Featured during Sustainable Pickering Day was a building designed by

Array International Architects.

Joan Bontje,

Watercolour & Mixed Media Artist

Image of Joan Bontje in the layered and emotional style of her art

Joan Bontje’s art comes from an inner place in her soul, an emotional representation of life. Visions from nature and life make an impact on us all, as an artist, these images have layers of meaning and depth to interpret.

Such is the art of Joan Bontje, as she takes these ethereal images from mind and nature, writing them into journal entries that give rise to an emotional process culminating in watercolours that bring an inner feeling of soul to the viewer. You feel a kindred depth, not literal, but something that goes deeper than the surface of your everyday world. More than a pretty picture Joan’s paintings are a story of a journey, sometimes filled with tears, sometimes peaceful and romantic, always an energy transposed in colour onto the starkness of paper white.

Looking at Joan’s work, you are at once transported into another dimension where those sparks of emotion, earthy dark and dramatic, fuse with intense light, startling one from the misty and muted meanderings of the mind. An adventure that leaves you transfixed and breathless.

In Joan’s own words, “I enjoy walking in the park among tall trees, rocks and the beauty of the sky and water that surround me. Uplifted by nature, I quiet myself and become an observer and listener. My soul becomes inspired and encouraged, and my creativity soars. I now get out of the way, and allow the Spirit of God to move onto my canvas.”

Visiting Joan in her studio home, you immediately see how the artist has surrounded herself with flowers in her Japanese inspired garden. Pathways meander around her home and through the garden where several ‘still life’ arrangements await as the artists muse strikes her fancy.

Joan Bontje has a varied art background. She studied with Ken McFarland, Shelley Beach, Margaret Roseman and Sterling Edwards. She has taught classes in ‘Art Therapy’ as well as watercolour lessons for children and other artists.

Joan was Art Director for the Village of Ayr, in North Dumfries, a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Group and the Cambridge Art Centre as well as, the Ajax Art Centre, PineRidge Art Council and the Oshawa Art Association. Joan has been featured in a display in Clarington and most recently in the Civic Centre in Ajax.