Exhibitions

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice? 

I’m Kelsy Schumacher, a Vancouver born millennial who has always been creative. I’m a wife and mother to 4 children. I started creating with fibres in 2019, using youtube as my teacher along with experimentation. I started making small pieces and selling my art at markets and through DM’s on instagram. As I found my style, my art began to take on meaning and I started telling stories. and expressing myself through my art. Over the last few years, I have expanded my business to my own platform on my website which I pair with social media and vlogging as I see fit. While I focus on fibre art today, I expect Kelsy Renee Studio to grow into more, perhaps even different mediums and I’m excited to see where it will take me.

2. What subject matter do you work with and why? 

Fibre art and more specifically macrame has become my prominent art form in the last 5 years. I enjoy the tactile feeling of cotton in my fingers and not having to use many other tools in this endeavour.

3. How does the idea of community relate to your practice? 

Community is paramount to a well functioning person. We all need each other and my prayer is that my art would touch others in only the way art can.

4. What is your dream project?

My dream project would be to create a large scale work with other artists for the community.

5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?

The best piece of advice I’ve been given is to never give up on my art. To use each piece I create as a learning experience and share the growth with others.

6. Name three artists who’ve inspired you.

Three artists that inspire me currently are Sienna Martz (Fiber Artist) for her use of recycled textiles, Erin Barrett (Fiber Artist) for her use of colour and design, Brandi Hofer (Muralist/Educator) for her vulnerability and down to earth character. Each of these artists are also mothers and share so much of themselves online.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice?

I’ve always enjoyed doing art since I was a child. Early memories include participating in various colouring and drawing contests – I remember there was one held by the Coquitlam Public Library, and as the first place finalist, I was very excited that my artwork would be displayed permanently at the library! When I got to high school, I took the IB Art Programme at Port Moody Secondary – it was here that I had the chance to explore, develop, and express my ideas using a number of different mediums. After my university studies in urban planning and in more recent years, I’ve decided to focus on ink and watercolour, which tend to work quite well with my interest in sketching buildings and landscapes.

2. What subject matter do you work with and why?

My ink and watercolour sketches primarily gravitate toward buildings, urban landscapes, and sceneries. I personally find this subject matter to be fascinating (likely attributed to my urban planning background!). Cities and buildings also change, so I find it interesting to capture them at different times. I do sketches both on location as well as based on photos that I’ve taken.

3. How does the idea of community relate to your practice?

I think creating art is all about community. For example, while I can work on my sketches by myself on one hand, urban sketching is oftentimes done together as a group. I always enjoy going out on various outings with fellow sketchers and meeting new people as well. At the same time, being a part of an artist co-op, such as the Blackberry Artists Society, is also another way for me to stay connected with the local art community and to share my art with the public.

4. What is your dream project?

My dream project would be to eventually create an illustrated book that features a compilation of various urban sketches and ink and watercolour drawings. If the right opportunity presented itself in the future, I think it would also be neat to participate in an artist residency where I could have a dedicated period of time to create new artwork.

5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?

Don’t try to be ‘perfect’ with your artwork and especially in your sketchbooks.

6. Name three artists who’ve inspired you.

There are so many artists to choose from as there are so many that I find inspiring! However, some of my top ones include Katie Woodward (@ramblingsketcher), Vanessa Leung (@vansketcher), and Thierry Chehab (@atary81) – each of them have their own styles of urban sketching and themes that they focus on (e.g. small watercolour paintings, food and travel sketches, reportage illustrations).

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, what is your background and how did you begin your professional practice?

Unlike many of my artist friends who’ve been painting or drawing since childhood, my educational background is in the sciences. I have post-secondary degrees in Biology, Zoology and Evolutionary Ecology and worked as a research scientist for the first half of my career. I discovered painting in my late 40’s, after the death of my 13-year old daughter, Clara. Making art was a positive, soothing and healing use of my time. And it gave me something new to move towards.

Taking workshops, investing in a home studio and participating in a vibrant, supportive and creative online art community gave me the confidence to start applying to shows and making my work available to collectors.

2. What subject matter do you work with and why?

When I first began painting, I took my inspiration from the landscape; the beautiful mountain views and coastal vistas of British Columbia. As I ventured further into abstraction and started to understand my real reasons for making art, I realized that what inspired me most was what happened once I started laying down colours and shapes on the canvas. The feelings of excitement and discovery began to drive my studio practice as I’m constantly on the look-out for unpredictable and magical moments in my work.

My paintings are bold, colourful and full of joy. The way I want to feel and show up in the world.

3. How does the idea of community relate to your practice?

Creating art is a solitary activity. While I need that focused, quiet space to paint, being part of a community of artists is vital for my continued growth and development. I began painting seriously during the Covid lockdown and credit much of my evolution as an artist to the online connections I made with artists all around the world. Now that we’re back to in-person events, I’ve found my local community of artists and art lovers to be great sources of inspiration and encouragement. Art is meant to be shared with others!

4. What is your dream project?

Like many artists, I fantasize about having a giant, brightly lit studio space in which to paint. My dream project would be to design this space to be multi-functional; a place to paint, show my work and teach small group art workshops to members of the community. Even better if it were a combined effort with another artist or two. A co-op studio, gallery and workshop space all in one!

5. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given as an artist?

To be careful about spending too much time looking at other artists’ work. While it’s good to understand a bit of art history and know enough about colour, shape and form to assess your own paintings, too much time scrolling Instagram can make it hard to develop your own, unique artistic voice. I’ve certainly been guilty of ‘compare and despair’ and try to find the right balance between knowing what’s going on in the art community and keeping my work from being unduly influenced by others.

6. Name three artists who’ve inspired you.

Louise Fletcher, for her encouragement to paint what I love

Brian Rutenberg, for his gorgeous, colour-saturated abstract landscapes

Robert Szot, for many thought-provoking conversations about artistic process and what it means to be an artist