MEET OUR 2026 ARTISTS

Alyssa Martin

Lush Lichens, Moist Moss and Craggy Cliffs

Alyssa spent her early years atop the Gowland Mountain in Albert County, New Brunswick, surrounded by moss, trees, sticks, and stones. With neighbours more than two kilometres away, imagined friends became her companions, and the outdoors her safest haven. Rivers and dales, lichen-covered hills, birds, and blooms shaped her days. She followed the footprints of forest creatures, gathering berries and blossoms, moving through wild spaces where imagination could run free and her feet could slow and settle into the earth.

Through her art, she brings these wild spaces into places of movement, flow, and vibrant colour. Quilts, textile wall art, wearable art, photography, drawing, painting, and embodied movement are among the many mediums she works with, all grounded in creative problem-solving. Her teaching practice has been enhanced by her Masters research on how people with autism approach problem-solving through creative practices and artistic experiences.

Alyssa’s show will feature places in the Fundy region that are far removed from most peoples’experiences. These are places that make the artist’s heart soar. Wild spaces, where one can walk for a whole day and not meet another human. Alyssa has exhibited her work at Centre des arts et de la culture de Dieppe, the Saint John Arts Center, Artists at the Lake- Cambridge Narrows, New Brunswick, the Moncton Public Library, the Dieppe Public Library, and the Peter Salmon Art Center in St. Martin’s.

Carole Forbes

Nostalia Today and Yesterday

Carole has been a professional artist and instructor for more tha 40 years. She works in many mediums, combining them to create original pieces of art on both paper and canvas. She especially enjoys the challenge of working with ink, inktense, watercolours and acrylic paints. Ink allows her to express the detail she has become known for, and the watercolours create a softness to the painting.

The acrylic paintings are detailed or brought to life with a variety of textures which gives them strength. While teaching herself to draw and paint, she developed her own stroke techniques which she now teaches to others.

Carole has participated in many solo exhibitions and group shows across Canada and the ‘United States, and her work can be found in private, corporate and government collections throughout Europe, Canada, the United States, Japan and Australia. Her love of the North American landscape and architecture have inspired her to capture their beauty in her own distinct style.

Carole says, “I use a combination of photographs, sketchbooks, ideas and intuitiveness when I begin each drawing or painting. I do not restrict myself to just one medium. Through years of experience, I am able to determine which medium will give me the result that I am looking for. I am fascinated by the contrasts of natures colours, architecture, shapes, sunlight and shadows. With each painting, it is my goal to transport viewers to calmness, strength, joy or energy, leaving them peaceful, calm, happy or invigorated. Many of my paintings include the colour turquoise which gives off the feeling of well being and protectiveness.”

Carole’s show will be a combination of Nostalgia, New Brunswick Memories From Yesterday and Today. The paintings are done with a combination of Ink pen, Beam Paints and Inktense. Beam paint is a plastic free watercolour paint made by the McChigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. Inktense made in England creates vibrant ink like permanent colours when dry. I hope these paintings will revive some memories for you

Carolyn Krotz-Mosher

Carolyn Klotz-Mosher (Carolyn KM) considers herself to be a citizen of the world. She currently resides Kingston, NB with her carpenter husband, and two wild and wonky dogs “Jaeger and Meister”.

Having had the opportunity to travel to many locations, through her humanitarian efforts, she truly understands, as Mark Twain said, that “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”

Carolyn’s quirky and somewhat realistic painting is her way of bringing her world to everyone. She says, “Life is magic! When I unwrap a new canvas there is always a memory that wants to be shared, a memory that wants to jump into colour, a memory that wants to live forever. Seeing the world from the lives of others, both animals and people from all over the world and sharing these memories, creates a thread that brings heartbeats of the past and heartbeats of the present and even heartbeats of the future together. Life is magic, and making art relives the magic over and over again.”

Carolyn has exhibited her art at the Saint John East Library, Saint John Art Gallery, Saint John Art Club, Peter Salmon Art Gallery, St. Martins, Isaac’s Way Art Auctions, Fredericton NB., Artist in Bloom Hampton, Hooper Studio Hampton, and the Spruce Top Rug Hooking Studio, Mahone Bay Nova Scotia.

She has also written and illustrated a children’s book titled Friends from Foreign Places about Polar Bears and Penguins meeting through Global Warming Issues. She also illustrated and self published a children’s book titled The Never Ending Season Family Saga.

David Ogilvie

A Few Of My Favourite Images

I discovered the magic of photography when I was a teenager, The advent of digital technology has added an astonishing new dimension that I think can only be fully appreciated by those of us who have laboured in the red glow of a darkroom safelight.

I like variety, and consequently my photos range from traditional landscapes and seascapes to more contemporary minimalist and abstract images. My objective is always to faithfully reproduce what I observe, and hopefully create images that project feeling or mood.

I have several thousand images on file. I have chosen a few of my favourites for this exhibit, and I have printed all the images on canvas. I believe that the combination of digital photography and artistic canvas is a perfect marriage, and it is clear that photography on canvas is rapidly gaining credibility on the art scene. Photographers can now use inkjet printers at home that can print directly on canvas with archival-quality inks. After the image is printed, the canvas is stretched and stapled to a wooden frame, and then sprayed with a protective varnish. The end result is a piece of art that is vibrant, durable, light and easy to hang, and because glass is not required, there are no distracting reflections.

Debb Ferris Bates

For Debb artistic expression is not just a hobby or profession, it is an essential part of her being. Debb says, “If I could not paint, I could not breathe.”

Painting and drawing brings meaning, purpose, and fulfilment that allows her to convey her emotions, perspectives, and stories to the world. Her deep understanding of light and shadow in oil paintings has garnered a dedicated following, and her charcoal portraits convey depth and emotion.

Debb worked in a graphics design shop and eventually owned her own business in Fredericton, but her desire to create could not be suppressed, and this led her to pursue a full-time career as an artist. In 2012 she became the Artist in Residence at the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in Fredericton, and she creates portraits of the six new inductees who are chosen every year. Debb’s paintings and portraits have been recognized locally, nationally and internationally. She has participated in solo and group shows at many locations in Canada and the United States, and she has won many awards.

In 2017 Faber-Castell of Germany, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of office and art supplies, and fashion designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld created a contest in which participants were asked to design what they thought Karl Lagerfeld’s studio looked like. Debb’s design placed in the top 10 amongst 1500 applicants, and it was the only short listed entry from Canada.

In 2019 the Viola Desmond Commemorative Committee in New Glasgow, N.S. selected her painting of Viola Desmond to be printed and enlarged on the Roseland Theatre. In 2020 she was first semifinalist out of 880 entries in the Princess Auto Cover Design Contest.
Debb received Visitors Choice Awards from the Grand Manan Art Gallery in 2018, 2021, and 2022, and a People’s Choice Award and Honorable Mention from PleinAir Magazine in 2022.
In 2023 she was a finalist in the Annual Strokes of Genius competition by Artists Magazine and American Artist, and she received two Honorable Mentions from PleinAir Magazine.
In 2024 she received an Artistic Recognition Award from Art & Color 365 Magazine, and her work was included in two articles published in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. She was also a finalist in PleinAir Magazine’s Salon Art Competition, a finalist in the Best In Drawing competition by Artists Magazine and American Artist, and she received a Special Merit Award from Art & Color 365 Magazine.

In 2025 she was a finalist in the Best Visual Artist Category for People’s Choice Awards by Excellence NB, and she received an Artistic Recognition Award and two Honorable Mentions for her pet portraits from Art & Color 365 Magazine.

Fred Harrison

Now known as the mural doctor of Sussex, NB, Fred Harrison got his start in London, ON, in 1980 by painting on his parent’s garage door. He has now painted murals across many parts of Canada. He was attracted to New Brunswick by commissions to paint murals for the Sussex Mural Project. His unique works there commemorated the logging industry, the Dairytown heritage, the arrival of the railway, and nineteenth century life at Sussex Corner. While working in Sussex, he came to love the area, and he became a New Brunswick resident in 2007.

In addition to mural work, Fred is also a well-known landscape artist. He enjoys hiking through places that inspire him to paint. Fred says, “I love landscape and often find renewal when tramping through woods and along waterways. Awareness of the beauty and fragility of the world are good reasons, but my personal emotional response and my need to communicate cause me to paint. A work starts as a record and often leads to surprising results.

In 2022, Fred was selected as the second biannual Port Saint John Artist-in-Residence. Members of the selection committee were highly impressed by his ability to evoke the feeling of the working waterfront, and the people who make it all happen.

For the last forty years Fred’s main income has come from mural and landscape painting in various locations across Canada, but recently he has teamed up with woodcarver Darren Byers to produce truly remarkable sculptures of notable Canadians including Herman Northrop Frye, a University of Toronto professor who was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Fred and Darren also created a statue of William Frederic Ganong. Ganong was a renowned scientist known for mapping New Brunswick’s coastline, waterways and mountains. The statue was commissioned by the Town of St. Stephen to honour Ganong who was a member of the famous family who founded Ganong Chocolatier in the area.

Janice Bellew

Along the Trails

My interest in art began in childhood, nurtured by a supportive grade school teacher who encouraged me to draw and paint during recess and displayed my early work. My initial feelings of embarrassment turned to pride as classmates gave me positive feedback on my creations. At that point my dream of being an artist was born. Although my parents steered me toward a more traditional career path, the desire to create never left me.

I first visited Grand Manan thirty years ago and was immediately struck by the island’s quiet beauty and welcoming community. Its rugged coastline, forest trails, and ever-changing light drew me back again and again.

After decades of focusing on work and family obligations in Massachusetts, my husband and I retired in the midst of the Covid pandemic. I soon found myself at home with an abundance of free time, so I returned to painting. Three years ago we set up a summer home in Grand Manan. The island now serves as my studio and muse, offering endless inspiration in its landscapes and trails.

My exhibition reflects my ongoing enchantment with the island’s trails—its ever changing beauty and moments of discovery—translated into paint. I’m grateful to the many talented artists on the island who have encouraged and inspired me along the way.

Pam Hills

Although the name Pam Hills is synonymous with vibrant acrylic paintings of coastal villages and rolling countrysides, her artistic style stays true to her love of colour and storytelling in all of her art forms.

Pam’s imaginative spirit extends into her custom wood art creations and when she is not in her studio painting at an easel she can be found in her workshop manipulating wood on her bandsaw. From nostalgic smokehouses and fishing wharves to colourful urban row houses, many of her three-dimensional designs have evolved from the playful forms found in her “wonky village” paintings.

Continually evolving as an artist, Pam’s diverse portfolio includes acrylics on canvas, wood art creations, watercolours, pysanky, and mixed-media sculptures. Her work is held in private collections and displayed in businesses across North America and Europe.
Pam can be found year-round at her home studio in Grand Manan, NB and can be reached through her website at pamhills.com.

Susan Wall

As I See The World

Susan says, “The world around us is one of beauty and mystery. The passion in me to try and recreate some of that mystery and beauty is what I try to achieve in my works, capturing the sea, the sky, the forests, Mother Nature in her attire, pet portraits, and whatever else I can. It is all so amazing to me and I feel a need to put it on canvas to last in someone else’s eyes and heart. I work in oils, mainly, but also do acrylics and sometimes watercolor, and a bit of pencil sketching.”

Susan was a child of dreams and wonder who always wanted to paint but had no means to try. Paint-by-Number was her way of fulfilling that dream for the moment. As she grew older, she was often told that she had some talent for drawing and painting, but again, couldn’t set herself up to do it as she should.

Going forward, life took her in the direction of work, marriage, and motherhood and always thinking that to begin to paint was out of her realm. It wasn’t until she retired and found like minded people who steered her in the right direction that she fulfilled her passion. So, once started, she could not stop. She finally had acquired the part of her that was missing and now she has no intention of letting it go.

Svitlana Goncharova

Svitlana is a Ukrainian-Canadian watercolour artist and instructor currently based in Saint John, NB. She says, “My journey with art began in childhood, where my earliest memories are filled with the joy of drawing and painting.

Art was my constant companion, a source of comfort and strength through both happy and difficult times.

My primary inspiration comes from the stunning landscapes of New Brunswick, where nature in all its forms is my greatest healer and muse. I am captivated by the fleeting moments that watercolor so perfectly captures—the way light hits the water, the shifting colors of the seasons. I also find immense inspiration in the global community of watercolor artists. Staying connected with fellow painters worldwide, sharing knowledge and learning from their work, is a source of great joy and growth.

My favorite tools are bright colors and plenty of water, which allows the pigment to move freely and unpredictably across the paper. This constant dialogue with the medium—learning to collaborate with the water and pigment rather than trying to control them—is both my biggest challenge and my greatest interest.

As an artist, my goal is to transport viewers into the scene, allowing them to experience the same emotions I felt while painting it. I want my art to be a moment of shared joy and connection. My core message is simple: Watercolor is joy. It’s about learning to let go of control, trusting yourself and the process, and finding beauty in the unpredictable flow of life.