Fall 2021 New Elected Members
Congratulations to our newest members
The Society of Canadian Artists 2021 Elected membership fall jury recently concluded. Thirteen Canadian artists have been selected as Elected members of the SCA, joining the twenty-five artists that were elected earlier in 2021. Our new artists represent a unique variety of styles, mediums and subjects. We commend all the artists who applied and encourage those who may not have been accepted this time to keep creating and submit to our next jury.
Thank you to Bob Shackles, SCA, our New Member Liaison who coordinated this year’s Elected membership jury. And a special thank you to the 5 jurors, representing all regions of Canada who participated in this endeavor.
Take a moment to meet our new members
Jayne Couch, SCA
Adam CX (Chunxiao), SCA
Julia Di Sano, SCA
Eric Goldstein, SCA
Mark Macey, SCA
Denise Nonomura, SCA
Sara Petroff, SCA
Barry Rafuse, SCA
Margaret Stawicki, SCA
Doug Stratford, SCA
Carol Taylor, SCA
Mohan Tenuwara, SCA
Beata Tyrala, SCA
Jayne Couch, SCA, Artist/Educator
Burritt’s Rapids, ON
“Receiving an elected member designation with the Society of Canadian Artists is truly an honour. Thank you”.
Adam CX (Chunxiao), SCA, Painter
Toronto, ON
“Today, society has provided artists with vast space for experimentation. From among the numerous and complicated artistic methods, I chose painting to reflect the daily lives of people around me, social events, social criticism and ideological transformation. I am a person who loves life and believes that art comes from the truth of life. My main goal as an artist is to express my feelings, observe the changes in our society which intrigue me, and record them on either watercolour paper, canvas or other materials, I think that I have succeeded in creating paintings with the passion, vision and courage I have in my mind’s view and will continue to do so for a long time. My subjects exist in the life and life environment around me. I would like to record and express all of them by using my artistic skills”.
Julia Di Sano, SCA, Painter
New Westminster, BC
Julia Di Sano is a full-time fine artist based in New Westminster, BC, working primarily in acrylic, acrylic mixed media,and occasionally watercolour. She works from her home studio, alongside her husband and 2 cat “colleagues.”
Living along the Pacific Coast, her work in heavily inspired by the sublime beauty of Nature, particularly local seascapes and the stormy skies and rolling waves of the ocean.
As an artist, Julia’s aim is to express Nature’s beauty, local seascapes/landscapes and her own emotions through paint on canvas. She believes art has the power to bring happiness and calming relief to her clients’ lives, allowing them to pause and embrace the beauty in this world.
Eric Goldstein, SCA, Artist
North Vancouver, BC
“Over the past 30 years I have collaborated on over 100 film projects as a Director of Photography. I have relied on the alchemy of sciences, history, and technical skills funneled through a viewfinder and a lens to distil visual order out of the emotional narratives set before me. As a mixed-media artist, I’m using the same creative alchemy to explore an even more intricate story I observe playing out on our natural stage. In their own way, these works celebrate nature’s unbounded spaces by framing its geometries, linear progressions and algorithms. By refining the basic elements of line, color and texture from the west coast landscapes around me, I pair nature’s complexities down to an appreciable moment of sublime wordless understanding. My intent is to capture the pondering presence we get from nature, not as it appears but as it feels to experience incomprehensible, indescribable, and often very chaotic. Unconventionally constructed with various colored fibers, metal foils, and glass tile, my painted canvases express the same underlying concept that I strive for as a cinematographer: Emotional narratives with kinetic energy.”
Mark Macey, SCA, Photographer
Parksville, BC
“I have always had an artistic spirit. I knew at a young age that someday I would find a way to freely express myself.
My main goal in photography is to find the moments people miss in this busy world. I enjoy it when you know you have captured something spellbinding.
I have spent hours in front of a favorite photo just soaking in the moment. I love all forms of photography.
As my career has exponentially grown over the last few years, I have participated in a few Juried Art Exhibitions. I have been humbled in the response and honoured and so excited to become an Elected Member of the Society of Canadian Artists. I will spend the rest of a lifetime bringing a fresh perspective to our lives”.
Denise Nonomura, SCA, Painter
Stratford, ON
“My medium of choice is soft pastel. The first time I tried pastel I was hooked on the soft buttery feel as I stroked the luscious pigment colours across a substrate. I paint subjects that I find a connection to as this allows me to truly enjoy the process of painting. By focusing on the light in a scene, I strive to capture the colour and atmosphere of the landscape and the realism and mood of unique still life arrangements for others to enjoy. My goal with painting what moves me is to evoke an emotion in the viewer. When a viewer connects with my work and finds that it has the ability to stir within them meaning, a memory or a feeling, then I have accomplished this goal”.
Sara Petroff, SCA, Mixed Media
Toronto , ON
“Shallow in depth but deep in thought, my mixed media sculptural work is intended to reframe pieces of our emotional history in a new light. Drawn to working with memory filled old papers, I rescue traces of time by reinterpreting, repurposing and reinvesting these markers of our memories into a visual currency that expands its meaning, narratives, relevance and interest.
Often in the form of clothing, my work is never intended to be regarded as historical costume, but rather to serve as an intimate and relatable canvas. This is a visually familiar safe space into which the viewer brings forward their memories”.
Barry Rafuse, SCA, Painter
Vernon, BC
I have gone from creating realistic landscapes, seascapes, and florals to painting very unrealistic abstracts. It has been an expressional journey. Abstract painting is not an easy task, and it is always challenging. I strive to paint something “different” – something colourful, bold, and thought provoking. I like to leave the viewer thinking about the paintings story. Abstraction allows for imagination.
Nature’s many designs attract me. Cloud formations, water reflections, rock patterns, magnified foliage, erosion, and snow decorations all appeal to me. These beautiful designs are unique and ever changing. My paintings reflect what I see and feel. I avoid predictable compositions. Rarely do I have preconceived ideas or a desired end result. I trust the direction paint takes and I listen to what the painting wants to be. A painting will evolve, and this is the process that rewards me.
I prefer using large brushes and working on large surfaces to avoid detail. I strive for an energetic look by using mixed media and working quickly, particularly with mark making.
Abstraction is not well understood nor easily accepted. I want my paintings to help change that perception.
Margaret Stawicki, SCA, Painter
Mississauga, ON
“In my work I use abstraction and a narrative painting, muted colours, disorienting horizon lines and recurrent symbolism. The traveler, on my paintings walking along vast, empty space, often with no horizon to interrupt the journey, its anonymous replica standing in for the ‘everyman,’ and emphasize the individual or shared experiences of life during passing time and its rapidly changing conditions, when new becomes by fading the old. It does not matter what we do, life is a circle that continues to rotate. and in that circle, we humans are in a constant transformation, between “yesterday” and “tomorrow”.
Most paintings reflect on my personal experiences; on my journey through life, international travel, emigration, starting new life, making choices, choosing the road to follow, and always leaving something behind. As somebody said wisely: “Reaching destination must be preceded by a journey”, I see us, humans “travel” on Earth, leaving the imprint of our existence, our good or bad deeds, energy, memory, and a long shadow of being following the direction we choose”.
Doug Stratford, SCA, Painter
Toronto, ON
“For some time, I have been working on a series of paintings entitled ‘Peace’. This group of paintings attempts to create an alternative vision to the physical, emotional, psychological and political violence that we find prevalent in our society today. It does this by returning to nature to reclaim and renew our sense of calm, balance and serenity. Ultimately, I would like to be able to convey the feeling of peace through a visual medium”.
Carol Taylor, SCA, Painter
Rothesay, NB
“The work submitted has an overall cohesiveness and displays consistency in thought & style …..is a little worrisome for me, as I work in series and explore it to the fullest in a variety of ways. My two most recent shows are a great example of this. I am not an artist who is able to create in the same manner continually. I crave infinite variety, the way our life is, the way the planet is”.
Mohan Tenuwara, SCA, Painter
Winnipeg, MB
Originally from Sri Lanka, Mohan has been painting Manitoba for over a decade. Capturing light and texture in the prairie landscape has been a consistent theme throughout his work. As a painter, he sees his role as part storyteller. By supplying a setting and adding characters, he hopes that viewers will use their own experience to complete the story.
Beata Tyrala, SCA, Mixed Media
St-Constant, QC
“It is an honour to become a newly-elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists. In my work, I try to capture the state of being and create an emotional connection with the viewer. By concentrating on only one figure, I reach for more personal dialog. The majority of my work is done in one sitting, using “time pressure” to create expressive lines. Different energy of mark-making plays important role in creating my drawings”.
It is a pleasure to have these new members within our ranks. We look forward to seeing their work in future Society of Canadian Artists exhibitions.