Featured Artists on LUVLOCAL
Alice Welsh
I started pottery with my mom in 1966, who potted right up to her passing in 2007.
I use stoneware clay and do 99% of my work on the wheel. We exhibited at the first Art in the Park in Windsor in 1970, and I’ve only missed 4 shows since then. I still exhibit at area shows throughout Essex County. Some of my work reflects my love for cats and dogs. (Yes, I’m a crazy cat lady).
Beth Gillis
Inspired by the beauty of nature and mosaics from all over the world. I have a love of colour and old furniture pieces. Been painting furniture pieces for over 2 decades. Started the Barbie Girl collection 3 years ago. These are recyclable pieces that are hand painted and heads are adorned with faux succulents (no watering required). Very excited and thankful to be apart of The Art and Heirloom Shoppe family.
Beverly Fish
Beverly Fish of Fishtale Studios (Wallaceburg) has degrees in both Fine Arts and Education. Her artwork tends to be bright, colourful and full of whimsy.
Ideas for pieces are sparked from something she may have seen, heard, remembered or is related to the moment. These things set off the urge to create. Drawing in pen and ink and colour pencil gives Bev the opportunity to create wonderful pieces of both whimsy and a more serious nature.
Chris Ford
Chris Ford, a Blenheim native, has had the opportunity to live in many exciting cities, which has helped her see life and her art with a slightly different eye.
Chris’ home, Ford Farm in Chatham, works as a creativity-extension, studio and gallery. She is a self-taught photographer and jewellery sculptor. Chris, who has established many galleries over the last 30 years, believes in promoting artists and helping them to fulfill their dreams. She loves to work with youth, instilling in them a love for the arts. Chris stretches the mentor role to writing, as she is a published author and award-winning community activist.
Dava Robichaud
Dava Robichaud, a Chatham native, has always loved crafting and painting with and for her children and grandchildren. She says she gets her creative bug from her mother, who taught her how to sew, knit, crochet, and have a love for all forms of nature. She studied Art in high school, but never pursued it, thinking she would return to painting in retirement.
Dava’s current painting journey started when she discovered a free online class during the pandemic, which prompted an online painting course. This BOLD painting style class woke the inner artist in her, and she continued to push herself to try even more of these techniques that incorporated not just human subjects but learning how to paint the wild and nature as well.
Dava has also incorporated this style into her landscapes and especially loves to paint some of her favourite local landmarks. The sky is the limit when it comes to exploring different mediums and techniques, she says. She has mastered Acrylics, and has been recently exploring watercolours, gouache, pencil crayons, pen and ink, and other forms of mixed media.
Dava has recently joined forces with LuvLocal’s very own Margaret Gough from Baldoon Fleece & Fiber Co., incorporating pieces of the beautiful fibers from Margaret’s Fiber Bundle Boxes into a variety of her Acrylic paintings.
The pandemic has unleashed her inner BOLD, and she hasn’t looked back. She says that “Painting gives me balance, peace, and the creative calm I didn’t know was missing!” She adds, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think people would be asking me to paint for them”, but several commissions have proven otherwise.
I am inspired by everything and see a painting in bold colours in everything I see.
Loreen Roy
Loreen found art later in life and it has become a passion of hers always trying new methods and developing new skills.
I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario and raised my own family here as well. I work in the medical field but have always had a creative side. Self taught, I started playing with fluid art techniques and fell in love. The possibilities are endless. I have found my passion!
Ruth Reeb
Having practised in the arts for numerous years, one sees their work evolve, change and adapt to current times.
Lately I have been exploring the arena of “functional” art. This type of art is created for a practical use, and yet without sacrificing style or technique, maintains the ascetic value within itself. My products are assembled individually with careful thought, and awareness of the environment, using 100% non- toxic inks, dyes, and raw cottons.
Sandy
Desbiens-Moon
Sandy Moon believes every person has a story and through her art, a story is told.
Her work is influenced by nature and the textures and boundless colour palette it provides. She is very tactile and needs to feel the fabric, the paint, and the found objects when creating. Sandy needs to see the layers of brushstrokes and marks that somehow come together to become a weaving, painting or drawing. Sandy Moon lives in Chatham, ON with her husband and three teenage children who are her biggest supporters.
Shelley Webster
Shelley makes remarkable art using bits and pieces found in nature.
Having studied at Fanshawe College in London, ON, I began creating many forms of art including pet portraits, window painting, beach glass creations and pebble art. I’ve lived in Chatham all my life. Besides making art, I love collecting art as well.
