Caroline Anders is an oil painter from Wells, BC, whose work is inspired by the landscapes and emotions of life in a small mountain town. Her paintings focus on colour, texture, and the imperfect beauty of everyday moments. 

Passionate about fostering creativity, Caroline believes art connects people and tells meaningful stories. She enjoys gardening and contributing to community art projects when she’s not painting. 

Benji Andringa, also known as @lowclassart, is a graphic designer, illustrator, and artist based in Kelowna, BC. Over the past decade, living in the Kootenays and Okanagan has shaped his work and inspired him to create art that celebrates the landscapes, history, and communities around him.

He works with a wide variety of clients locally and internationally, including the Teamster's Local Lodge, the Revelstoke Snowmobile Club, Bula Outerwear, UB40, and MUCH Music, creating everything from murals to apparel designs and branding.

His goal is to tell meaningful stories through bold, impactful visuals while connecting people to the places and ideas that inspire them.

Barbara Fresz creates bold, colourful paintings, that build an emotional connection with the subject matter through loose and abstracted brush strokes. Working in fashion design for most of her career, she has always been drawn to painting people, life drawing is one of her passions. Bold colour portraits and figurative works of humans and animals are her preferred subject matter.

She is fascinated by the play of light and shadow on her canvas and paints intuitively in often abstracted colours. Starting out with a plan, she lets the painting process lead the way to completing a piece. Capturing the emotion of a moment in time on the canvas is what drives her to paint.

Barbara is an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artist, the Okanagan Artists of Canada and the Okanagan Artists Coalition.

Jan Little learned to create the illusion of life and to craft a good story in Emily Carr University’s film animation department, and carried those tools into her painting practice. She painted in Canada’s South Okanagan for 20 years before relocating to BC’s coastal mountains in 2019, to Vancouver Island in 2020, and to the West Kootenays in 2024. As well as her personal painting work, she does portrait commissions and designs patterns for fabric and home goods. She has also enjoyed side hustles as a touring belly dance performer, a hobby farmer, a picture framer, a gallerist, and, most especially, a book seller.

Originally from the West Coast of BC, Joie Paré spent her childhood growing up in the forest. At the age of 5, she knew she wanted to be a professional artist. Her mother, a beautiful artist herself, and her father encouraged her to pursue art throughout her childhood. Sketching became her main medium throughout high school. While she took a few after-school art classes, she is mainly self-taught. After moving away from the hustle and bustle of life in the greater Vancouver area, she began painting in acrylic after settling in the Boundary. Drawing inspiration from the beautiful scenery and environment around her, she paints the local wildlife as a complement to the scenes she creates.

She once sent an inquiry to Robert Bateman asking for a critique, and he called one morning to go over her paintings. He was complimentary of her skills and ability, even saying she painted like he does. He was shocked to learn that she had been painting for only two years and had no formal training other than her drawing classes. She is now a member of Artists For Conservation, a worldwide organization that Bateman is also a member of.

She has always believed that a painting should capture a subject not easily seen in life—a scene that may only exist in one’s imagination. It should evoke a feeling in the viewer’s mind and heart, the sensation of surrendering one's senses to the wildness within a painting.

Born into an artistic family in Québec, Libby started art at a young age. Although studying art at school, including classes at the Ontario College of Art, Libby’s life took a different path as her family moved to India where she studied Nursing. She finished her degree at Queens University and then married a military officer. Their years together have included two children and involved travelling the globe, living in Europe, the Mediterranean and across Canada. Libby maintained an interest in art and studied wherever she could in spite of frequent moves

Libby painted and sold her art on these travels and her paintings can be found in private and public collections around the world including that of the Belgian Royal Family. Now living in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Libby takes delight in the rhythm of the rows of vines, the gentle hills covered in sage brush and the ever changing colours of the lakes. Farther afield, on camping trips, Libby captures the incredible landscapes of Norther BC, Yukon, Haida Gwaii, the Prairies and more locations to come!

The fruits and orchards of the Okanagan have been Kirsten’s muses for close to 20 years. With a background in art history (BA, UBC) and training in art and design (drawing & painting at ECCAD and Graphic Design & Illustration at Capilano College) Kirsten’s painting has become a blend of her art historical influences and her Okanagan surroundings.

Working in oil paints, her subjects are most often still life paintings of Okanagan fruit; either in dark, moody compositions that reference 17th century Dutch still life painting, or vignettes of sun-dappled orchard fruit hanging on the branch, rendered in painterly, Impressionist-style brush strokes. Scale, cropping, glimpses of underpainting and the interplay of positive and negative space all bring a contemporary edge to her work.

Kirsten was an active member of the Tumbleweed Gallery Artist Collective for 5 years and exhibits annually at the Penticton Art Gallery’s Under $500 show as well as at various local shops and wineries.

She has also conducted a number of popular oil painting demonstrations at Opus in Kelowna and currently works from her home studio surrounded by a pear orchard in Naramata.

Paityn Savoie is a Métis-Cree illustrator based in Treaty No. 7, Canada. They graduated from the Alberta University of the Arts with a degree in Illustration Design and a minor in Printmaking.

Their work merges natural elements with an unsettling touch, often reflecting the rugged, rural

aesthetic of the midwestern territories. Skilled in both printmaking and textiles, Paityn brings bold, uncanny shapes to life using vibrant yet limited color palettes.

Paitynʼs cultural name is WÂPOSHPYII meaning "Rabbitʼs Foot,ʼʼ. Through their work, they share stories, symbols, and teachings, fostering a deeper appreciation for the natural world through an Indigenous perspective.

Public art is a powerful way to connect people, place, and story. From an Indigenous perspective, it should honor the land, reflect its history, and build relationships with the community. Paityn believes public art should respond to its environment in meaningful ways, incorporating elements of the natural world and cultural knowledge that invite reflection and dialogue. For them, it's about creating work that feels alive—rooted in the land, informed by Métis traditions, and open to interpretation. Public art should invite people to pause, connect, and see their surroundings through a new lens, while respecting the spirit of the place it inhabits.

Combining his love for Architecture and Art, Otto Schade began painting surreal urban contemporary pieces. Originally starting with oil paint on canvas, he explored various styles and mediums, from collages to illustrations, to stencil free-hand spray paint on canvas, and eventually shifted to painting on both interior and exterior walls.

Otto discovered the local urban art scene in 2009, where he painted pieces with a sharp and ironic twist, often communicating anti-war themes in his Orb style. He also developed a trademark ribbon style that is easily recognizable and unique, always signing his work with "Osch."

He has participated in several art festivals, including "Upfest" in Bristol (UK), "Sand, Sea and Spray" (UK) in Blackpool, "City of Colors" in Birmingham (UK), Crush in Denver (US), "40 Grad Festival" in Düsseldorf, Art Base in Neustrelitz, "Hometown" in Berlin, and "Monumenta" in Leipzig (Germany). His pieces have been exhibited in the USA, South America, Africa, Asia, and many cities across Europe. Additionally, his artwork has been shown in Gothenburg (Sweden), Tokyo (Japan), Miami (US), Paris (France), Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf (Germany), Santiago (Chile), Hong Kong (China), Moscow (Russia), Nairobi (Kenya), Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Brussels (Belgium).

His latest collective shows in London included "R.I.O.T." at Saatchi Gallery, "Love Endurance" at Stolen Space Gallery, and "Unreal" at Maximillian Wolfgang Gallery.

Raymond Thomas Syrja was born in Jasper, Alberta, and spent most of his life there, deeply appreciating the awe-inspiring beauty of the National Park. His artwork has always celebrated beauty and life. Although he was raised in a small community, Raymond has experienced the richness of life elsewhere, studying art through travels to Aitutaki, the Azores, Bali, Cuba, France, Gibraltar, Jamaica, Kauai, Mexico, Morocco, Portugal, Rarotonga, Spain, and throughout the USA and Canada. In 2015, he and his wife retired to Summerland, where they enjoy the beauty, community, and events of this warm Okanagan town.

The exhilaration and spirituality Raymond feels in nature drive his artwork, which he conveys with both boldness and grace. Watercolor allows subtlety and richness, while acrylics bring vibrant joy and exultation. In both mediums, Raymond aims to bypass the ego and connect with the viewer's soul.

Over the past 50 years, Raymond has worked in various mediums, including watercolors, acrylics, sculpture, and digital art. His global travels have immersed him in diverse art scenes. He studied watercolor with Harold Dermont Olson for 10 years and also learned from Brian Atyeo, Barbara Nechis, and Greg Johnson. A member of the Jasper Artists Guild for a decade, Raymond has taught workshops with several organizations, including the Jasper Further Education Council, Silvertip Art, and Artra. He co-authored two watercolor workshop booklets, and his projects have ranged from fine art shows to billboards and museum displays. His work has been featured in solo, two-person, and group shows, gaining international recognition with sales spanning from Jasper National Park to locations around the world.