2024 Retreat Instructors

We are delighted to announce our 2024 Instructors are:

About our Instructors:

Born in Trail, B.C. David Cooper's interest in art began as a child.  Primarily self taught he developed his drawing skills through pen and ink with a foundation in caricature and cartooning. In the last forty years David has pursued the usage of colour through watercolours, acrylics, and watermedia and has attended workshops with notable Canadian and U.S. Art Instructors. Now residing in Winnipeg, David partakes in numerous art showings annually.  He is a juried member of the Winnipeg Sketch Club and has garnered seven of their top exhibition awards and won 'Best of Show' in the Red River Art Exhibition.
David's paintings can be found in Corporate Collections such as James River Corporation, Hemmin Gold Mines, Fish Futures Group and in private collections as far as Belgium and Australia. David has judged a number of art shows, two consecutive years for Air Canada's Annual Art Exhibition where the chosen works went on to Air Canada's International Exhibition.  Since 2005, David has taught Watercolour and Acrylic painting at the Forum Art Centre and has also been teaching workshops to young and old alike. From 2019 to 2023 David handled the post of Art Director at the Forum. In 2019 he was invited to instruct at Arts West in Riding Mountain and asked to return post pandemic.  David will be leading the class for Watermedia where the main goal above all else to have fun! This class will tackle subjects like the figure, landscape, non-representational (abstract), alongside whatever else tickles the fancy of the group in attendance. Be certain to check out more of David's work on his website.  For more retreat info, go to our Artists' Retreat page or contact our Retreat Coordinator Serena, via slindbloos@gmail.com or (1-204) 295-4074 to register for the Arts West Council 2024 Artists Retreat today to secure your spot as there are only twelve spaces available!

Visual artist Ben Davis has an expanded practice, working across a diverse range of media and approaches, often collaboratively, to explore land and meaning through lenses of social justice, eco-aesthetics, and postcolonial theory. Through his research, he unsettles and responds to the physical and socially-constructed terrain of a location. He has exhibited widely, and since moving to Canada, has taught at Brandon University while also being actively involved in community arts education. Davis has been awarded Banff and Hospitalfield residencies, won multiple grants from funding bodies including the Canada Council for the Arts and the Manitoba Arts Council, and has presented papers and introduced new work at conferences in France, England, and Canada.  Ben will be very busy in 2024 as a Field Experience Faculty Supervisor for Brandon University in addition to having a Solo Exhibition and Artists Talk at aceartinc as well as being an adjudicator for Arts West Council's Westman Juried Art Show.  Ben will be teaching drawing for the 33rd annual Artists Retreat where newcomers and experienced alike can learn how to approach the medium, the materials and various subjects.  For more retreat info, go to our Artists' Retreat page or contact the Retreat Coordinator Serena, via slindbloos@gmail.com or (1-204) 295-4074 to register for the Arts West Council 2024 Artists Retreat today to secure your spot as there are only seven spaces available in total!

Jan Layh lives with her husband, Don, on their farm in the Assiniboine River Valley west of Russell, Manitoba.  She has recently retired from teaching Senior French and Arts Education. Jan is a self-taught artist having learned her skill through years of practice and experience.   The Prairie landscape has always been an inspiration for Jan.  The changing seasons, the grandeur of prairie vistas, and the often subtle colours of the prairies continually challenge her work.  Although a landscape artist, she is continually challenging her work by attempting portraiture, mosaic work and mixed-media.  She paints in watercolour, oil and acrylic.  Jan is active in the arts community. She is President of the Langenburg Arts Council and chairs the Visual Arts Committee which organizes the Annual Langenburg Adjudicated Art Show and the Annual Art Gala & Auction.  Jan has facilitated numerous workshops in the arts and continues to teach classes and mentor artists.  As a strong promoter of local art she is always on the look-out for emerging artists in the community. For the past 27 years, Jan has organized the Annual Shellmouth Summer Art Retreat attended by artists from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.  Jan’s work is held in collections across the country and abroad. She has exhibited her work in Saskatoon (Collector’s Choice and Humanum Galleries), Regina (McIntyre Street Gallery), Winnipeg (Fleet Gallery) and Calgary (Free Spirit Gallery), Eastend (Silver Willow Gallery), Assiniboia (Shurniak Gallery) and Shuanavon (Couteau Centre Gallery).  She also shows her work out of her home studio.  Jan will be leading the Oil/Acrylic class for the retreat which covers 'the Basics and the Beauty'. Expect a general overview of color theory, composition, tools and techniques before left to explore the medium with direction when required. To see more of Jan's work, be certain to visit her website. For more retreat info, go to our Artists' Retreat page or contact the Retreat Coordinator Serena, via slindbloos@gmail.com or (1-204) 295-4074 to register for the Arts West Council 2024 Artists Retreat today to secure your spot as there are only fifteen spaces available and they are filling up fast!

Before becoming an “artist in the community” 7 years ago, Heather Martens Rempel taught junior high and high school art for over 18 years. While enjoying creating and teaching in many mediums, printmaking is her favourite. Heather has found the gel-plate to be the most accessible medium for mono-printing students of all ages and abilities. She has had the privilege of spreading the joy of mono-printing with a gel-plate in schools and community art centers throughout Manitoba. Heather takes great inspiration as a teaching artist in the power to open others’ eyes to the visual beauty and utility of found objects in nature and the built environment. In her own practice she creates large collaged pieces made from gel-prints and has shown her work and won awards in Manitoba art shows.
The imagination runs wild with the endless possibilities the gel-plate offers to create prints. Heather gives step by step demonstrations on basic printing, collagraphs, image transfers and botanical printing to name a few. Because the prints are created quickly, it doesn’t take much time to build a collection of prints.  Some time will also be given to exploring various techniques of how to incorporate the prints into mixed-media projects.  Newcomers and seasonned printmakers welcome! Photographers, calligraphers, textile artists, scrapbookers and more will definitely benefit from exploring printmaking in Heather's class. To see more of her work, be certain to check out her website and Instagram page .  For more retreat info, go to our Artists' Retreat page or contact the Retreat Coordinator Serena, via slindbloos@gmail.com or (1-204) 295-4074 to register for the Arts West Council 2024 Artists Retreat today to secure your spot as there are only seven spaces available in total!