Tilted Brick Gallery Association (TBGA)
ArtSpace Artist Directory
Brief artist bios and photos provide an insightful glimpse into the creators behind these stunning works of art.
Gay Allen
Before Gay Allen moved to Creston in June of 2015 her passion was photography. Since then she has found art. With the formation of ArtSpace six years ago she has learned to paint with acrylics and oils. Gay was one of the first to paint the 4 foot square flowers which now adorn the cement retainer wall on Hillside. Gay has tried many forms of art since the beginning and loves almost all of them. Her only regret is not enjoying making art earlier.
Paula Cravens
Paula Cravens was raised between the soy bean, corn and oil fields of a central Illinois farming community. She received a BFA from Eastern Illinois University then took off to Canada seeking knowledge and adventure. She moved to the Creston Valley in 2020 and opened Crazy Ravens Studio.
Carole Francis
Over the years Carole Francis has taken a few courses in drawing and painting knowing someday she would find the time to take art more seriously. That dream came true when she and her husband retired and moved to the magical valley of Creston.
​
Joining ArtSpace has provided a place to learn and grow in her passion for art. It is also a place of friendship and safety to express who you are.
​
Join us and you too will get drawn into the wonderful world of creating art in its many forms.
Anne Fetterly
Anne Fetterly moved to Creston with her husband in 2012, after graduating in Fibre from the Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary. Anne's eco-friendly art practice uses natural dyes on a variety of cloth including linen, silk and cotton. She designs, prints and sews the cloth into a selection of one-of-a kind scarves and wearable art. Her printing techniques include eco-printing, silkscreen, block printing and Japanese shibori techniques. She further incorporates her environment interest by up-cycling leather to create a unique array of repurposed purses. In addition, Anne collects and assembles vintage and cast-off materials to create interesting 3-D sculptures called "Anne's Curiosities".
Linda Goodwin
Linda Goodwin, her husband and two fur-babies moved to the enchanted valley of Creston in 2021.
Linda has been painting for approximately 40 years primarily in oils and acrylics, however, ArtSpace has opened up so many opportunities to experiment with new mediums and styles. At ArtSpace, working alongside community artists is creatively inspiring and exciting.
Janet Holder
Janet Holder moved to Creston with her husband and their two children in 1995. Being creative has always been an important part of her life. Janet has used many different art mediums but never painting on canvas until she was asked by a friend to join ArtSpace in 2021.
Janet encourages anyone who is hesitant to start painting to "jump in" and see where it takes you.
Lynne Mizera
Lynne Mizera, a self-taught, mixed media artist has been living and working in the Creston valley tor the past eight years. Her work is known for its rich and layered texture, bold, bright colour palettes and simple abstracted shapes. Rather than a true likeness, she endeavours to capture the emotion of the moment behind the image she is painting. Lynne is currently on a journey of exploration of the female face as she tries to capture in paint that part of a woman that she keeps hidden from the world. You can find Lynne working everyday in the beautiful studio her husband created for her on their acreage in Erickson.
Aum Nicol
It’s the feeling that colours arouse and getting lost in the brush strokes that Aum Nicol enjoys the most. ArtSpace is helping her expand techniques and explore different media than the oils, acrylics and watercolours she dabbled in her whole life. She enjoys the process, the changes, and the opportunities to learn more is gobbled up by this retired elementary teacher.
Renée Poitras
Renée Poitras grew up in small town New Brunswick. Renée and her husband moved to Creston from Calgary in 2021 and never looked back. Letting go of perfectionism; learning to play, embracing spontaneity and freedom of expression through art making has been life altering. I highly recommend it to anyone who has never dabbled in art and thinks they don’t have any artistic talent… we all do! Surprise!
Naiches Morris
Raised in Sirdar, Naiches Morris (known to friends as Nat) is 4th generation in the Creston Valley. Nat has worked with people with special needs most of his life and you might see him uptown washing windows with his crew. He loves to hang out with his kids, sing, read and mostly to paint paint paint!
Maggie Leal-Valias
Originally from Australia, Maggie relocated to Canada in 1974 and settled in Creston in 2005 and have been involved in the arts community here as a practicing artist, an Arts Council member, a Wynndel Mudders member, a founding board member of CVPAC (Creston Valley Public Art Connection) etc., ever since. Past activity in planning, curating and jurying community art shows, organizing and facilitating successful workshops by Canadian and international artists, grant writing and in ongoing efforts to envision, finance and run a community arts centre in Creston.
Jennifer Rankin
In 2007, Jennifer Rankin and her husband moved to the Creston Valley with their menagerie of animals. However, it wasn’t until the Fall of 2022 that Jennifer discovered painting.
ArtSpace has opened up a whole new world to her. Under the tutelage of an excellent instructor, and with all the opportunities ArtSpace had afforded me, Jennifer sees the world in a whole new way. Creating art is far less intimidating than she once thought and more life transforming than first imagined.
Alison Szpak
Alison Szpak and her husband moved to Creston in December, 2012 when they ‘retired’ after buying a house here in 2007. Alison has been drawing and sketching all her life but didn’t take her artwork seriously until ‘ArtSpace’ happened at an oil painting class. She was a founding member, together with Carole Francis and Marnie Temple. Look what happened!
Karen ‘Mayers’ Tschierschwitz
Among all the opportunities at ArtSpace, Karen Tschierschwitz chose to paint in acrylic, pastel and watercolour. Karen states, "It (ArtSpace) is a wonderful studio to meet and make friends with people of like and similar interests here in Creston". Her attraction to paint from her own photography restores memories of special moments that continue to drive her ambition to recreate those images to canvas.
