Mississippi Valley Artmakers

A group of professional artists offering fine arts education and creative products from Perth, "Ontario's Prettiest Little Town".   Located 45 minutes from either Ottawa or Kingston, and not too far from Toronto and Montreal.

Fred Fowler studied painting, printmaking and life drawing at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and the New School of Art, one of the Three Schools in Toronto.  He paints in all mediums with focus on oil and water.  Fred developed his unique style of monotype, a technique of painting without the use of the conventional brush.  Fred participates in many juried Art shows and exhibitions and is the recipient of the Scarborough Purchase Award for his monotype.  Originally from Nipigon, Fred can often be found working from his cottage studio.

Dawn Burnham settled to Maberly in 1996 from London England with an incredible background in pottery as well as film/commercial production.  She studied find arts at the Ontario College of Art and has a Master's in Education from Queen's University.  She has taught art at the Canterbury School of Fine Arts in Ottawa and the Ottawa High School of Commerce.  Currently, she runs her studios from her home and at the "School House" in McDonald's Corners and has galleries in New York, Switzerland, Montreal and Perth.  Her work is vibrant in color and is clean with simple lines mostly with an "oriental influence".  Her focus is on color and form. 

Heather Dillenbeck studied fine art at Queen's University, St. Lawrence College, Loyalist College and has taken numerous workshops from many prominent artists, notably Igor Babilov and Alex Powers.  A versatile artist with knowledge in a wide variety of mediums, including pastel, oil, acrylic, water-color and mixed media.  With a focus on contemporary and traditional arts, Heather is trained in landscape and still life with a passion in portraiture and figurative work.  She is a certified adult educator and has a degree in Social Sciences from Queen's University Heather has worked for the Upper Canada School District Board for several years before returning to her career as a fulltime artist.  Her love of art is apparent in her exploration and application of color and her delight in lines.  Heather believes that the greatest works of art are those that incorporate an element of mystery into the finished product and for the viewer to relate to the arts and experience a universal sense of connection.

Steev Morgan is a media artist and designer working on the Web from the Maberly area.  He studied art at Algonquin College and the Ontario College of Art and Design.  Steev has taught film, animation and media arts at the Ontario College of Art and Design, the International Academy of Design and Technology, as well as conducting workshops at the elementary school level.

Janice Ling is a painter, stained glass artist and founder of Mississippi Valley Artmakers.   Her paintings capture the life-likeness of people, wildlife and display the whimsical moments of life in the country.  She has designed and created many glass art for homes in Toronto and in Lanark County.  While practicing Chiropody, she illustrated for medical texts and worked on creative learning programs for Harbourfront in Toronto as well as in Switzerland.  Janice currently teaches fine arts at the "School House" in McDonald's Corners and is the principal designer of Artmakers Creative Glass Prisms.

Jessika Lacroix is a grade eight student and ambassador at Castor Valley Elementary School.  She has pursued her many artistic interests through various art lessons/groups such as graphic/visual arts, dramatic arts, literary arts and musical arts. As a student, Jessika has thoroughly enjoyed her courses with the Artmakers studio and is looking forward to assisting with this summer’s program.

Stained Glass Art      Oil Painting    Chinese Ink Painting      Monotypes

Painting on Canvas      Sketching & Drawing           Creative Expressions

Watercolor      Portraiture      Charcoal Study     Working with Graphite