Instructors
Instructors of the Anna Templeton Centre are experienced craft and arts professionals. They are chosen for their knowledge, skill and enthusiasm.
We are always looking for new and interesting skills and ideas for art and craft classes and workshops. If you would like to introduce us to a new or old technique, which could be a great addition to our roster, drop us a line or come by the 1st Floor office.
More Details & Bios Coming Shortly!
Anita Singh (Printmaking, Papermaking, Arts & Craft, Book Arts, Words & Imagery)
Anita Singh was born in Guyana, South America with a Russian and Indian bloodline. She grew up in Montreal and Toronto where she studied graphic design and printmaking. Singh lived in British Columbia for 10 years, where she worked as a graphic designer and visual artist. In 1997 she was in upstate New York for one year, where she did an internship in bookarts, papermaking and printmaking. She also spent a year in England, where she did an apprenticeship in letterpress printing and various binding techniques. Singh has travelled extensively through Canada and the USA. During a cross Canada trip in 1999, Anita discovered and fell in love with Newfoundland. She now lives with her husband and son in downtown St. John’s and works as a printmaker, papermaker, bookartist and art instructor.
Chris Driedzic (Drama)
Chris Driedzic is a multi-disciplinary artist working with sound, performance and theatre in St. John’s, Newfoundland. In 2000 he opened the doors to Sutolian Studios, a rehearsal, recording and teaching facility dedicated to the creation and instruction of new music. Driedzic is currently playing with surf rock trio, The Kremlin, experimental noise duo NW and super-ska band The Zazou. As the Artistic Director of the youth theatre troupe The Kids Players, he instructs performance techniques and constructs theatre that centers on methods of performance creation. As an art instructor, he is currently running workshops for young people in the creation of soundscapes, play building and pop music.
www.sutolianstudios.ca
Di Dabinett (Water Media)
I am having a busy year with 2 small group fibre shows, “Contours” in March and “Migration” in September, a solo show “Shorelines” in oils and watercolours in May and several bigger group shows in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Rediscovering oils on canvas has been very stimulating. New challenges are always good to refresh and excite your creative self although the vibrancy and freshness of watercolour is an excitment in itself!
www.dianadabinett.ca
Jessica Waterman (Sewing, Fashion & Accessories)
Jessica is a passionate fiber artist with an enthusiastic personality. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a major in textiles, a Diploma in costume studies from Dalhousie, and a Diploma in Carpentry. Jessica just returned from a year working in Toronto as a Wardrobe Assistant for the Canadian Opera Company, SoulPepper Theatre, and Flash Design a danceware company.
Laura D’Arcy Buchholz (Young Artist Program, Art: An Introduction)
Laura has loved art and has doodled and sketched since she could hold a crayon. Her formal art training began at an early age with enrichment art programs and at age 13 placed third in the Provincial Arts Competition. As an adult Laura attended the College of the North Atlantic’s Textile Program where she graduated in 2005. She has taught art since that time. Her professional training also includes advanced art history, art studio program and training under many well known local artists including Julia Picard and Diana Dabinett. While all mediums are of interest to Laura her true loves are working with clay, ink drawing and silk painting.
In 2004 Laura branched out with “D’Arcy Design’s” a jewelry making business. Through her consignment and specialty orders, her jewelry has adorned many woman.
Laura’s latest endeavors saw her expand her teaching. She established a childrens art program at a city daycare where she taught children ages 2 to 9 years old, developing their creativity through art exploration.
Recently Laura became art coordinator and instructor for the Mount Pearl Seniors Independent Group where her creativity and passion helped increase the program enrollment by 50%.
Laura’s lifelong love of art, her talent for teaching, and her passion for sharing the two has brought her success and fulfillment both personally and professionally.
Peter Duchemin (Tricks of the Trade…magic!)
An artist, magician, and circus performer who has played in numerous productions in Newfoundland, and has showcased his talent abroad. His company, Abracadabra Magic Theatre provides entertainment for children and adults via both private and public shows. He has practiced sleight of hand, his specialty, since he was 12. Visit www.abramagic.ca for more information. He holds a Masters in Humanities at MUN and researches the history of magic, circus, and the juggling arts.
Sheila Ford (Quilting)
Quilts are both comfortable and comforting. At once they are works of art while performing a utilitarian function.
I have spent most of my adult life working as a substitute teacher in communities throughout the province from St. John’s to Mud Lake. All the while I continued to pursue courses in differing fields using various media. I continue to be drawn back to my sewing machine and, especially, to quilting.
As a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Women’s Institute for the past 29 years I have had the opportunity to enter provincial craft competitions and have won eight awards for embroidery and quilting. During “Quilting on the Edge” in St. John’s in June, 2008 I had 4 large quilts and 4 wall quilts on display in various venues.
In my quilts I use a multi-colored pallet to highlight pattern and design. I use shape to create interest both within the quilt itself or along the external edges. These shapes could be one or two dimensional. Lines enable the viewer to follow the shapes in the quilt, either real or illusionary. Straight lines meet and intersect giving the illusion of curves or waves. Texture is real or imaginary. The texture of the fibres are experienced when touched. Other textures are implied through the use of shades and tints, creating highlights and shadows.
Susan E. Furneaux (Natural Dye, Embroidery, Knitting)
Susan’s studio practice focuses on for the use of natural dyes with nontoxic mordants and her passion for traditional hand embroidery techniques for contemporary artistic expression. She is devoted to the extensive time commitment of both techniques. The time taken to gather dye material, apply layers of dye and the hand stitching of each piece allows for thorough contemplation of the design and ideas to be expressed.
Susan instructs Natural Dye Techniques, Embroidery Study for the community programming classes of the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft Art and Design. She also is an instructor for the Textile Studies Program of the College of the North Atlantic, which is housed in the Anna Templeton Centre. A regular contributor to the international dye magazine the Turkey Red Journal, Susan’s work has also appeared in the Surface Design Journal, A Needle Pulling Thread and Embroidery Canada. Susan also brings her workshops to Community Groups and Professional Organizations across Canada and the United States. Susan’s award winning work is held in many private and corporate collections.
Annette Manning (Drawing)
Annette Manning was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland on March 1, 1968. Annette’s academic background started with a degree in Philosophy and Economics at MUN. She then decided to use the pencil in a more gestural way: she fulfilled a dream and went to art school. Annette graduated with a degree in Fine Art Visual from Grenfell College in 2000.
She has exhibited at The Rooms provincial gallery and other artist run centers in the province. Her work is collected by the Art Bank of Newfoundland and Labrador, Grenfell gallery , and various private individuals nationally and internationally.
Annette creates multi-media drawings, kinetic mobiles and sculpture. Much of her work is material based, ie, she spends lots of time blowing bubbles mixed with ink on paper, or growing crystals on ceramics, or searching dollar stores for clear high bouncing balls that hold light. Annette constructs and builds drawings , sculptures and mobiles with these and more varied and seemingly incongruous materials. She tries to understand the world by taking toys, ideas, crystals, drugs,etc, out of their original context and showing them in a new light.
Jim Maunder (Drawing, Acrylic Painting)
Jim Maunder was born and raised in St. John’s. He is a graduate of The Ontario College of Art and exhibits at The Christina Parker Gallery. He has taught drawing, painting, and sculpture for 22 years. Check out his newly revamped website and artist’s blog at www.jimmaunder.ca
Jenny Dwyer (Drawing, Painting, Art & Craft)
Jenny Dwyer is a young artist from Goulds, NL. She recently graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Arts) from Sir Wilfred Grenfell College. She has won the Provincial Arts and Letters Award on three separate occasions.
Since she was a young child, drawing has always been a passion of hers. As of late, her art practise consists mainly of drawing, painting and printmaking. “Drawing is my outlet; my passion. The process helps me to clarify my thoughts and to freely explore my imagination. Generally, my imagery intertwines two different elements; highly realistic studies and more exploratory, poetic forms. The process of making art leaves me with a feeling of accomplishment and integrity that I have yet to experience from any other practice.
As a young artist she feels it is essential to continue learning and educating herself and finds it very gratifying to help young, aspiring artists along the way.
Wallace Ryan (Comics, Cartooning, Creative Writing)
The Reverend Wallace Ryan was born in St. John’s and educated in Toronto and New York, graduating in 1985 from the Ontario College of Art and Design. He was editorial cartoonist for two different newspapers at the same time for several years and has taught comics and cartooning at the Anna Templeton Centre for Craft, Art & Design and Memorial University for over a decade. He returned to New York City in 2006 to work under artist Carter Kustera for such clients as John Frieda, AOL, Bloomingdales and Barneys New York. In 2009, he returned home to continue on with his mission of bringing the joy of comic books to every nook and cranny on the island of Newfoundland.
Jesse Walker
Jesse’s practice has been influenced by his upbringing with two creative parents and an early introduction to culture jamming and creative agency. His 16 years of explorations as a musician has given way to his education and history as a visual artist with a propensity for detournment and subversion in the urban environment.
Often utilizing public spaces, his work will relate material to subject while dealing with temporality and illumination. With an interest in site specific work and a relational quality to space and work, He seeks interactivity, uses the artist as a performative subject and explores sculptural interventions to refer to spatial, social, environmental and psychological context.
Jane Dingle (Theatre Arts)
Jane Dingle began her professional career in St. John’s, NF with the Newfoundland Travelling Theatre Company with Dudley Cox, amidst the heartbeat of the newly arising Newfoundland Collective Theatre Groups of the 1970’s.
Pursuing her passion of the theatre led her to further develop her talents through study, training and working as a professional actress in London, England and Toronto, Ontario. She has performed and collaborated with actors in theater, film, television and radio.
Jane has taught at schools, universities, community centres and Arts organizations. She extended her theatre arts teaching skills through outreach community programs for inner city youth within the city of Toronto. She has recently partnered with community groups where she developed and implemented free workshops here in St. John’s for lower income areas.
Maggie Pearson (Weaving, Dye)
Maggie is a graduate of the Textiles: Craft and Apparel Design class of 2010. She spent her second year majoring in knitting and weaving techniques, as well as exploring her love for myth, story and illustration.
Maggie’s final semester at the Anna Templeton Centre has culminated in a series of three dimensional knit and woven pieces. Much of her time here has been spent in the dye studio, exploring the depth and texture hand dyed fibres and fabrics can add to a piece. Maggie has worked in several leadership positions at local libraries and summer camps; she is excited to put her skills to use teaching in the weaving and dye studios at the Anna Templeton Centre.