Sadie Marfisi is a multi-talented artist with a Bachelor’s degree in illustration, who finds inspiration on the scenic Cortes Island. Passionate about nature and collaborative projects, she fearlessly explores a wide range of creative mediums including painting, drawing, woodburning, lino-cut, clothing, murals, and live painting. With a diverse skill set and a keen focus on the creative process, Sadie’s artistic journey knows no limits. Beyond her visual art, she captivates audiences with performances in clowning, burlesque, and hula hooping, showcasing her boundless passion for self-expression.

Ben Woodloft is an artist living in Cumberland. He often waits patiently to find inspiration or flow before beginning a piece. He is an extrovert-introvert who believes that nothing should be forced.

Ben found the joy of art by being shown how to draw the Metatron's Cube - derived from the ancient structure of the Flower of Life. Since then, and many straight lines later, he still finds joy and meditation through this design.

One of the biggest life lessons Ben has learned is that making a mistake during his process has always led him to discover a new shape or new direction. Such as with life, no one would be where they are if not "failing". Mistakes can be a source of beauty and fruitful change.

Ben starts his pieces by finding the center of the image, using a compass and a ruler. With tedious mapping, the image starts to show itself. The journey always helps him to slow down, appreciate the intricacies, and feel the resonance.

Marna Rogoschewsky calls herself a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She is a singer/dj/producer/yoga teacher/crafter. She lives in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island right in between the ocean and the forest.  The lush beauty of nature inspires her. It is simple and unique. She picks pieces from this earth and creates unique home decor that is her Zen Den Collection. 

To honour yogic traditions - the pieces in the collection contain semi-precious stones, gems, and auspicious numerical designs. Every piece has a purpose directly expressed from her heart. Like the cycles of the moon, the collection transposes what is cycling through the ebbs and flows of life. It helps her compose an energetic intention for each piece in hopes that it brings you whatever it is that your soul is yearning for. 

How beautiful is this nature surrounding us in British Columbia!? Her intention of creating this collection is to honour the beauty of nature and bring it into your home. 

She loves being at home and surrounding herself with items that are intentional and equally beautiful.  She hopes you find these pieces unique, purposeful, and above all - super zen.

Born and raised in Toronto, Riona now lives full time in Cumberland, BC. She spends her life enjoying nature, working and playing with the artist community around town, and making music with her band, The Pink Plagues.

Marisa Schorno also known as “Risa” or “Wylie Mar”  is a multifaceted alchemizer, through (but not limited to) music and music production, videography, photography, beading, painting, tattooing, dancing and makeup artistry. She paves her way through this dimension without any box to withhold her creativity. As a mental health advocate and BPD sufferer, she is always sure to get real about her experience. She thrives on experimenting and trying new ways to turn her deep seated pain and thick, heavy feelings into the physical. She is an indigenous artist of Métis ancestry from the Red River in Manitoba, being the first generation within her family to be born on Vancouver Island. As an indigenous girl constantly doubted due to stereotypes and being light skinned, she has faced identity issues.  In 2022, she received the First Peoples Cultural Council Artists Grant to learn about her culture through reading and research. In her findings, she discovered many things within herself. She used to write poetry about being trapped in the ditch. Meanwhile, her ancestors were given a “road allowance”, basically a space in the ditch to live. Not welcomed within any community as a ‘half breed’, she feels that deep pain of non belonging and works hard to try to feel valid in this existence. Métis culture lives on through creating, and designing, community and connection. She began selling her handcrafted jewelry on the side of the road at the age of 7, performing singing by age 12, and always dibble and dabbling in a bit of everything because art is the best thing ever.

Laurena Evalina is an emerging artist who grew up immersed in the natural beauty of Denman Island. The island life has shaped her love and respect for the natural world, which is both a source of inspiration and a recurring theme in her art. She works in many mediums, using art as a tool for healing, as a form of play, and as a way to communicate knowledge about the natural world and the need for its preservation. For this show she has created upcycled mixed media collages, using old records as a substrate and her own digitally drawn creations as centerpieces.

Rolf “Roli” Hill, was born (1978) and raised in the comox valley.  When he’s not busy tending to his collection of collections, he enjoys drawing, painting, and making mixed medium wearable party masks out of paper mache.

Each fall season demands at least one mask to be created for a Halloween costume.  With each new piece he aspires to create a different colour scheme, texture/ pattern or textile incorporation.

Much of his organic shapes come from casting skulls, fruit and other found objects.

Jessica Kerekes Rinn is a proud Canadian Métis artist, educator, and art therapist living in the Comox Valley. Pulling from both European and Indigenous frames of reference, she creates an honoured, balanced connection of creative spirit and expression to forge her sense of “Place” through her art. As a multifaceted artist, she uses various mediums and methods to explore personal symbols of identity through creative storytelling, images, and ways of being. Her art aims to draw audiences to their own hopes, ambitions and dreams while deepening their sense of belonging and community.

Marlee Munro (Denman Island) is an emerging interdisciplinary artist, working between improvisational, and contemplative material processes. She is informed by her deep interest in expanding awareness of what is within, and around us. As a painter, her work explores personal experiences, memories, and imaginings, beyond representation of the actual thing, through the vibrational power of colour. After graduating from the fine art program at North Island College in 2022, Marlee has continued her artistic practice from her home on Denman Island, while becoming a new mother in the summer of 2023. She wishes to respectfully acknowledge that she lives, learns, and creates on the unceded traditional territory of the K’ómoks, Homalco, Coast Salish, Tla’Amin, We-Wai-Kai and We-Wai-Kum First Peoples.