Artway Invitational - Past Exhibits

My name is Paul Draper and I am 40 years of age. I was born and raised in Brampton, Ontario. I first became interested in art when I was eight or nine years old. I attended Helen Wilson Public School and when I was in grade three or four, I was placed in a special education class where my teacher assisted me with developing my early artistic skills. Later on in junior high and high school, my ability became more pronounced.

I began experimenting with various utensils, such as: lead, pencils, chalk, pens, coloured pencils, various paints, coloured markers, and pastels. Several of my works have been placed on display at such places as: Visual Arts Brampton (Artway), The 2010 and 2011 Travelling Floral show through Visual Arts Brampton, CMHA's Par Clubhouse Art Show, Supportive Housing in Peel's Art show, Destination Cafe - Art Show, The Designer Commitee and Mad Pride Week.

I am very proud of my accomplishments and I have found art to be of great therapeutic significance for me.

Mirror Image is a random, single panel comic strip observing the strangeness of life. It has appeared in print at Brampton Guardian, Orangeville Banner, Oakville Voice and Soo Profile. The comic strip can also be found online at Facebook, Twitter and www.mirrorimagecomics.com

About the author: I am humanoid, and sustained by coffee.

I remember wanting a camera for Christmas when I was about 12 and being disappointed to get one of those cheap tinny "no control over anything" jobs. Where was my Hasselblad (in those days the Rolls-Royce of cameras)?

Well, I never did get a Hasselblad - for the same reason I never got a Rolls-Royce.

Although I have been taking pictures for over 50 years and have done my time in the darkroom, it was my discovery of Photoshop that got my creative juices flowing.

When taking pictures I often have no destination in mind, physical or otherwise,  though I gravitate towards flowers, trees, and other things that don't require a release form. Sometimes I don't know what I've got until I see it on my monitor and my creative Muse kicks in and finds something that neither I or my camera saw. Sometimes it's a ho-hum picture until it meets up with its complementary partner or two and something new and interesting makes its appearance.

One never knows what my Muse will find.

http://moratorian.deviantart.com/gallery/

Illustrator and artist, Gary Paiva, was born and raised into a vibrant, artistic and culturally diverse Portuguese household in Toronto, Canada. His father was a landscape architect and his mother is a culinary master, who's artistry with exquisite Portuguese dishes inspired much of Gary's passion.

Being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the early age of two and a half, Gary, years later having found his purpose, gravitated towards art. In 2001 Gary attended the Toronto School of Art to enrich his skills, focusing in illustration, and was fortunate to begin mentoring under well known illustrators such as Joe Fleming and Harvey Chan. Gary Paiva, was also honoured with the inclusion into the Scarborough Arts Big Art Book – published in 2012.

Gary also devotes a portion of his time to graphic design, assisting as creative and sales director for a local marketing firm, and freelance illustrator / artist from his home studio in Mississauga, Canada.

Known for his unique and surreal Canadian-themed Christmas cards, Gary has now begun taking on a new venture as an urban fashion designer, and is currently creating a collection of baby and children's apparel. Designs will launch summer 2016 exclusively under the Francisco & Joseph brand.

Available for consultation of freelance illustration or marketing work, Gary would love to hear about your project.

Rahul Jain is Ontario based pen and ink artist who does detailed drawings using pen and black ink. All the shading and tones are achieved using very fine black lines only. The expressive power of lines comes alive in the fine details and textures of his drawings. As the construct of colour is stripped away, the organic dynamic vitality of lines imparts an expressive and powerful feel to his drawings that lets you immediately connect with their subjects. The permanent non erasable aspect of ink makes his drawings an evolutionary process and gives them an energetic spirited feel in which the drawings reflect the thought, mood and whim of the artist at the time of drawing as there is no erasing and turning back once an ink line is put. You instantly connect and feel with the art and the artist and feel the intimacy with his work.

You can see the full repertoire of his work at his website www.pendrawings.me and also connect with him at his facebook page at www.facebook.com/pendrawings.me