Our Instructor’s.

Kyle Bustin is a New Media Artist and Mural painter. He has an MFA from the University of Ottawa and a BFA from Memorial University’s Corner Brook Campus. His work examines his relationship to digital culture; both the positive and toxic aspects of this frenetic virtual landscape. He has an active virtual sketchbook project where he continually explores the language of digital drawing.

360/361 Media Studies I & II

Wendy earned her MA in art history from Carleton university and a BAH in art history and English literature at Queen’s University. She is passionate about art education and has taught visual literacy at galleries in Kingston, Halifax and Ottawa since 2003. Wendy is a part of Ottawa’s thriving maker scene where she creates and teaches embroidery and appliqué.

220 - Canadian Art History
221 - Contemporary Art History

Farouk is a Canadian artist who has been exhibiting since the mid-1990s, and has been engaged with artist-run-centres, organizing and curating exhibits on political and cultural themes. He shows his work regularly in the Ottawa/Gatineau region. In 1993, Farouk undertook his first European exhibit in London, U.K. In 2001, he participated in the exhibition The Land Within Me at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. He participated in group exhibitions in Brazil 2001, and Chile 2002, in Egypt, and Jordan in 2003, and he participated in 9th Cairo International Biennale in the same year. In 2004, Farouk held an exhibition titled, Crossing Borders, at SUNY Potsdam, USA, dealing metaphorically with issues of global violence. He has also exhibited in Bordeaux, France and at Studio Sorge in Durham, Quebec. In 2007, he was invited to exhibit at the Ottawa Art Gallery in the exhibition titled Be/Longing.

351 - Integrated Processes

Drawing from his background painting Orthodox icons in Romania, and his interdisciplinary research in art history combining theology and visual criticism, and his teaching practice in Canada, Adrian uses traditional figurative drawing techniques rooted in the principles of artistic anatomy as practiced by the great masters. This expertise, honed through teaching figure drawing from live models, allows him to delve into a symbolic language that's often seen in European religious art. His work examines his personal view of what it means to be a man, offering a symbolic challenge to cultural norms, particularly in the context of ongoing debates about the role of art in challenging accepted truths. Gor’s work is online at www.adriangor.com. He has a PhD in the Humanities (Interdisciplinary) Program at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada (2015) combining studies in Theology/Philosophy, Art History, and Studio Arts. Gor also has an MFA in Drawing/Painting from the School of Visual Arts, University of Windsor (2010).

210/211 - Art History Survey I & II
110A/111A Foundation Drawing I & II

Patti Normand has been a professional artist for over twenty years. She has worked professionally for many years as a sculptor and model maker for area museums, notably the Children’s Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization where her creations can be seen throughout the museum. She has also maintained her own artistic practice of painting and sculpting, exhibiting in local galleries, and has a love of teaching and teaches on a regular basis for the Ottawa School of Art’s Outreach Program.

140/141 - Intro Studio Sculpture I & II
24-/241 - Intermediate Sculpture I & II

Romanian born artist, Maria Moldovan, received her bachelors degree from the University of Arts and Design in Cluj, Napoca, Ceramic Dept., in 2002. Maria is also a painter and an established children’s book illustrator. Maria has been a member of the Professional Visual Artist’s Union from Romania since 2003 and a member of the Association of Illustrators from Romania since 2012. She became a member of the Ottawa Guild of Potters in 2015.

170/171 – Introduction to Studio Ceramics I & II
270/271 - Intermediate Ceramics I & II

Tami Galili Ellis was born in Israel and immigrated to Canada in 1986. She graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Shortly thereafter, she joined the Ottawa of School of Art as an Instructor in the Children’s Program. From 1995 to 1998, she returned to Israel with her family where she designed and delivered a very successful multimedia arts program to children in an alternative school. Her main passion is painting in oils. Since graduation, she has exhibited mostly in group exhibits and various galleries both in Israel and Ottawa. https://www.galiliellisjewelry.com/

370 - Advanced Studio I
231 Intermediate Painting

Highlights to David Barbour’s career include a World Press Award (1984) taken in Egypt and a Mid-Career Canada Council Grant (1999) to continue his project in Havana and a City of Ottawa Project Grant (2014) to photograph the Rideau Canal in the winter. A graduate from the Banff School of Fine Arts (1976) he has balanced personal projects with freelance photographic assignments/contracts and has taught courses/workshops at OSA, SPAO, Algonquin College, University of Ottawa as well as Carleton University. www.davidbarbour.com

160/161 – Introduction to Studio Photography I & II

Lucia De Marinis graduated from a five-year Bachelor of Fine Arts program at the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1984, where she majored in painting. She was given advanced standing (to third year) upon admission to the program and was selected for the National Dean’s List in 1984. She was a finalist for the prestigious Gund Award competition at graduation. Lucia also has a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Literature from Carleton University and studied briefly at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome with the assistance of a scholarship from the Italian government. She completed several years of private study with Ugo Chyurlia, a graduate of the Accademia di Belle Arti of Venice (1932). At the Cleveland Institute of Art her painting teacher, thesis advisor, and mentor was Julian Stanczak, a renowned colourist and a student of Josef Albers. Lucia has been teaching at the Ottawa School of Art since 1988. She taught in the School of Media and Design at Algonquin College from 1994 to 2013 and was a faculty member in the Department of Visual and Creative Arts at St. Lawrence College in Cornwall from 1988 to 1991. In 2006 she was the recipient of the first Instructor of the Year Award at the Ottawa School of Art. Lucia has exhibited her work in numerous solo, group, and juried shows in Canada and the USA and is represented in corporate, public, and private collections.

215/216 - Colour Theory I & II

Kathryn studied at Dawson College, H.B. Beal Technical School, Ontario College of Art, and Concordia University before setting up a studio in Montreal, In 1991 she moved from Montreal to Wakefield. Her large-scale expressive drawings have been exhibited across Canada and abroad. Her work is represented in private and public art collections including the city of Ottawa and Loto Quebec. In 1997 she began experiments with a new drawing medium – s’grafitto. Working with wax and gouache she developed a unique and personal approach to drawing. Since then she has been developing this technique while exploring new subject matter.

110/111B Foundation Drawing I and II
200/201 - Intermediate Drawing I and II
371 - Advanced Studio II

OBJECTIVE: To leverage my Master’s in Fine Arts and extensive printmaking experience at the Ottawa School of Art. I aim to use my art and IT background to maintain an inspiring studio environment, engage students of all ages, and enhance the educational experience. My transition from IT Consultant to art rePlects my dedication to creativity and education.

151 – Intro Printmaking Relief & Etching

My qualities are passionate, extroverted, eager, dedicated, punctual, creative, and organized. Passion for working in the arts, working with people, and creating meaningful work through circulating local opportunities within art circles.  My thesis research revolves around (Greek) mythological assault imagery in Peter Paul Rubens’ paintings, and the language of ‘hunting’ in Ovid and modern representations of love in art. My research interests predominately revolve around Medieval and Renaissance pagan adaptations in art, but also include Early Modern European and Contemporary art. Methodologies of interest include feminism, colour theory, physiognomy, and Esthetics (beauty and ugliness in Art History).  Explore my own art-making practices in drawing, painting, oil pastel, and photography.

350 – Research Methodologies in Drawing

A consummate printer, drawer, and bricoleur, Guillermo Trejo consistently engages with the tropes of High Modernism to query its utopic reliance on utility, formalism, and geometry. Born in Mexico City, Trejo Moved to Ottawa in 2007 and has since developed a practice that is informed as much by his physical experience of immigration as it is by the conceptual notions of distance, acclimatization, and dis-orientation. Through his work, Trejo adeptly juxtaposes politics and protest with theories of design and aesthetics, re-positioning iconic imagery, symbols, and fixtures as propositional, and at times provisional, ways for understanding specific moments in his-story. Trejo employs rudimentary materials like cardboard, raw wood, and newsprint paper, which he has pressed, folded, and carved into alternative, new objects. Inspired by notions of self-sufficiency, here the artist creases and collapses the idiom of form following function, to demonstrate the fallacy of its Eurocentric lineage.

100B/101B Visual Foundations
150/151 Intro Printmaking Relief/Etching
250/251 Intermediate Printmaking I & II

I am a practicing artist whose professional journey reflects both a long-standing engagement with Ottawa’s arts community as well as a history of exhibitions across Canada and the United States. Along with public and commercial exhibitions, I work with various design teams to create site specific artwork and installations. With a diverse practice spanning painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and mixed-media, I have created an expansive and creative portfolio demonstrating adaptability and a strong work ethic. I bring a strong body of experience as an educator to my work, having imparted my knowledge and passion for the arts to students of various age groups and backgrounds. Beyond the studio and classroom, my commitment to community engagement and volunteer work underscores my belief in the transformative power of art as a catalyst for positive change and wellbeing.

130B/131B Intro Studio Panting I & II

Sharon VanStarkenburg holds a BFA, MFA, and MA in Contemporary Art Theory. She is the recipient of grants from The Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, and The City of Ottawa. Her work is represented in public and private collections around the world, including the Diderot Gallery, France, The Ottawa Art Gallery collection, and the City of Ottawa collection. She has taught courses at a variety of postsecondary institutions, both studio and theory based. She has been a guest speaker at various institutions including the University of Alaska, Carleton University, and the Rasmuson Foundation. She also presents workshops in visual art techniques, mentors emerging artists, and participates in constructive critiques. She is an arts writer, contributing to art journals. VanStarkenburg works primarily as a painter but has extensive experience working in other media. Aligned with feminist values, her work is anchored in modes of storytelling mediated through images. Her teaching philosophy is synchronous with her practice, in that it is important to remain intellectually flexible, especially as artists. Her approach to teaching and course delivery is cumulative, so that students are grounded with foundational concepts on which to build subsequent knowledge acquisition. 

380 Art and Criticism
381 Business of Art

Kelly Rendek is a visual artist currently based in Ottawa, Ontario, and a graduate of the Master in Fine Arts program at the University of Ottawa. Her current work is centred on exploring the concept of home as a sense of personal territory that one carries with oneself—a collection of memories and habits that define our relationship to place. In recent projects, her painting practice has expanded to include multidisciplinary installations that explore shape and colour in immersive spaces. Rendek also holds a BFA from Concordia University, an MA in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from McGill University. After a professional career as an actuary, and several years consulting for international development organizations, she switched focus to pursue her artistic practice on a full-time basis. She has participated in a number of group exhibitions in Canada and was selected as a finalist in the 2019/2020 Salt Spring Island National Art Prize competition (Salt Spring Island, BC). During her MFA studies, Rendek received a 2022 Canada Graduate (SSHRC) Scholarship and the 2023 Penny Cousineau-Levine Award for outstanding thesis support paper.

100B/101B Visual Foundations I & II

Maura Doyle is an artist who works in ceramics, sculpture, printed matter, printmaking, drawing and video. Her recent focus is on ceramic sculpture and publishing. Over two decades of her work is included in mid-career survey exhibition Dear Universe, which is currently touring Canada. To date, it has been presented at Gallerie Axeneo7, Gatineau, QC (2023) and Audain Gallery, Vancouver, BC (2024). Her recent work Hallow Recoil is a series of CT-scanned pots with interiors that do not reflect their outside forms exhibited at Central Art Garage, Ottawa (2023). Her recent publications include printed matter work Gone published by Ottawa Art Gallery, (2018); and a series of self-published oversized letters, Fool’s Cap Letters (2019).

111C  Foundation Drawing I & II
120 Materials and Processes

I was born in Saskatchewan, Canada and grew up on a mixed farm (grain, livestock). I was interested in art from an early age, and this interest continued through public and high school. I completed my BFA studies at the University of Regina in 1974 and my MFA studies at Concordia University in Montreal in 1988. I held several jobs through the years as I tried to develop my career as an artist. I taught art at Pehtokawahanopwin School on the Poundmaker and Little Pine Reservations in Saskatchewan. I was a cook’s helper at a mental health facility near Edmonton, worked as a draftsman for a gas pipeline company in Leduc, was a graphics technician at the Chemistry Department at the University of Alberta, worked as a printmaking technician at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, did political cartoons for a weekly newspaper and delivered pizza in the Laurentians north of Montreal. I started teaching (printmaking and drawing) at the Ottawa School of Art in 1985 and became director in 1988, a post I held until I retired in June 2022. I have exhibited my work widely in Canada, the US and Europe and my work is included in several major collections, including the City of Ottawa, the Canada Council Art Bank and la Collection de Lotto Québec. My work is preoccupied with the impact of uncertainty and sudden change on societies and civilizations. I’ve extensively researched the Aztec, Maya and Inca civilizations (among others), and I’m now trying to figure out how to translate all this obscure and arcane knowledge into meaningful artwork. I am married to Pamela Watts, and we have two adult children pursuing their own careers. We have two cats, Chico (Bengal) and Kali (Abyssinian), who manage our daily lives. I try to keep in shape and play soccer when I can. I follow the fortunes and misfortunes of Arsenal FC much too closely. I also play the bagpipes, am a member of the Highland Mist Pipe Band (Kanata, ON), and compete in solo piping competitions.

150 Studio Printmaking