www.creegganclay.blogspot.com/

Jan Dolby                  http://jandolby.blogspot.com/  
Wendy LaValle          http://WaxyandWords.blogspot.com 
Marie Messina           http://marie4theloveofclay.blogspot.ca/
Ray McNeice             http://www.raymcneice.blogspot.com/ 
Steve Noorhoff          http://stevenoorhoff.blogspot.com/ 
Colin Whitebread      http://www.colinwhitebread.blogspot.com/

There are also several who Tweet 

Allison & Diana Bullock  https://twitter.com@alternativesart 
David Clubine                   https://twitter.com@dlclubine 
Jennie Creeggan                https://twitter.com@CreegganClay

Jan Dolby                          https://twitter.com@jandolby 
Marie Messina                   https://twitter.com@MarieMessina1

Steve Noorhoff                  https://twitter.com@sn_artist

Robin Rees                        https://twitter.com@WireandBead

and of course the official tour tweets

Studio Tour                        https://twitter.com@Studio_Tour

Follow us and/or keep coming back to stay in touch with our artists!

James Wilkes

James Wilkes is an award-winning environmental photographer whose work has appeared in Canadian magazines and gallery exhibitions. He has been fortunate to visit and live in several remote communities, photographing the natural and cultural worlds across Asia and the Americas. Behind the lens, James sees ecological and cultural diversity as inextricably linked and he is inspired by the communicative ability of images to raise awareness and deepen our appreciation of the planet and its peoples.

This  work can be viewed at the Love of Jo, downtown Stouffville until March 1 and then at the Cornerhouse Restaurant for the month of April. Make sure you stop by and see this beautiful photography!

http://www.visualvoices.ca