Meet the Team
ECOAA only exists because of its volunteers.
We value each and every one, and offer 'credit' towards a weekend or your membership.
We welcome any help in any capacity, there are many small things you can help with.
If your keen to get involved we'd love to hear from you!
We value each and every one, and offer 'credit' towards a weekend or your membership.
We welcome any help in any capacity, there are many small things you can help with.
If your keen to get involved we'd love to hear from you!
Our President - Judy Clark
[email protected]
Like many hard working volunteers, Judy has worn many hats. She's an excellent president with an eye for detail and a flair for creativity. her abundant energy keeps us going and her calm demeanour keeps us level.
Her Artist Statement
I am an artist living in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. It is an idyllic setting for enhancing creativity.
I have a grand passion for drawing and painting people. I love bringing their portraits to life and telling stories about their daily experiences. While people are my preferred subjects, I also find inspiration in the beauty of nature.
When I retired from a banking career in 2008, I devoted time to my love of art and have been actively developing my art skills ever since.
For five years, I ran the Life Drawing Program at the Baxter Arts Centre in Bloomfield and arranged shows for the work produced by the artists. At live modelling sessions, I sketched with oil on Yupo paper. These quick studies produced fresh and vibrant snapshots. With the onset of Covid in 2020, I switched to using watercolour to sketch and paint the figure and portraits on Zoom.
I have explored and worked in different mediums but oil is a favourite.
I am a member of a number of a few art groups. In 2020, I became the President of East Central Ontario Art Association.
Vice President - this position is currently Vacant
Our Treasurer -Judy Myers
[email protected]
[email protected]
judimyersstudio.ca
Judi has been working as a professional artist for many years, doing large shows such as the One of a Kind Show and Sale. She is no stranger to working with figures and balancing the books.
About Judi
Judi Myers has been painting and selling quality glass Christmas ornaments at craft shows and in stores and galleries across Canada for more than twenty five years. Every ornament is hand painted by Judi and all designs are her originals.
Each piece is a unique work of art.
When Covid changed the face of creative retail, Judi slowed down with her ornaments and not concentrates on her painting.
Our Secretary -
Laurie Cairns
[email protected]
www.lauriecairnsart.com
Laurie is new to the Executive, she jumped in with two feet and took on the role of secretary. She's doing a fabulous job and gets the minutes out asap!
About Laurie
Painting has been one of Laurie's lifelong interests. Along with camping, hiking, kayaking and travel. She discovered her passion for painting in highschool (too many years ago to mention) and continued to teach and challenge herself as a hobby while working full time in health care and raising a family. Over these 30 years she was fortunate to attend classes and workshops with many established painters in Ontario and beyond.
Her process of painting begins with value sketches, plein air studies and photography. Painting primarily in oil, she enjoys exploring colour, texture and loose fluid brushstrokes. She is currently building up a body of work to exhibit while also working on a few commissioned pieces.
Our Membership Chair AND Webmaster
- Sheila Davis SCA OSA SFCA
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.sheiladavis.ca
www.ecoaa.ca
Sheila has been a member of ECOAA for over 30 years. She know the group and its history inside out. She gives ECOAA credit for mush of her successful career as an professional artist. Always busy and on the go Sheila will jump in when needed to keep the group moving ahead. One of those sick people who enjoy tech she created and manages the website www.ecoaa.ca as well as her own and a few for friends. if something goes wrong blame her!
About Sheila
Primarily self taught, Sheila has been a professional artist for over 23 years. Her interest lies in obscure areas of the environment as seen on the periphery of daily vision. Sheila works in oil, painting both Plein Air and in the studio, preferring large panels.
Using dynamic brushstrokes and saturated colour, she captures the friction and play of texture and temperature where surface planes meet, challenging the eye to look deeper, to see beyond the obvious, to become aware of those areas of nature necessary to existence, to see beauty in the mundane.
Her work has a strong organic feel to it, indicative of the natural landscape she paints.
Foremost she is known for the energy she pours into each work to capture the chaotic vibrancy of mother earth.
An elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists, the Ontario Society of Artists and a Senior Status member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, Sheila’s work has been featured in magazines, on television and is included in private and corporate collections around the world. She is represented by various galleries throughout Canada and participates in select exhibitions throughout the year.
Sheila is inspired by the friction and play of textures where surface planes meet. The tangled under growth competing for light and space. A play of forces, where colour and temperature meld or clash for dominance - a battle of the elements, Earth, Sky, Water and all they encompass. She believes an Artist interprets best what they know intimately…what surrounds them personally and they touch daily… what influences on a deep emotional level either conscious or unconscious. For her this is the untouched Ontario landscape… tangled, unfettered and unfinished…a work in progress, constantly growing and striving towards light, strength and freedom from constraint.
Our Spring Weekend Co-ordinator - Harvey J. Walker
[email protected]
harveywalkerart.ca
ECOAA is well know for it weekends. We paint, we chat, we dance, we immerse ourselves in art for an entire weekend. Networking and learning from others our weekends have become famous. Covid forever changed the history of our weekends. many of our beloved weekend locations closed forever. One was washed away in a storm. There wear tears from a few and memories to cherish from many.
Harvey has stepped forward for our Spring Weekend Co-ordinator. His superb skill has a plein air artist, dry wit and organisational skills are a great contribution
About Harvey
I started painting over thirty years ago and participated in local shows with a group of artists who met regularly at my home. Over the years, self-employment as a furniture and kitchen designer has kept my observation and design skills keen, my creations were three dimensional but painting was reserved for scarce spare time. In 2010, I re-connected to painting and the results showed quickly, wining the "Peoples Choice Award" at the Agnes Jamieson Gallery in Minden. Since then I have participated in juried, solo and group shows as well as the Scugog Studio Tour in May and the Tour de Forest in Haliburton.
Boathouse studio is in Carnarvon, ON in Haliburton County and I can often can be found en plein air painting the rugged beauty found there. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my love for painting by teaching at Meta 4 Gallery in Port Perry and Peterborough, and at the Boathouse Studio.
Fall Weekend Co-ordinator - Scott Rubie
[email protected]
www.scottrubie.ca
Scott joined ECOAA just a few years ago and has become an active valuable member. Always eager to get out and paint while sharing his knowledge and talent. From the Ottawa Valley, Scott is helping to stretch our mark in that direction.
About Scott
Scott Rubie, originally from Alberta, grew up primarily in Thornhill Ontario. He received his first art education in high school but opted out for studies in Science. He then went on to study fisheries ecology at the University of Toronto. He was later to go on to earn a Bachelor of Education and a Masters of Education in Science. During his career as a biologist and then in teaching Scott continued to draw and paint as a hobby. He married in 1978 and with his wife, they raised 5 children, moving about from Toronto, Bancroft, Fort Albany, Arnprior and finally to their 80 acre property outside of Renfrew. It wasn’t until retiring from teaching in 2011 that he took up his art more seriously.
From 2016 he started taking workshops with established artists such as Sheila Davis, Marc Grandbois, Dwyene McNab, Brian Ateyo, Brian Turner, Margaret Roseman, Andy Sookrah, Susan Woolgar and Brian Buckrell. He has organized a number of workshops featuring Marc Grandbois.
Our Juried show Chair for 2024 and Campbellford Hospital Exhibition Chair
- Margaret MacDonald
[email protected]
[email protected]
Margaret MacDonald on Instagram
Former member Leigh Thompson (now living in the UK) initiated the ECOAA ongoing exhibition at The Campbellford Hospital in Campbellford Ontario. It brings our members work in the public eye and some cheer to those visiting the hospital. when Leigh moved back to the UK Margaret stepped forward to take over the arrangements for twice yearly change over of work. The work is hung in a busy corridor and sales are fairly steady!
Mystery of the Park Co-ordinator - Carole Rudderham
[email protected]
www.carolerudderham.art
Carole has been a member of ECOAA for many years. she brings her indepth knowledge of the beautiful Algonquin area and her past experience with our annual exhibition at the Algonquin Park Visitors Centre.
About Carole
Carole is an accomplished artist whose work is widely recognized and highly respected. She is the recipient of several awards and is recognized for her dedication to promoting visual arts in Muskoka. Carole’s work can be found in galleries in Muskoka and in private collections in Canada, USA, Europe and Africa.
Carole, with a Bachelor of Nursing and a Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration, has had a highly successful business and professional career. In her last professional position she was Executive Director of the Victorian Order of Nurses, for Peel Region.
Carole serves her community by contributing to several organizations in leadership roles. She is a long-standing member of the Muskoka Arts and Crafts, the Huntsville Art Society and the East Central Ontario Art Association (ECOAA). This year she is again accepting the co-ordinator role for Algonquin Park’s “Mystery of the Park” yearly fundraiser, show and sale 2024.
Carole is an impressionistic painter who cares less about detail, more about colour and abstraction. She believes in continuous learning and is constantly exploring ways to “attack the canvas” resulting in fresh new approaches to her art. She attributes her success and artistic growth to renowned Canadian artists, Jack Reid, Brian Atyeo, Mike Svob and Michael O’Toole.
She is an accomplished teacher and workshop leader and provides regular workshops at her home studio. She has begun a new affiliation with Mastrius Workshops under David Langevin. Carole continues to grow as an artist. Painting to Carole is an ongoing journey, a source of great fulfilment, wonderful friendships and satisfaction in helping others achieve their artistic goals.