Years ago in Toronto, at 'Ontario College of Art', I chose instruction in oil and acrylic painting. I also selected material studies in wood, plastics, stone, metal and foundary for sculptural purposes. Through the years, I have found that the knowledge from manipulating various mediums lends to increased inspiration and accuracy of expression. I continue to work on Impressionistic landscapes in oil. Presently, I am concentrating on Constructivist metal sculpture. 

S.C.A., N.W.W.S., A.F.C.A.

Originally from Estonia, via Sweden, Enda Bardell is a Canadian Artist living and working in Vancouver.

Always the explorer, Enda’s inquisitiveness has taken her through stimulating creative careers such as costume designer in the motion picture industry, fabric artist and founder of Enda B. Fashion Limited.

Enda has studied at Vancouver Art School (Emily Carr University of Art and Design), and completed studio courses and workshops with prominent Canadian artists such as Toni Onley and Joan Balzar, both of whom she considers her mentors.

Her current work is primarily in watercolours. However, she also has a strong sense of hard edge abstract in acrylics.

Enda has exhibited her work in numerous group and solo exhibitions locally and internationally. Two of Enda’s early abstracts from the Estonian Art in Exile exhibition are now in the permanent historic collection in KUMU, the National Museum of Art in Tallinn, Estonia.

www.endabardell.com

A member of EKKT since 2003, Thomas Heinar likes to create paintings with expressionist techniques to convey moods and impressions of experience. @tomheinar

thomasheinar.com

"I have always been drawn into the arts. To me, it's about story telling and emotion. I love that my art can have one meaning for me, and a completely different meaning to another. It's about escaping into another reality and really letting your imagination guide you. The endless possibility which art holds is what inspires me to create more".

An early interest in art led to a BFA from Syracuse University in 1965.  In 1966 she began graduate studies in Education and in 1967 began full time studies towards a Masters Degree in Art Education at the State University of New York.  She began her career as an art teacher at Canastota High School.  Later she taught art in White Plains, New York, San Jose, California and Los Angeles, California.  The past 15 years of her teaching career were with the Upper Grand District in Guelph, Ontario.  She has also studied silk screening and printmaking at Buffalo State University and printmaking and ceramics at York University in Toronto.  Residing in the United States, Germany, and Ontario gave her the opportunity to discover and express the beauty of Bavaria, California, Cape Cod, and Muskoka landscapes.

“Born in Toronto, Canada in 1956. A member of EKKT since 1987. I love painting in acrylics. Recently I have started to enjoy the immense power of computer generated artwork. All artists are rebels. This means that there are no restrictions to their creativity. Without rules, or fences or shackles, the artist is a child of freedom. The  artist’s soul is free to wander, and explore all things and try to capture on canvas- life, death, beauty, ugliness, truth and deceit. When an artist finishes a work, he is satisfied, fulfilled because he has fed his soul.”

Mai Vomm Jarve, born on April 18, 1938 in Tallinn, Estonia to father sculptor August Vomm and mother art teacher Benita Vomm. Younger sister to internationally known caricaturist Ants Vomm. Private lessons from Benita Vomm’s Art Studio in Caracas, sculpture from brother Ants.  Mai was an art teacher for three years at Beeton and Tottenham Public schools in the early 1970’s. Member of EKKT( Estonian Society of Artists in Toronto) since 1960. President of EKKT for 35 years, until 2016. Organizer of many EKKT art exhibitions in Toronto, Ottawa and Estonia. Enjoys working in oils, acrylic and pastels. Recipient of many awards.  Past curator of the Estonian Arts Centre Art Collection. Appeared in many videos, catalogues and EKKT ART Albums. Mai has sent hundreds of EKKT Art Albums  around the world to Art Museums and libraries. She has exhibited in Venezuela, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Estonia and the USA. Works in Art Museums in Tallinn, Tartu, Rakvere and in many private collections in Venezuela, Canada, Estonia, USA, and China.

Mai is currently treasurer of EKKT.

Valmar Kurol was born in London, England.  He grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, and is now living in Montreal.  He has been interested in photography and music since early teens.  Valmar visited Antarctica in 1992 and began to focus on studying its cultural and artistic aspects, with four return trips there, most recently in 2015 to the Ross Sea area.  He has composed and produced two CDs of instrumental New Age music, Antarctic Arrival, in 1999 and Ross Sea Suites and Other Antarctic Tone Poems in 2016.  He began oil painting Antarctic scenes in 2001 as a hobby, inspired by the colours and shapes of Antarctic snow, ice and coastlines.

Maalimise Inspiratsioon: Antarktika lume, vee ja jääääre värvid ja kujud.

www.antarcticart.net

Artist first, Dental Hygienist second. 

Shop - AtelierMaarika

Born in Sweden 1951 to Estonian parents, and brought to Canada while an infant, I always had an affinity with art and the making of it.  I continue to strive to express myself with this.  I have a multitude of interests as far as subject matter.  My art is representational but has an abstract quality.  I enjoy textural surfaces and work mainly in acrylics, oil and watercolour although I delve into pencils, pastels and whatever suits my fancy at the moment.

My art for the most part brings me great joy.  I have shown my work now for thirteen years since I moved to Bobcaygeon, ON,  which is a haven for me.  I have had some professional training but continue to evolve as a self taught artist.  

Viiva Mankin has loved painting since she was four years old. Viiva studied art in evening classes offered by OCA, several workshops and a couple of summer sessions in Loyalist College.

Viiva paints anything that somehow intrigues her and gives her inspiration. She tries to express that inspiration through her works. Her works can be found in private collections in Canada, Sweden and Estonia.

Though Mary Mannapso's origin began in Tallinn, Estonia and Sweden, she has lived in Canada since 1951, landing in Ontario and ending up in Montreal. 

Her interest and love of art commenced at an early age, influenced by her artistically talented mother and older sister. Life was a constant exchange and sharing of the love of color, image, and unique interpretations

Mary has engaged in various art programs including the Comprehensive Art Program, and the Three Year Program, both of which were at. Montreal's former Saidye Bronfman Centre of Fine Arts.  She plans to further her studies as new courses of interest emerge.

Her closest companion is her camera that she takes with her allowing her to stop and shot whenever she sees some thing that takes her breath away .  From these photographs , she can expand the image into a personal and expressive painting.

Mary has participated in both (BAA and EKKT Art Associations) and solo exhibitions throughout her years of painting and some of her artworks appear in private collections in Canada, USA, Mexico and Europe.

I have enjoyed drawing and sketching since I was young. I also enjoy using the computer to create unique and thought provoking designs. It is nice to switch between the two techniques; I can use ideas from using the computer in my drawings, and ideas from my drawings in my computer art. I am predominately a self-taught artist, although I did take some drawing and sculpture classes in college.

Born in Estonia. After graduating from the Illustration course at the Ontario College of Art (OCA), I worked as an illustrator, designer and display artist in Toronto and Vancouver. 

During this time, I also painted and participated in various solo, two-person and group exhibitions. My work from this time is mainly abstract acrylic, mixed media, collages and assemblages. For the past twenty I have been working mainly in soft pastels, doing plein-air landscapes and abstracts in my studio, both of which I find satisfying. Working outdoors I have a dialogue with the outer world, indoors the dialogue is with my inner world. My work is represented in private collections in Canada, U.S., Sweden, and the Estonian National Gallery, "KUMU" in Tallinn. 

Andres Musta (B.Ed., B. Arch.) is a mixed media artist and public school visual arts specialist teacher with a passion for painting and printmaking. He is an advocate for public art and has organized and participated in many international sticker exhibitions; his distinctive ‘zombie art squad’ prints can be found on the streets of at least 45 countries. @zombieartsquad

Mosaics in all the centuries of art have inspired this new piece. Also, the importance of colour and significance of numerology (especially 13C.)  For example, the number three was the Holy Trinity, number four represented new life etc.  Artists and artisans were extremely hard working  and skilled.  The rituals, the depiction of life and centrally of biblical images were magnificently drawn, painted, sculpted, built. In comparison, today we seem like we are just playing, and anything goes.  Like child’s play in a way. I began to think of child’s play and the certain paper game we played, and realized that these also formed a mosaic, include numbers and also a sort of game of chance and surprise as to what hidden words or sayings would be behind the folded triangles.

My art works at the intersection of photography and existing digital media. I’m interested in landscape and composite work. I use various digital tools to interrogate and intervene in the objective truth claims that we have classically come to associate with photography.

Alongside my work as an art therapist my photographic art is interested in refusing a kind of closed or monadic subjectivity, and embraces connection and the kind of networked possibilities of digital art-making. I’m interested in combining pieces of work from various places, artists, and voices, and having them come together to create a whole that refuses cohesion and instead embraces the multiple—or a multi-narrative subjectivity that I pursue in my therapeutic work.

MSc, RP, RCAT, DTATI

Elva Palo enjoys working with mixed media in creating art about subjects that relate to culture and our human experience with our immediate environment. She respects the intuitive side of creativity and teaches her clients and students how to tap into thoughts and emotions for self expression.  

Elva Palo completed her Master of Science degree in Creative Arts Therapy from Rochester, New York and her Masters’ thesis at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute where she is now a faculty member.  She graduated with her BA (Hons.) degree in Visual Arts from York University in Toronto, Ontario and has been a member of Korp! Indla since 1978.   

As a Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Canadian Art Therapist, Elva works in the field of art and mental health. She is the Group Art Therapist for Wellspring Halton-Peel Cancer Support Centre and also has individual and group clients in her private practice at EP Therapy Studio. Currently a member of the Oakville Arts Society, Elva is both a past Vice-President of the Society of Estonian Artists in Toronto (EKKT) and a past member of the Estonian House Art Committee. In 2009, Elva represented EKKT and spoke at the KUMU art museum in Tallinn, Estonia about the history and growth of Canadian-Estonian art. This led to a pilot project for an adult art program in Haapsalu, Estonia in the summer of 2010.

Elva was part of the founding group for the Timmas Art Studio which was opened in July of 2008 at Jõekääru in Udora. She helped establish and develop an art program for camp children and supports ongoing opportunities there for EKKT members and other community artists.

Elva resides with her family in Milton, Ontario.  

Influences of my Estonian, Latvian and Canadian background are the core pillars of my work. Where Estonians have a very rich history of artwork, storytelling and tradition, they are also on the cutting edge of technology. I use this forward thinking spirit when I interpret old folklore into modern art and mix in current pop culture.

The digital images I create are my interpretation of emotional and visual relationships around us. Digital painting gives me the freedom to work with whatever digital medium I choose. I enjoy building up complex images with several layers of photography, digital painting and building my own digital 3D objects to integrate into the artwork. With every piece I create, my intention is to draw in the viewer with surprise and delight. The style of the painting is always influenced by the personality and flavour of the back story or intent behind the emotional outcome.

I was born in the city of Tartu, Estonia on March 9, 1923. I lived there for about 20 years. During WWII, I attended the high level art school of Tartu for three years. After WWII I lived in Sweden for three and a half years and from there, I came to Canada in 1949. My art school "Pallas" was destroyed. In Canada I took some additional art courses in poster design and advertising with Deco Reclaim. I earned my living by working in a bank. I am thankful to God for all his mercy and grace.

Anne Remmel has exhibited her art since 1984 and now works as a full-time artist.  She explores themes inspired by both travels and nature. While she initially exhibited watercolours, she has increasingly moved to collage, mixed media, and acrylics on canvas.  Anne studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design in part-time courses from 1977-1996. She has continued to further her art practice through workshops primarily in the U.S.. In the Estonian community, Anne chaired the Estonian House Art Committee for 9 years and has been an active member in EKKT. She is currently a Director of the Board of Neilson Park Creative Centre, Chair of the Program Committee and works with the Etobicoke Art Group. A large selection of her art, complete list of exhibitions, current news and further information can be found on her website   www.anneremmel.com 

Born and educated in Toronto, Margi Taylor Self graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design with an Associate’s Degree (AOCA) in 1976. She was awarded the G.A. Reid Scholarship in her third year.

Her love for art and the creative process has motivated her to paint and to do print-making.  While she is proficient with traditional techniques, her current focus includes water colours but painted with an abstract edge.

Her work can be found in private collections in Canada and throughout the United States.

Margi has also been involved with Headwaters Arts for over 10 years, volunteering on various committees as well as sitting on the board and serving as President.  

She loves living in Alton, Ontario and has her office and studio in the Historic Alton Mill Art Centre.

To view more of her art go to www.taylorself.wordpress.com

Allan Sutt does his work in an outdoor winter studio, finding creativity in the odd juxtaposition of sub-zero temperatures, aquarelle paints, and photography.  His ‘frostbite-painting’ technique was inspired by Endel Ruberg, an Estonian-Canadian artist who trained his pupils in cross-country skiing and biathlon, in addition to art.  Allan has been recreating and developing the techniques he learned from Ruberg for the past five years, with the aim of producing fantastic aurora borealis effects in his work.

To enhance the visual impact and imaginative texture of his images, Allan has experimented with the ‘science’ of sub-zero painting.  Adding solutions of salts and alcohols to the paints effects the speed at which different colours will freeze.  Infusing carbonated liquids varies the viscosity.  A dialogue is created between the colours and shapes of the frost crystallization, and it is the challenge of creating and exploring this dialogue that Allan finds most intriguing about ‘frostbite-painting’.

Simple science meets art.

These techniques certainly take ‘suffering for your art’ to a different level, but when you are born on skis in a snowstorm, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Allan graduated with a BFA from Concordia University, with a major in printmaking and a minor in animation.

A big part of my life is telling stories. Often, it’s through music or writing. But from time to time, when words can’t express something, I like to communicate visually.

Subjects of inspiration include ancient history, visions of the future, Art Deco architecture, mid 20th century design, and memories of growing up in California in the 1990s.

In the end, visual art allows me to explore a scene’s mysteries, grasp for the stories it may hold, and project its vibrance through saturated colours.

http://vincentteetsovjournal.tumblr.com

Jaan studied Perceptual psychology and Multimedia communication at UofT and attended extension courses at OCAD. He taught AV Graphics at George Brown and Fleming Colleges and at Tallinn University and the Estonian Academy of Art. Also he is a Certified Engineering Technologist and taught Electronic communication at George Brown and 21st Century Concepts in Information and Meaning at Tallinn University. Jaan is primarily interested in using contrast and saturated colour to achieve maximal emotional impact, especially positive feelings. His compositions often delve into the deeper appreciation of what is superficially apparent and raise such questions as: What is reality? and Where on this planet are we heading?

Nature seems to push us into an increasingly complex future (novelty), and as artists we are free to comment. Our feelings can be constructive or destructive, joyful or painful and Nature allows us to develop in either direction. Jaan was scheduled as a five year old, for death in Siberia, so he understands the choice. He chooses to express the joys of living rather than despair, and of seeing the beautiful rather than the ugly.

http://aecgallery.com/

An artist who works in various media including acrylic and watercolour, Anne enjoys the process of experimenting with techniques such as papermaking, printmaking and collage.

She has exhibited her work, and won awards, in group and juried shows in galleries in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Estonia, and has held solo exhibitions in Toronto. Her work is in the offices of the Etobicoke Board of Education and in private collections.

Anne's professional background is in Landscape Architecture; she has studied art in various workshops and courses. Born in Sweden, she currently lives in Toronto.

https://gallery.trummal.com/kylli

I have been an artist all of my life, I have made my living in the visual arts, teaching to painting in most disciplines.
 Always learning, because life is a classroom and we must always learn our lessons!

MONIKA UESSON-TALPAK.   B.A.   O.C.A.D.U.   M.F.A.

If I were to be asked, “What inspires your art?”, I would be hard-pressed to answer.  At best, I could state two broad categories: the sublime interplay of sunlight with the colours of nature, and the whimsical curves of the human form.  I have never managed to limit my expression to one medium.  My work includes prints, sculpture, painting, photography, and mixed media.  

I like to learn art by exploring, and much of what I have done has resulted from experimentation, trial, and error.  Along the way I have had the good fortune to learn skills from some excellent artists.  I studied printmaking under the tutelage of Suzy Lake at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School of Art and Design, where I was awarded a Lauterman Scholarship.  I learned sculpture techniques from Celina Segal and Jean-Louis Emond at the Saidye Bronfman School of Fine Arts.

Recently I have become very interested in the exploration of water colour motifs on Japanese paper.  I have had the pleasure of attending several workshops given by Heather Midori Yamada.

I am currently an executive member of the Baltic Artists Association in Montreal.