Artway Invitational - Past Exhibits

My art practice goes back to my rich cultural heritage and the place from which I belong, a journey to my Indian background.  I come from the city of Varanasi, which is one of the oldest inhabited cities of the world, which modern scholars believe it to be around 3,000 years old.

I am a self-taught visual artist of Canadian- Indian origin, my work are mostly abstract textured paintings. I use mixed medium to work on my art, and try to experiment with different mediums.

My work explores the human emotions, different state of mind, Science, society, life and its expression through Spirituality and its culture.

My art draws strongly on the complexity of heritage and assumed norms that are referenced from memories, history, literature and continuous thirst for finding peace. I consider myself a philosopher, a cultural anthropologist, and spiritualist, cataloguing and processing these experiences.

I also find myself attracted to the astronomy, and the unending thirst of finding the beginnings of myself whether through science or spiritualism. My work often depicts the merger of science and mysticism.

My heritage and the history has been at the center of my consciousness. Through abstraction and pattern, The Feeling within and the Lotus Mandala examines the concepts and experience of unity consciousness both metaphysically and symbolically. The Lotus Mandala portraits, our rise from the material world through meditation and merges itself into the Spiritual universe.  The lotus represents us. The different colors of blue, brown, red and yellow with golden used with the work to evoke multiple layers and meanings.

Through art, I want to express myself, which cannot be described in words.

Please read more about me in the “About Me” section of my website, and get to know about work in the "Gallery" section.

https://theopenmindfineart.com/   

Art can be with us our entire lives, as evidenced with Tom Hinton's early days of art and this particular exhibition with various printmaking and medium experimentation.

Primarly a sketch artist and print-maker in his formative youth, crossing later into oil painting and his natural surroundings.

Tom was born in 1954 and in his youth attended Toronto O.C.A. (now OCAD) where he took part in a special program of designing, building, maintaining and living in a special pod dome for a complete two years.

It was during this time that Alpha School, a Toronto alternative school, started in 1972 and still around today, worked with O.C.A. to teach their young students math through dome building.

Tom's own son Keiran, who was so influenced with his father's two year art project, produced his own version of a pod dome as part of his installation at Pratt University. Keiran Hinton went on to become a successful professional artist.

My name is Krishna Krishnadas, I am a self-taught artist and my work mainly comprises of oil and acrylic paintings. Currently I reside in Brampton, Ontario. I'm a dentist by profession.

Ever since I was child, I was always intrigued by the beauty of art. I started dabbling at the early age of five. My biggest inspiration has and always will be my mother. Her eloquence and beauty were always displayed in her paintings. She's also a self-taught artist. Like most artists I started with sketches and slowly moved onto oil paintings. I was very blessed to be in a school, where my artistic side could be displayed. I competed in a lot of inter school competitions and started raking in prizes. My biggest source of encouragement has been my family.

I slowly started getting fascinated by South Indian mural paintings. Every picture had a distinct story behind them. Every picture spoke to me. This fascination of mine kept growing and it helped me explore, my own personality and traits. I couldn't resist myself to do more and more DIY paintings on pretty much everything that, I could find. It ranged from vases, bedsheets and even my mom’s sarees. The latter got me in a lot of trouble. But it still kept me going. The idea to use these, simple things and turn them into something alluring and aesthetic always inspired me. Mural painting was one of the main reasons for me to, opt dentistry. Both these fields had two things in common those were precision and perfection. Being a dentist also helped me to accomplish another goal of mine, which was to bring a beautiful smile on everyone's face.

Art is a platform, where I pour my imagination and creativity and bring inanimate objects and drawings to life. A few strokes of my paint brush and I could see a whole new world being formed right in front, of my eyes. One of my biggest reasons to pursue art is to, inspire individuals to bring out the hidden creative gems that, we hold inside us.

I take this opportunity to thank Visual Arts Brampton, for giving me a platform to share my ideas and inspirations on a canvas. This will be my first public display after my move to Canada. Lastly, I would like to thank my husband who has been, my pillar of strength through these tough times. He has helped me to pursue my passion and has helped me attain confidence.

Munazzah Farhan, known as “Artist Mooni”, is a Canadian based Finger Painting artist of modern impressionism and textural expressionist oil and acrylic paintings. Currently living in Toronto, she had previously worked and lived in Asia, Middle east and Europe. She is a graduate in engineering and holds an MBA as well.

Since her early days, she wanted to be known as an Artist but it took her time to get over her boundaries. Years back when waves of life were going against her, at that time when she truly felt loneliness, she got inspired by that pain through the sensation of colors in her fingers that she can own it, this is when she decided to donate her life as a self-taught finger painting artist. For her work, she has always believed on skills and spark that can be seen in her paintings. Her work is bolder, vibrant and passionately warm that shows several years of her hard work.

She started doing paintings in 2010 and sold through commissions. Her work is comprised of Landscapes and Cityscapes but she also loves Floral. For her, art is a great way of scratching the soul through textures, colors, depths and giving a vision of life through an Artist’s eyes. When words are not enough then stroke speaks.

She likes to create art to capture her audience’s attention and through textures make them feel to be connected with her paintings. Her aim is to give life to walls full of vibrancy. She also loves to describe her paintings in words and use words to paint every single shade and strokes that tells a story that anyone can relate themselves to. In her paintings there is a hidden message that will help you to release your stress and anxiety. Believe in yourself because you worth it.

Artist Mooni's Instagram

Amanda designs commercial art by day as a graphic designer. By night, she can be found in her studio painting. A formal education and foundation in art and design, allow her to apply these fundamentals in her work.

Amanda’s initial love of art growing up, be it painting, illustration or photography, lead her to a career in graphic design, primarily designing consumer packaging. After designing for marketing purposes for many years, she found her passion again, coming full circle, to what made her chose a creative path in the first place.

Putting brush to canvas is Amanda's true artistic passion and outlet - forever a lover of the creative process. Her motivation in making art is completely self-indulgent.

My current abstract series focuses on colour and texture, through the use of acrylics, gesso and modelling paste. I have an intuitive process with many layers, built over multiple painting sessions. Each piece starts with a colour palette and the emotion it evokes. I use either soft brush blending techniques or bold mixes with a palette knife, or a combination of both. I do not write about my specific inspiration or what I see in a painting. As the viewer, the art becomes yours. It is your interpretation and connection to the piece that matters.

I am a mother, dreamer, dancer, traveler, explorer, humanitarian, environmentalist, workaholic, animal lover, concert junkie, introvert by day, extrovert by night.

www.amandahollingworth.com