Artway Invitational - Past Exhibits

Visual Arts Brampton is pleased to present works from the students of Creative Village Studio at Community Living Toronto. Creative Village Studio is a community based art studio in the heart of Islington Village, operated by Community Living Toronto. Creative Village Studio runs classes in arts and crafts, painting, photography, knitting, expressive arts and music for individuals with intellectual disabilities and the community. Classes are taught by internal staff and professionals within their disciplines. Our vision is to provide a supportive space for artists with varying abilities in order to enrich lives through creative expression. Individuals can display and sell their works. We offer an array of sales items from cards, sculpture, photographs and paintings to hand made seasonal crafts. Creative Village studio also participates in conferences, festivals and markets, art gallery showings, competitions and outreach education.

For more information, visit the  Creative Village Studio.

I guess I have always painted for as long as I remember. I first took the brush to paper as a ten year old to create two pieces of art 'Yesterday Today and Tomorrow' and 'Life in Universe' in watercolor. Both of them won me the first prize in the little town in South India where I was born.

Then I lay down the brush for years only painting vistas in my mind and waiting for that time 'when I would have time to stand and stare...'

It took me 38 more years to realise that time may never come and I may leave this world with these unpainted frames inside of me.

So I picked up painting again oils this time making time in between my full time corporate job and being mom to two kids.

I paint for my own pleasure, Painting is like a prayer to my soul. But, after having filled 20 or more canvases with color I decided to give myself this online gallery.

Come walk along here, browse your cares away, leave your ideas and if you wish, take something away.

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/