ABOUT US
Moss Cottage Studio & Gallery...
...is a private gallery dedicated to promoting local artists.
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Phone ahead to make an appointment anytime.
(250) 213-9363
Our passion is to connect people with art to foster a deeper appreciation for creativity and creative expression.
Throughout the year our gallery exhibits multiple local artists. A blend of masters and emerging artists, our studio encourages artists to create, and our gallery provides the space to share their creations with others.
By keeping a digital inventory of our artists’ work we are able to rent art to the Film Industry or special events, promoting and acting as liaison between the artists and the production companies.
ACCESSIBILITY: Our Gallery is a small post war bungalow with approximately 600 square feet of exhibition space. It has one step up inside the gallery so is wheel chair accessible but not motorized wheel chair, or scooter accessible.
OUR ARTISTS
Twenty years ago my mother gave me her pottery wheel and taught me how to turn a lump of clay into something useful and fun. It was a treasured experience.
Time was scarce as I was working, working, working. I created in short moments between deadlines.
A few years ago I took a sculpting course from Melanie Furtado—my life has never been the same since. I am now retired from my business and simply enjoying
learning how to sculpt. A creative life highlight has been sculpting my mother’s portrait with her mentoring me as I worked.
After surviving breast cancer I see with fresh eyes that life is beautiful and full of wonder, and so, I can’t help but write about it and the marvellous people who have affected my journey. I have at least a dozen books I am “working on” writing, but three most seriously.
Bianca Message
Clay Artist, Writer
Bill Message
Home Bill’t Recycled Products
I enjoy making functional art, or, as my business card states, “Making Cool Stuff out of Old Junk.”
I believe that art should create a connection between itself and the viewer. It should cause an emotional reaction and require the viewer to think, engage, respond.
My latest creative efforts mainly involve salvaging stone countertops destined for the landfill and turning them into charcuterie, pastry, cheese, or candy-making boards. And my proudest creative achievement, combining my two loves – food and creativity – was designing and building a wood-fired pizza oven that bakes amazing pizzas. I am still working with reclaimed wood, carving cheese/butter knives, and creating sculptures out of old bits of metal when it’s not too hot outside.
I also like to make things that are useful, like tables and candlesticks and big barbecues, because, well, there is a practical side to all of us too.
Carol brings her talents as an internationally renown diorama painter, scale model specialist, and scientist to this, her new genre, digital painting.
Carol’s mastery of capturing moments or scenes is obvious in her landscapes and still life paintings. Her series entitled “Otherworlds” reflects fantastical microscopic worlds created stroke by stroke in her digital paintings.
New to public exhibitions, we are honoured Carol is willing to exhibit her work at our gallery.
Carol Christianson​
Digital Artist
Christine's life is full of excitement and exploration, but when this artist grabs her moments to create she pours herself into her work. Christine is an emerging artist who creates cheerful and functional pieces. Beautiful for gifts, loved for everyday use, her bowls have graced many a table.
Christine Ritson​
Potter
Dan began woodworking just ten years ago when he retired. He is self-taught by doing and by watching YouTube videos. His first piece of furniture was a small bedside table. Since then he has made many pieces for friends and family, including several desks, a bedframe and headboard, a media console, a kitchen island, a baby change table and crib, as well as other items. He also enjoys making small projects like trinket boxes and cutting boards.
Dan Froom​
Dan Froom Woodworking
For over 40 years Jan has been creating world-class murals for dioramas depicting ancient geology and Paleolithic environments and paintings of Paleolithic habitats for scientific art exhibitions.
Jan is one of the few diorama background painting specialists in the world whose work is known, respected and exhibited at many of the USA and Canadian large natural history museums.
When Jan is not creating massive landscapes for museums he enjoys exploring the natural world and painting is an expression of his experience.
Jan’s latest abstract work “Gardens”, are cheerful and magical, bringing together his innate ability to create perspective and joy with colour and whimsy.
Jan Vriesen​
Painter, Mixed Media Artist
Rennie’s impressionistic paintings are based on a deep rooted appreciation and reverence for the natural world. He paints plein air and uses those sketches to inform studio work. Recent studio work is more experimental and imaginary but still inspired by nature.
Rennie Knowlton
Painter
Yvette André (Delbosco Y)​
Painter, Mixed Media Artist
For three generations the painting name Delbosco has been used in the André family.
The name Delbosco began with Yvette’s grandfather, Ernest André dit Delbosco (1900-1953). He was a French symbolist painter, renowned for his colour palette and dramatic compositions. The critics called his work
“l’ Art magique de Delbosco”.
Ernest chose his painting name to honor his wife and mother. His wife was Italian, and his mother’s maiden name was DuBois. Translated in Italian this becomes Delbosco. It means “of the woods” a theme that dominated her grandfather’s work.
After his death, his middle son, Roland André, carried on the name as Delbosco fils. (French: son of Delbosco.) He also became a successful landscape painter and artist in the south of France.
Yvette feels privileged and honored to continue the heritage of her family painting lineage by signing her work Delbosco. Y.
You can’t use up creativity.
The more you use, the more you have.
—Maya Angelou