Faculty
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Venezuelan-born Canadian artist Sonia Arenas graduated from the Ottawa School of Art and over the last fifteen years, has worked as an art advisor, designed and taught courses for children, and exhibited her work in Canada, Europe and Latin America.
As an art instructor, Sonia feels a great love in teaching. She also has experience in homeschooling and teaching children with diverse intellectual abilities.
Sonia has developed her body of work in painting and sculpture, also showing special interest in photography and mixed media. Her artwork has been focused in the essence of the human being, particularly the indigenous people and women.
Nadine works primarily to produce bronze sculpture, but also works in ceramics, wood and cloth. While she uses a variety of materials in her work, bronzes and the process of mould making and casting remain her passion. After finishing her BFA at York University in Toronto (1997), Nadine has lived, worked, exhibited and taught in Whitehorse YT, Edmonton AB, Mont-Tremblant QC and Ottawa. Nadine has always enjoyed teaching art and has done so for over 10 years with artist in the school program and galleries, as well as teaching for home schooling children and private classes. She has been with the OSA as a teacher, technician and student for over 24 years.
Originally from Pune, India and an Ottawa resident for the past 18 years, Dhanashri Bapat is an active artist on Ottawa’s art scene. She pursued her Applied Arts degree from Abhinav Kala Academy and worked as a freelance designer and illustrator in India before focusing on Fine Arts.
Be it in India or in Canada, nature and its multiple facets have always been a big influence on Dhanashri’s work. The changing seasons offer a great palette of moods and colours. And she likes to capture these nuances in a representational manner. Dhanashri primarily uses watercolours to best depict her work. She finds watercolours to be very lively, fun as well as a challenging medium to paint her own interpretation of the subject. Over the years, her painting style has evolved, as she studies, explores & experiments different mediums such as acrylic, ink, mixed media.
An active member of local art societies, Dhanashri has been showcasing her works through various shows and art galleries across the city and abroad.
As an art instructor at Ottawa School of Art for past 10 years, she has been very committed to sharing her knowledge of watercolour and has thus garnered a good student following. She offers her watercolour painting courses also at Glebe Community Centre. She conducts workshops of all levels in-person and online and accepts commissioned works for individuals.
For more information, you can visit: www.dhanashri.com
David Barbour teaches Introduction to Photography in the Diploma program as well as other photography classes in the adult general interest.
Highlights to his career include a Mid-Career Canada Council to continue his project in Havana (1999) as well as a World’s Press Award (1985) for a photograph he took in Egypt.
His current work primarily balances beauty and environmental issues that are found in both rural and urban environments.
You can see his work at www.davidbarbour.ca or on Facebook or Instagram.
Gérard Bélec started painting and drawing seriously in 1981. He has a BFA (1988) and a teacher’s certificate (1994) from the Université du Québec en Outaouais. Between 1986 and 2003, he worked for the City of Gatineau (Cultural Programs) as their specialist for adult and teen painting classes. During this time, he also taught courses for seniors at a community centre and was the technical assistant for the municipal art gallery (until 1993).
Gérard began teaching sculpture and many media classes at the Ottawa School of Art in 1994 in the Children and Teens Program. He was the art teacher for the Académie de la Capitale (IBO program) from 2003 to 2006. He now teaches the Comics, Cartooning and Animation classes to children ages 10-12 and teens, and occasional workshops for adults. He has coordinated the OSA Children and Teens Program and the OSA Animation Certificate. Gérard is now the Coordinator of the OSA Outreach Program (since 2005).
André Breau is a self-taught sculptor with over 40 years of experience in woodcarving. In the last few years he has explored underglazing and opted to pursue clay sculpting. As an expert in relief sculpting, he strives to create three dimensional illusions in wood and in clay and with his painting. André has been teaching woodcarving for many years in the Ottawa area at the Visual Art Center Orleans as well as at the Ottawa School of Art.
Marg Boyle has been a professional artist, art educator, curator and consultant for over thirty years. She is a graduate of the NSCAD University (BFA Fine Arts, Minor Art History (87) and BFA Art Education (88)) and has also done graduate and inservice courses in Art Education, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Education, Special Education, Writing Therapy. Illustration and Graphic Design and Teaching of English Language Learners at several universities/colleges. During her thirty years of teaching in the K-12 school system, she taught diverse Visual Arts and Indigenous Studies courses as well as ESL, Special Education and Student Success.
Marg is the founder of FNMIEAO.com, The Eagle and Condor Collective and a member of the Native Immigrant Arts collective in Montreal. Marg is now a full time artist, and craftsperson (beading, quillwork, hidework, drum making, rattle making, basketry and sewing). She is also a community arts activist, a drummer, a dancer and a writer. She encourages all students to learn about the ancestral knowledge and art forms of the land on which they live and has taught at OSA for a total of over ten years. She has taught Art Education and Indigenous Education courses at Queens U, U of Ottawa and OISE/ U of Toronto and currently teaches at QueensU in the Continuing Teacher Education program.
She is also now an Artist in Residence at Concordia University’s Art Education Dept. and is a recipient of several grants including a Canada Council Aboriginal project grant.
Dr. Müberra Bülbül, visual artist, designer and educator, was born in Istanbul. She studied Fine Arts Education and Art and Craft Teaching. She completed her master's and doctorate in Graphic Design in Istanbul. She worked as a Visual Arts teacher at the Ministry of National Education for 15 years. She gave graphic design, technology design and painting training in secondary, high schools and universities. She taught visual art and design classes to adults. Worked as a research doctor at the University of Zagreb (Croatia). Her two books and many articles, papers were published.
Today she is at National University of Arts in Romania. Participated in art symposiums, exhibitions, biennials, fairs and workshops in many countries of the world with her paintings and designs. Her works were exhibited and received awards in many countries and museums such as Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Canada, Egypt and Korea. Over the last few years, she has organized international arts and culture projects and workshops with countries such as the UK, Spain, Poland and Türkiye. It provided partnerships between academies and art institutions; she brought students together with artists, academics. She participated in graphic design biennials at universities in China, Japan and Macedonia. Since 2020, she has made Erasmus-supported Mail Art projects and curated exhibitions.
Fabio Cattelan has taught art in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. He recently retired from the OCDSD where he taught Art, and Design and Technology for 26 years. Fabio was art director for seven amateur stage productions and has taught painting, animation, sculpture, web design, as well as stage and lighting design. Fabio spent several years working as a commercial artist, both as designer and illustrator, in Toronto. Currently, Fabio is working as a sculptor, primarily in stone and wood. Fabio received an Honors B.F.A. From York University, a Diploma in Teaching from McGill University, and is certified to teach Special Education. Fabio has been with the Ottawa School of Art since 1997.
Qualified Teacher (Cape Town Training College), London Certificate in Art and Design (with Merit Distinction) (Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting (now part of University of the Arts, London, England)). Widely traveled in Europe.
Art Critic (Cape Times), Lecturer, European Art History (Ruth Prowse School of Art, Cape Town), Assistant Custodian (South African Association of Arts Gallery, Cape Town. (Widely traveled in Southern Africa)
Current: Instructor, Ottawa School of Art, Studio Practice in the Gatineau Hills – drawing, watercolour and oil painting, mainly works including the figure, Founding member of the Group Studio focusing on Drawing and Painting the Figure, La Fab sur Mill, Chelsea, Quebec.
Represented by Orange Gallery
Work found in private collections in Canada, USA, France and South Africa
Jayne Couch SCA, has been teaching at the OSA since 2013.
A classically trained oil painter, Jayne studied drawing and painting in Paris France, New York city and across Canada.
An elected member of the Society of Canadian Artist Jayne also sat on that board and was the Chair of her municipality’s first Arts & Culture Board.
Jayne’s exhibition, ‘Drawing Deconstructed’ at The Studio Gallery, Queens University dept of Ed., opens September 2023.
Her latest series of ‘Works on Paper’ returns to Preston Square in Ottawa, January 2024.
Learn more about what’s happening at j.CouchMolony.ca
Kim Cristopher is a Canadian portrait artist, whose works in oil represent the artist’s tender gaze at the human condition. Her portraits provide the viewer with an evocative and ambiguous narrative to ponder.
Dawn Dale has been an instructor at the Ottawa School of Art since 1990, in both the General and Diploma Program (1996) and currently in the Children’s Department (2012). She taught primarily sculpture, mixed media, conceptual art practices while her current focus is advanced drawing with teens.
Her studio practice is grounded in landart, large scale ephemeral works and site specific installations. Her work is informed by our dysfunctional relationship with Nature in a world of consumerism, global climate crisis and unstable political theatre. Over the last thirteen years she has created an extended series of bas-relief sculptures based on the Icelandic alfar and the need to listen to Nature.
A BFA graduate from the University of Ottawa, she has exhibited across Canada, The United States, Bolivia, Mexico and in Japan. Her work is in the City of Ottawa Collection as well as the Archives of Canada, and the Alberta Museum and private collections.
She has been an active member of the arts community through OWCU Art Committee, Gallery 101, IWD at U of O (1986-91), SAW, Pyxidium, Art Terre,, and currently RIA (Research in Art). She previously worked in the classrooms with MASC, ArtSmarts and Les Artistes à l’école in Quebec.
Her work can be found at @dawndaleart on Instagram
Archives at www.dawndale.com and
Lucia De Marinis graduated from a five-year Bachelor of Fine Arts program at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1984, where she majored in painting. She was given advanced standing (to third year) upon admission to the program and was selected for the National Dean’s List in 1984. She was a finalist for the prestigious Gund Award competition at graduation. Lucia also has a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Literature from Carleton University and studied briefly at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome with the assistance of a scholarship from the Italian government.
She completed several years of private study with Ugo Chyurlia, a graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice (1932). At the Cleveland Institute of Art her painting teacher, thesis advisor, and mentor was Julian Stanczak, a renowned colourist and a student of Josef Albers.
Lucia has been teaching at the Ottawa School of Art since 1988. She taught in the School of Media and Design at Algonquin College from 1994 to 2013 and was a faculty member in the Department of Visual and Creative Arts at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall from 1988 to 1991. In 2006 she was the recipient of the first Instructor of the Year Award at the Ottawa School of Art.
Lucia has exhibited her work in numerous solo, group, and juried shows in Canada and the USA and is represented in corporate, public, and private collections.
Vanessa Dewson is an award-winning professional photographer, graphic and web designer based in Ottawa. She began teaching photography at the Ottawa School of Art in 2013. In 2015, she founded Focus on Photography Tours to combine her passions of photography, teaching and travel.
Vanessa received a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Image Arts: Film Studies from Ryerson University in 1998 and pursued photography as a hobby until she decided to become a full-time professional in 2007. She received both her Craftsman of Photographic Arts (CPA) and Master of Photographic Arts (MPA) from the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC). Her work has been exhibited as part of the annual Instructors Show at the Shenkman Arts Centre and a solo exhibit at the Galerie Eugène-Racette in Orleans. Her travel stories and images have been published in BBC Travel, the Toronto Star, and several print magazines and online publications.
She is fully bilingual and loves sharing her passion and knowledge with fellow photography enthusiasts whether in a classroom or as a host on photo tours.
For more information, please visit her website: www.vanessadewson.com or
Murray Dineen teaches techniques of printmaking, including monoprint, linocut, and etching to beginners and experienced print artists alike. In his own practice, he works primarily in lithography, which he studied in Ottawa, Montreal, and Edmonton. He has shown his recent work in Ottawa and in Edmonton. He was for many years a professor at the University of Ottawa.
Kathryn Drysdale’s artistic practice is based in drawing and is inspired by observing the natural and industrial Canadian landscape. Her large scale drawings are a means to notice, interpret and express the visual complexity of her immediate surroundings. She also has a keen interest in the fibre arts which led her to explore the world of colour through hand dyeing yarn.
She founded a small craft business, Riverside Studio. in 2012 where she produces beautiful hand-dyed yarns and sells them around the world. More recently she is experimenting with rug tufting and finding connections between her drawing and fibre art practices.
She has participated in numerous exhibitions in Canada and abroad. Her work can be found in private and public art collections including the City of Ottawa and Loto-Quebec.
She has maintained a studio in Wakefield, Quebec since 1991 and is a founding member of Place des Artistes de Farrellton, a cooperative artist studio north of Wakefield, QC. She holds a degree in Visual Arts from Concordia University and also studied at the Ontario College of Art.
Assel is a Canadian artist of Palestinian origins from Gaza City, who discovered her passion for art and literature in early childhood. Assel obtained a BA in Arabic Literature from Damascus University in Syria in 1994. Assel graduated with a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Ottawa School of Art in 2016. Assel is passionate about creating abstract and surrealist paintings with oil, acrylic, and watercolors. She uses painting as a form of journaling, and her paintings are reflections of raw emotions. Inspired by all that surrounds us and believing that making art teases the mind, widens the imagination, and reveals mysteries of our souls. Assel believes that there is a deep connection between painting, colors, mindfulness, meditation, and well-being. Assel participated in group art shows and exhibitions locally and internationally. Assel teaches privately and at the Ottawa School of Art both online and on-campus. In 2024 Assel was nominated for Ottawa's Visual Arts Artist of the Year (www.facesmag.ca/awards).
Website: https://asselelrayesartist.com/
Mahshid Farhoudi is an Iranian born Canadian figurative painter who explores issues of identity, displacement and belonging through her work. Her art practice draws from her cultural heritage and the contemporary. Both figurative and architectural elements are central to her painting. Being aware of new trends in figuration, she has been appropriating symbols, icons and imagery to issues that she explores. The relationship between painted figures and their architectural contexts create a dialogue within the work.
Every work Mahshid creates, is influenced by the sitter’s personal story. She is drawn to people’s life journeys and all its shades of grey as in her charcoal drawings. Every work provides a brand new opportunity to continue her search for that undercurrent, beautiful and graceful gesture that can be found in humanity.
Andrew Fay was raised and educated in Ottawa and received his training at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Knowledgable in both acrylic and oil paints, his paintings centre on the human form. The figures are often nude, examining a gamut of physical and emotional drives. The narrative of his paintings in intentionally ambiguous. He creates a surreal atmosphere which invites the viewer to interact with the work of their own terms.
Andrew has participated in numerous exhibitions, including shows at the Karsh-Masson Gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery, and the Ottawa School of Art Gallery. His paintings can be found in civic and private collections. Andrew has held the position of Diploma Program Advisor since 2014.
Alex Fichera graduated form Ottawa University with a BFA. Her interests include psychology, feminism and identity, which she explores in her work using a variety of mediums to create images and sculptures. Alex has been working at the Ottawa School of Art for 8 years now and is currently teaching in the children’s department
Originally from Québec, Maryse moved to Edmonton, Alberta in 1980. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at the University of Alberta and worked in the field of medical research in Edmonton and Calgary. Answering a life-long desire to create art she attended watercolour painting classes and many workshops in the Calgary area, in Edmonton and in Jasper. Since 2001, Maryse has concentrated her efforts on her role as a mother, volunteer and nature advocate all the while pursuing her passion for watercolours. She helped develop a series of workshops in Edmonton through the Société des Artistes Visuels de l’Alberta, inviting artists from around Canada to teach at their studio.
Maryse moved to Ottawa in 2007. After deciding to work exclusively as an artist, she established a home studio as well as pursuing her certificate at the Ottawa School of Art, where she now teaches. Her style keeps evolving with the discovery of new techniques & media, being anywhere between realistic to expressive. Light, and the contrasts it creates, nature, people and big colour are her main inspiration. Her works are in private collections throughout Canada and the United States.
Adrian Gor’s work combines writing, egg-tempera painting, relief printing, and hand crafted organic materials.
His medieval-inspired multi-processed techniques of line making and gilding, drives him to question todays symbols of human desire and containers of truth in our visual culture. For details of his artistic vision see his latest essay, “Reimagining the iconic in New Media Art,” published in Theory, Culture, and Society, SAGE Journals (2019).
Adrian has completed his PhD in the Humanities (Interdisciplinary) Program at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada (2015) combining studies in Theology/Philosophy, Art History, and Studio Arts. He also has an MFA in Drawing/Painting from the School of Visual Arts, University of Windsor (2010).
Personal website: www.adriangor.com
(1975) Mexican-born Canadian Professional Artist, Illustrator, Artist Coaching, Logo and Art Exhibition Curator Designer. As Printmaker, Drawer and Painter with more than 200 exhibitions and 27 years of trajectory, her artwork has been shown in diverse Art Museums and Cultural Centres across Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, France, England, Poland, Russia, Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, USA, Austria, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, China among others.
Selected for more than 20 International Printmaking Biennials, her work has been held in both private and public collections, including Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt), Novosibirk’s State Museum (Russia), and the Museum of Arts of Queretaro (Mexico). Director of Institute of Art and Culture of Tepic City, Mexico (2002-2005, 2011-2012). In 2021 the Iconic Center of Contemporary Art Emilia Ortiz CAC in Tepi paid her homage naming an Exhibition Hall Number one after her.
Graphic Designer by The Ibero-American University Jesuit Leon Mexico (1998) and Self-taught Artist. At the Ottawa School of Art she teachs “The Art and Magic of Mexico” Summer Camp among other workshops. www.irmagutierrezart.com
I am a painter and printmaker working mostly from sketches that I complete outside and in all seasons. Frequently trees and light are my subjects but on a less serious note I sometimes venture into an imaginary world to produce a piece for my grandson.
I studied both in England and in Canada at various art schools and universities and have taught many aspects of art, to adults, for some 40 years. I love to pass on to others the satisfaction and joy I receive myself from working at my art. I am lucky to have a press in my home and therefore either a little or a great deal of each day is happily spent in my studio.
Lea Hamilton (b. 1992) is a Canadian artist living in Ottawa, Ontario. She received her MFA from the University of Ottawa in 2024, and her BFA in 2014. She is a member of Common Ground Collective, and the Ottawa-Gatineau Printmakers Connective.
Her conceptual art practice examines how the common human habit of collecting objects and ascribing them meaning plays a role in the formation of knowledge systems – knowledge of the self, knowledge of others, and knowledge of the external world. She is interested in how collections imbue histories, whether they are of a personal, cultural, or scientific nature, and how humans use objects to prioritize or preserve certain narratives over others.
Lea uses rocks, family archives, found objects, poetry, and sound as recurring characters or visual devices in an ongoing, ever-changing personal archive. These objects are collected and presented with particular attention and care to demonstrate how narrative structures can emerge from the formal structures of display.
Lea currently teaches techniques in printmaking at the Ottawa School of Art.
I was born in Argentina where I lived half of my life. In 1992 I moved to Canada. I also lived for 5 years in the USA. I travelled extensively for a 10-year period acquiring a significant multicultural background.
I have university degrees in Mathematics and Physics and worked mostly in the IT/Computing fields until 2001 when, for health reasons, I decided to retire from the high-stress world and follow my passion: arts and social advocacy.
Arts run in my blood from both: my father’s and mother’s sides. I was born in a house with a dark room! I’m also a 4th generation photographer (as far back as I can trace it) and grew up in environments of painters, photographers and theatre actors.
Past exhibits include galleries and exhibits in Ottawa (Ont), Toronto (Ont), Montreal (Qbc) and Vancouver (BC).
As a photographer and artist, I focus mostly on portraiture, nature, artistic nudes and Advocacy art: Anti-imperialism/colonialism, antipoverty, antiracism, gender rights, Gay & HIV anti-stigmatization, and visualization of marginal social sectors. I always look for an expression of beauty in the art I am working on.
As a teacher, I focus mostly on the communication of the student’s personal exploration in regard to the photography or art being taught.
My web site is https://www.gustavo1960.ca/
Deidre received her B.A. and Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. After graduation, she received a bursary from Graff Centre de Conception Graphique in Montreal where she worked as an artist in residence for one year. She continued her printmaking studies in Japan, learning Japanese wood art from Akiru Kurosake. Recently she spent one month printmaking at Sparkbox. She has exhibited her prints in Japan, Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. Deidre has been teaching at the Ottawa School of Art since 1988, in the Diploma, General, and Children’s Program. She is currently the Coordinator of the Children’s/teen Department.
Maya Hum, originally from the Maritimes, moved to Ottawa to pursue her BA Honours degree in Music and Sonic Design. She furthered her studies at the Ottawa School of Art, receiving the Robert Hyndman Painting & Drawing Scholarship. Soon after, Maya secured her first Artist Residency (in Toronto), which resulted in her first solo exhibition.
In 2010, Maya completed her graduate studies in Professional Illustration and was selected for the City of Ottawa’s Artist Studio Program the following year.
Maya’s art is inspired by stories that emphasize the preservation of well-being for ourselves, others, and the environment. She enjoys creating nature-based settings that strike a delicate balance between reality and imagination, inviting viewers into a whimsical and thought-provoking world. Her work has been featured in publications, campaigns, exhibitions, children’s books, and public murals in Ottawa and the Gatineau Hills, Quebec.
With over ten years of teaching experience, Maya takes great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and remains dedicated to providing encouraging learning environments for her students.
Website: www.mayahum.com
FB/IG @MayaLikesArt
“Stories are the record of our interactions with the world.
Art is the act of honouring the beauty of our story and sharing it with others.”
Born 1963 in West Toronto, enduring a Catholic childhood, surviving the banality of a whitewashed suburban existence in the pursuit of modest personal debt, Marika left home at 17 to experience the joys of minimum wage, public transportation and a series of rooming houses in various dissociated communities. An independent learner, Marika has explored the public libraries of most of the major cities in Canada.
On a rainy day in 1982, Marika moved to Vancouver Island where she spent the next 11 years pursuing a series of odd-jobs; landscaping, theatrical lighting, training as a carpenter and graduating from art school in 1991.
In 1993, Marika drove back across the country in a 1973 Toyota Corolla, dropped the muffler on a raised railway bed in southern Saskatchewan and ran out of gas in Ottawa and has been here ever since.
Marika works primarily in the mediums of drawing, collage, sculptural installation, video, assemblage and most recently land art, combining natural and manufactured objects to create culturally astute statements that cut to the heart of what matters.
Marika Jemma is a visual artist in professional practise for over 30 years. She is a certified level 1 Expressive Arts Instructor and has been teaching art for more than 20 years.Since 1999 Farouk Kaspaules taught Integrated Processes and Silk Screen & Beyond courses to students enrolled in the Diploma program and General program. Farouk teaches Van Dyke Brown and Cyano processes, as well as Silk Screen and Photo Silk Screen techniques.
From an early age, David was captivated by both art and science. He chose a career in Aerospace Engineering and was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society Prize for his undergraduate studies. Prior to embracing the world of art, David had a successful career as a flight test engineer and project manager.
David’s innate love of art drew him to creating expressive paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolour and mixed media. He has been with the School for 15 years and has also developed a successful visual arts workshop practice in partnership his spouse France. Together, they have completed over 150 Break-a-Brush® workshops and courses. Their studio, plein-air and on-line programs are a hit with novices and experienced artists alike.
He has published three books: David’s first, “Eighteen Pieces” chronicles his art journey - and methods. The second “One Summer along the Trans Canada Trail – Plein-air Painting in Ottawa-Gatineau” is a collection of David’s artworks from a single season’s painting odyssey. His third book “Creative Surge: Three Winters with Tom Thomson” is co-authored with France and celebrates Tom Thomson’s genius as a full time painter, brief as it was.
David is a regular feature on Rogers TV Daytime Ottawa. Each month, David demystifies art, making it enjoyable and accessible to all. His openness, commitment and energy are infectious and have earned him a reputation as inspired artist, writer and inclusive coach: "I infuse my love of art into everything I do. Creativity is always an opportunity for growth as well as being motivating and fun."
David invites you to visit his website: https://www.davidkearn.com/
