Fall 2025 newsletter

Michelle Purchase Studio November 7, 2025 FALL 2025 newsletter View this email in your browser

4 colour screen-printed anaglyph 3D Poster hand printed on Manilla paper Keep a look out for these posters with 3-D glasses hanging around town

Join the Swoop Kick-Off Weekend Be part of something beautiful! Agnes Niewiadomski and I are creating a new community art installation for the Mill Courtland Community Centre (MCCC) in Kitchener and we need your help to bring Swoop, our community willow-weaving project, to life! Join us for our Kick-Off Weekend, with free hands-on workshops next weekend at 44 Gaukel Creative Workspace in downtown Kitchener. 🕕 Friday, November 14 – Evening workshop 🌞 Saturday, November 15 – Morning & Afternoon workshops Together, we’ll weave elegant willow birds that celebrate creativity, connection, and community spirit. No experience needed, just come ready to create and have fun! ✨ Spaces are limited — register now on Eventbrite! More workshops will follow at community centres in the new year, but this is your chance to be part of the very beginning. Follow our progress on Instagram GLOBE STUDIOS ART SHOW I’ll be opening my studio doors for the Fall Globe Studios Art Show and Sale — Globe’s biggest event of the year, featuring over 60 local artists! You’ll find me in Studio 14, at the far east end of the building. Whether you’re an art lover, a curious newcomer, or simply looking for inspiration, this show is a welcoming celebration of imagination, community, and the creative talent that thrives right here in Kitchener. Since June, I’ve been working with emerging printmaker Carrick Miles through the City of Kitchener’s Mentorship Matchup Program. Carrick will be exhibiting their new prints at Globe, come say hello and check out their work! Event details: 🗓 Friday, November 21 – 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. 🗓 Saturday, November 22 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 📍 Globe Studios, 141 Whitney Place, Kitchener 🚲 Parking can be limited — consider walking, biking, or taking public transit. If driving, use the Courtland Public School lot off Peter Street or nearby street parking (and avoid the bottleneck in front of the building). Come see a new series of boat, flower, and treehouse themed  monoprints I created this spring using block prints on washi. THE JAPANESE PAPER PLACE Annual Washi Artists’ Sale returns to the Japanese Paper Place in Etobicoke on Saturday, November 29th! 🎉 This event supports artists who are dedicated washi users. These handmade papers are made with Japanese-grown fibres and methods that have been practised continuously for over 1000 years. I will be selling my work along with my dear friend Tammy Ratcliff and over 20 other talented artists. Sat, Nov 29, 2025,  10am - 4pm (Doors at 10am) at The Japanese Paper Place 103 The East Mall, Unit 1, Toronto Free Admission THE VERADIS GARDEN The official launch and welcome to Veradis Garden took place on October 25th. In just six months, the garden has flourished thanks to the love and dedication of dozens of friends, neighbours, community members, and partners who spent countless hours preparing the soil, building structures, weaving willow, planting, weeding, and watering. During the opening celebration, we planted spring bulbs and gathered seeds from obedient plants, nasturtiums, mountain mint, zinnias, and spotted horse mint. Community members shared homemade treats and a large jug of delicious warm herbal tea. I led a garden tour and spoke about its design - a sinuous walkway that invites visitors on a sensory journey through a central passageway, the willow arbor. This arbor acts as a portal, symbolizing renewal, change, and transformation. The woven willow fences curve around the path like an embrace, representing community support and care. I also shared stories about some of the garden’s more unusual and fascinating plants; those with distinctive scents, curious sounds, or unexpectedly rich textures. The project was produced with the Old Town Berlin Neighbourhood Association, and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, with funding from Love My Hood, and direction from willow weaving artist Agnes Niewiadomski. Follow the Veradis Garden project on Instagram.

spring 2025 newsletter

Michelle Purchase Studio April 17, 2025 Spring 2025 newsletter View this email in your browser

Open Studios on May 3, 2025

OPEN STUDIO I would like to invite you to my spring Studio Open House.  Globe Studios May 3rd from 10am-4pm Studio 14 (the very eastern end of the building) 141 Whitney Place, Kitchener I will have art on display and for sale, and I will be doing a print demonstration. I will have stations set up so that visitors can try pulling their own small print.   Other Globe Studios resident artists and arts organizations will be hosting demonstrations, workshops, collaborative events and learning opportunities. Check out the Globe Instagram page to see what else is happening inside the Globe Studios building. Most will also have artwork for sale, just in time for Mother's Day. Jane’s Walk will also be happening that weekend. Globe studios is located along the banks of Schneider Creek - so consider doing both!  There is also a handmade market happening at Catalyst, a short bike ride from Globe along the iron horse trail - so it's a busy day.  PELHAM ART FESTIVAL I am going back to my hometown for Mother's Day weekend to spend time with my mom while I participate in the Pelham Art Festival. The festival takes place in the Accipiter Arena at the Meridian Community Centre, located in the Village of Fonthill, Town of Pelham.   This is the 38th year of the festival which has always supported local libraries (including Maple Acre branch, where I went regularly as a child) and provides scholarships for local students (including my former high school E.L. Crossley). Admission is $15 on Friday, $7 on Saturday and Sunday. MENTORSHIP MATCHUP The City of Kitchener 44 Gaukel Arts is running the artist mentorship matchup program again. As part of this program I am offering a mentorship in my studio from late summer-fall. If you have a printmaking interest, or project idea you should consider applying. Deadline is May 4th. PUBLIC ART COMMISSION Agnes Niewiadomski and I are thrilled that our proposed public artwork for the Mill Courtland Community Centre (MCCC) has been approved.  This was a three-stage jury process and public survey that started last spring, and won't be complete until the end of 2026. Our art installation will contain over 100 woven willow swallows all hand made by members of the local community over the next 12 months.  Be on the lookout for a willow weaving workshop happening soon. We would love to teach you to weave a bird from locally foraged willow sticks. Our first workshop will be on May 21 at Square Peg when Bird Friendly Kitchener occupies the space for the month of May.  GUELPH'S ART ON THE STREET I will be participating in this year's Art on the Street taking place June 21st 2025, 10am to 5pm. Rain or Shine! Quebec Street, Guelph ON. This is a free and family friendly event open to art lovers of all ages! THE VERADIS GARDEN For the past 18 months we have been planning a community garden to honour the memory of my daughter's best friend Vera. The garden will incorporate a variety of plants that Vera loved all selected for their sensory qualities, seasonal interest, wildlife benefit, and creative craft potential. A sculpture constructed with cedar stakes and locally foraged wild willow will serve as a gathering space for the neighbourhood. The space will appeal to the senses, grounding and nourishing visitors by fostering a connection with nature, art, and each other.  During its creation and after its installation, this sensory garden will serve as a place where people come together, connect, enjoy, and explore.  The project has finally started and in partnership with the Old Town Berlin Neighbourhood Association, and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, with funding from Love My Hood, and direction from willow weaving artist Agnes Niewiadomski, we have finally started. We have already woven a living arbor, started the decorative fence, and planting will happen soon. Vera's mom Jessica has been a powerhouse of strength, and she has spearheaded this entire project. I have been overwhelmed by the flood of support from the community, and tons of volunteers who have shown up to help. I think it's going to be beautiful. Follow the Veradis Garden project on Instagram.

On writing and photography...

I haven't really been using this blog.  Most of the time I think it's a waste because it's geared towards written words not visuals, and for that I prefer Instagram or Facebook.  However, lately I've been thinking otherwise.

I'm not a very good writer, which is probably why I prefer drawing, but something is missing. In December I did an interview for Grand Magazine with the lovely Barbara Aggerholm followed by a photo session with the talented Dwight Storing.  The interview went on much longer than I anticipated, and the questions took a different direction than I was expecting.  What I was prepared to talk about was the ideas behind my work, a more detailed breakdown of how I created each image (both process and subject).  However Barbara was more interested in writing a story about me, my life, and how my life experience has shaped my work.  I understand, Grand Magazine is about people.  But I was left wanting more.

I have not yet read the article, it won't be out until the March/April issue.  But I have decided that this year I am going to try to include more regular posts about what I am working on, but more importantly why.  I'm not sure where these thoughts are going, but these are the ideas I am playing with.

_______________________________

Last night I attended Flash, a local contemporary photography showcase.   I saw some of the most powerful images I have ever seen by an amazing photographer Larry Towell.  Listening to him talk about why and how he creates the work he does really resonated with me.  He lives a simple life on a rural farm near Chatham, Ontario with his family, but he regularly goes on world-wide adventures documenting some of the greatest human conflicts and crises on earth.  Now photojournalism is a profession that I greatly admire (it's essential); but travelling to war zones and immersing myself in the middle of heated uprisings is the last thing I would ever want to do (I can't even stand crowds at the farmers market).  Several of his images really affected me.  Primarily the documentation of First Nations and Inuit housing and community life in Canada, juxtaposed against his own home life.  The similarities and differences were profound.

For Instance:

Photos Larry took in Attawapiskat of housing, children playing, people inside their homes.  I was especially taken by photos inside tiny homes with entire families watching television, photos of rooms full of kids playing video games, kids hanging around on rural street corners - contrasted against photos of children fishing on the ice, playing in the fields with their dogs.

I wondered, "what is it like to live there?"  How are these homes similar and how are they different from what I know? Are these people happy? What is truly important to a house, what makes it a home?  What do these places need?  What do we think they need that they really don't need?

Do these families have the same parenting problems that I have (limited screen time, encouraging outdoor play, getting kids to clean up their own messes)?

https://thewalrus.ca/in-attawapiskat/

(there were many more photos in Larry's slide shows that I can't find online)

Larry continued to show photos of people around the world, in make-shift housing, temporary housing, living in bombed out shells of former homes.  Most of these I found incredibly distressing, for a variety of reasons.

I found this photo by Larry Towell particularly intriguing (I'm not sure where or when it was taken):

What is going on here?  What is she thinking about?

The photo reminded me of a painting I forgot about long ago, but I loved when I was a kid.  

Christina's World is a 1948 painting by American painter Andrew Wyeth

from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina's_World

Both images depict a girl in the grass, with farmhouses in the distance.  However Andrew Wyeth's has an optimistic feel, the girl is looking longingly towards the well-kept houses.  In Larry's photo the houses have fallen apart and the girl is looking away (or is she sleeping?).  These images are both loaded with emotion and story, they spark the imagination.

After Larry's presentation last night I looked at his Instagram feed.  One photo in particular caught my attention, both for the image depicted (the beautiful use of the a variety of wood species collected from his own farm) but even more so after I read the caption beneath it.

from Instagram: larrysgeneralstore

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMkM8DrhskO/?taken-by=larrysgeneralstore

"Thoughts on being Canadian on the day of the U.S. elections. 

We Canadians like living in the bush, so since this spring, I’ve been building a cabin out of salvaged materials at the back of my farm to get away from the invasiveness of the internet, the madness of this particular election campaign, and to maintain some kind of contact with myself and with nature. I just finished paneling the walls with scrap, walnut, oak, cherry, pine, and cottonwood boards sawn in my local mill from trees I cut off the farm. I went back today, as the election results began to roll in, to take this picture. I realized I’m going to need a table, a chair, and a bed soon, because no matter what happens, it’s going to be a long four years. Tomorrow I leave for the Standing Rock Sioux protest camp in North Dakota. Regardless of who gets in, the results of this campaign will not affect oil profits. No wonder the original Americans don’t bother to vote. As for me, I owe my career as a Canadian, to all the presidents of the United States since Ronald Reagan, who have continued to create turmoil, havoc, wars, and hatred around the globe. Tonight therefore, is a good occasion to get out my bed roll and christen the cabin, in order to listen to mother nature--- or what’s left of it. 

Larry Towell 

8/11/2016"

Do we think of our homes as a refuge, an escape from the outside world? Or do we think of our homes as a hub, part of a network of interconnected places linked via internet, radio, television, telephone, water, electricity, etc. etc.?  How do we define a home?

People have been living in Canada for thousands of years in homes created from materials gathered from the land, producing no waste, and being 100% renewable/sustainable.  What have we lost?  What have we gained?

Larry's book "The World From My Front Porch" is about "land, landlessness, peoples association with the land, and how the land makes you who you are".  This is the essence of what I am interested in.

Art Reception: Filiatrault, Purchase, van Mossel-Forrester

Join us for the opening reception of an exhibition featuring the inspirational work of: Anne Filiatrault, Michelle Purchase, and Julian Van Mossel-Forrester.

Refreshments provided, free admission, all welcome.


Date: Thursday, July 28, 2016 - from 5 pm to 9 pm 
location: The Accelerator Centre, 295 Hagey Blvd. S, Waterloo, Ontario

The show runs from May untill the end of August.

A little bit about the artists:

Anne Filiatrault is a Canadian artist who recreates ‘snapshots’ of the brilliance of the Ontario landscape. Whether on family travel to northern Ontario during the summer, the Escarpment within the winter months or during walks to her children’s neighbourhood school, Anne is continuously inspired by hidden gems of nature that surround her everyday.

Michelle Purchase's work depicts scenes where nature and culture co-exist, imaginary worlds that are half-constructed and half-wild. She takes inspiration from hideouts on the beach, abandoned tree forts, animal nests, and old ramshackle shacks. Purchase's work includes a mix of etchings, monoprints, and lithographs, created using various different techniques on Japanese washi. She finds printmaking to be an effective medium to capture the atmosphere of these spaces. She hopes the work inspires the viewer to build, to explore, or to imagine, something wonderful.

Julian van Mossel-Forrester works primarily with acrylic on canvas. His recent work focuses on themes close to his heart and to life in the community. This work has ultimately been about connecting with people and celebration. Julian’s application of paint is spontaneous and playful, fragmenting the surface of the canvas, always in response to close observation of the subject. Through observation and response, he reworks the image, layer after layer, with an adventurous use of colour.

Studio Tour

The New Downtown Studio Tour is this Saturday October 3rd, 10:00 am to 6:00pm in downtown Kitchener, Ontario.

Pick up a map/brochure at the Art District Gallery or at Globe Studios and join us for a walking/driving tour of artist studios located in downtown Kitchener. You will see a variety of types of artwork most of which are for sale. Enjoy a wonderful relaxing day as you visit the artists in any order along the route during this family friendly event.

The House Hunter at KPL

Please come to my first storybook illustration exhibition at the Kitchener Public Library

Editions 2015 - Fundraiser for Open Studio

WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THURSDAY NIGHT? With the glorious weather we’ve been having this week, it’s time to come out of hibernation! Plan a fun night out with your friends this Thursday, May 14th at Open Studio. For only $50 you can spend the evening at our Editions event watching live print demos, noshing on some food and getting merry, compliments of the open bar. More than just fun, your support of Open Studio will help us continue to provide affordable printmaking facilities for artists, education classes for everyone and acclaimed public exhibitions. It’s not too late to get your ticket—grab your friends and come out to Open Studio this Thursday. We look forward to seeing you there! Editions 2015 Thursday, May 14, 2015, 6:30PM At Open Studio, 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104 Art Draw: $375 admits two and guarantees you'll take home an original piece of artwork. General admission: $50, admits one person to the party.

Strata Gallery

I am very pleased to announce that my artwork is now being carried by Strata Gallery near lovely Elora, Ontario.  Strata Gallery, formerly of downtown Elora, reopened in a new location in the old Salem schoolhouse on March 13th, 2015.

The owner Jo Lomas has done a wonderful job cleaning up the historic one-room school, it is an absolutely stunning building, perfect for an art gallery.  The schoolhouse is a very prominent architectural landmark, with the advantage over downtown Elora of having ample parking.   Located in Salem at the intersection of Wellington Roads 7 and 18 (which turns into Northfield Drive in Waterloo) it is a gateway into the little village of Elora.

I am delighted to be showing work along side an incredibly talented roster of local artists including Lauren Judge, Ryan Price, Ivano Stocco, and Rick Worthington.   Jo Lomas is a pleasure to meet, she is incredibly friendly and helpful.

Strata is open Tuesday to Friday 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and holiday Mondays as well. For more information on the gallery and artists see www.stratagallery.com or the Facebook page.

guests view work on display at Strata Gallery's grand re-opening

Great people write great blogs

I am very fortunate to have been mentioned in a few different blogs recently.

If you are located in Toronto, and you are looking for artwork, I recommend visiting Canvas Gallery.  I dropped off a stack of work there this week.  You can view the pieces I have available there on their website or blog:

I also noticed (well after the fact) that Darin White posted a lovely review of my November 2014 show at the Rotunda Gallery at the City of Kitchener in his Make Bright blog.  Darin takes amazing photographs and conducts informative interviews then writes excellent posts about current arts and creative events in the Waterloo region.

NIGHT\SHIFT 2014

I am working frantically to prepare for my installation in this year's NIGHT\SHIFT 2014.  I am creating a community of illuminated paper houses suspended in the trees of two downtown Kitchener parkettes.

NIGHT\SHIFT 2014 is downtown Kitchener’s second annual nuit blanche-style festival of art, culture and nocturnal adventure.  NIGHT\SHIFT 2014 begins at 7pm on Saturday, November 1st, the night of the annual autumn time change, and will run into the wee hours.

This year's event is even bigger and better than last years, with over 40 different installations!

On the evening of Saturday November 1st come to Market Green (area 15) and Vogelsang Green (area 11) to see!

Rotunda Gallery - November 2014

October has been a very busy month finishing a series of large lithographic prints for the City of Kitchener's Rotunda Gallery show being installed on November 1st.  The title of the show is "Unreal Estate", it depicts a variety of imaginary spaces where we can escape our everyday urban lives and dream about amazing things.  The lithographs are printed on Japanese washi tissue and layered over printed maps of some of my favourite places.

These new works are all 30"x40" in size, too large for my press, so I had to print them in separate pieces and assemble them afterwards.  All are mounted on board using beeswax, so no glass is required (I hate glass).

I really enjoyed creating these drawings, and I still have a lot of unrealized ideas, so I hope to draw more soon.

The opening will be held on Wednesday November 12th from 5pm to 7pm.  Please come enjoy refreshments and view my new work.

MSAC - ART/CRAFT fundraiser

I am honoured to be included amongst some of my very favourite artists in the MacDonald Stewart Art Centre's Annual Fundraising Exhibition & Auction.  The MSAC is Guelph's Public Art Gallery and Sculpture Park.  I've loved this gallery ever since I attended the University of Guelph, I even had all my grad photos taken in the sculpture garden.

Exhibition: September 25 to November 8, 2014
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 25, 2014
Live Auction Fundraiser: Saturday, November 8, 2014

Auction Party Tickets are $100

Tasting Tickets + Auction Party are $150

You can preview all of the amazing artwork available on their website.

BIMPE VIII

I am happy to have been accepted to show three different prints at The Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition (BIMPE). BIMPE VIII opens at the Federation Gallery in Vancouver on Thursday September 11, 2014 from 6 - 9 PM. From there it will be travelling to Kelowna and Edmonton until March 2015.

Exhibition dates:

Federation Gallery
September 9 - 28, 2014
1241 Cartwright Street
Vancouver, BC
604-681-8534

Dundarave Print Workshop
September 29 - October 26, 2014
1640 Johnston Street
Vancouver, BC
604-689-1650

UBC Okanagan
January 17 - 31, 2015
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC
250-807-8000

SNAP
February 26 - March 28, 2015
10123 - 121 Street NW
Edmonton, AB
780-423-1492