One of the works for her new solo show in New York City is The Event (above), “a fantastical depiction of hurricane-battered Prince Edward Island coupled with an abstract depiction of a solar eclipse to imbue the landscape with a sense of foreboding,” says Smithsonian magazine in a feature on art inspired by eclipses.

See the History of Art Inspired by Solar Eclipses, here.

New York based MacFarlane was first profiled on Canadian Art Junkie in 2011, a young Canadian painter on her way up. It’s the rich jewel tones of her work, plus fantastical images lamenting the loss of places (especially landscapes) that draw attention to the Toronto-born artist.

MacFarlane was at an artist residency in Clearwater, Manitoba when there was unprecedented flooding, captured in this painting of Cypress Creek. It’s rushing with flood waters and snow melt leading to the erosion and new shape of the surrounding earth.

“As has always been her practice, MacFarlane does not document while she travels, instead preferring to absorb the atmosphere of a place and spend time really immersed in its sights and sounds. Upon returning to her studio, MacFarlane transforms her observations into three-dimensional maquettes created out of paper, paint, and plastic,” the gallery says.

Several maquettes, including the one above, are included in MacFarlane’s first solo show with her gallery (Hollis Taggert) when it opens in NYC later this month.

Rachel MacFarlane was born in Scarborough in 1986 and currently is based in NYC. She attended the Ontario College of Art and Design and completed her MFA at Rutgers University. MacFarlane was awarded the 2019 and 2021 Canada Arts Council Explore and Create Grant, the 2019 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence, the NSCAD Robert Pope Artist Residency, the Triangle Artists Workshop residency, NYC, the Vermont Studio Center Residency and was a visiting artist at Cow House Studios, Ireland.

Her solo exhibition – Coming Events Cast Their Light Before Them – runs April 25-May 25 at Hollis Taggart.

Rachel MacFarlane’s website, here.

Her Instagram, here.

Andrew Cheddie Sookrah is a raw colourist whose free brushwork is confident and powerful. His urban settings in particular show his strong sense of design, exquisite composition and bold colours. Above: Heading to Bloor West Village, 36 x 36,” acrylic on canvas.

Sookrah is influenced by his background in graphic arts and advertising. His body of work includes portraiture, figurative, landscape paintings and ceramic sculpture. He is also a fine art instructor.

Born in Guyana in 1956, he worked from the age of 16 as a designer and illustrator in Georgetown, becoming company art director before immigrating to Canada in 1974. He attended multidisciplinary continuing education programs at the Ontario College of Art, George Brown College and Ryerson University.

In Canada, while continuing to paint and carve out his artistic existence, Sookrah opened Engine Room Creative, a successful design development studio and advertising & marketing agency in Toronto. As its Creative Director, he has worked on provincial and national campaigns, as well as international campaigns in the US and UK.

Andrew Cheddie Sookrah’s website, here.

His Instagram, here.

A workshop to be run by Sookrah this spring at The McMichael, here.

A 3D gallery of Sookrah’s works, here.

Kristina Søbstad’s exhibition ‘STILL’ – on now through Feb. 24 at Katzman Art Projects in Halifax – is a collection of works centered around the beauty, chaos, and unpredictability of human experience. (Above: Let’s go at high tide, oil on canvas, 30”x40”)

Kristina Elise Øvrevoll Søbstad is a Canadian-Norwegian visual artist currently based in Nova Scotia, Canada. Søbstad earned a BFA from NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2010.

Søbstad has participated in over 200 international group and solo exhibitions since 2007, most recently a residency and exhibition with the Museum of Modern Art in Chiloe, Chile. In 2019, her piece Unbound IV (above) was purchased by the Canada Council Art Bank for their permanent collection in Ottawa.

Kristina Søbstad’s website, here.

Her Instagram, here.

Katzman Art Projects, Halifax, here.

Image in banner at top of post: Dream each night of some version of you, oil on canvas, 30 x 48

These works by Shelley Adler are part of an upcoming exhibition at Nicholas Metivier in Toronto, the latest in her expressive works with strong colours and striking compositions.

Adler paints from life as well as photographs, using friends and models for her subjects. Her children, now young adults, are also a frequent source of inspiration.

Shelley Adler has an MFA from Boston University and a BFA from York University in Toronto. She has exhibited across Canada and in the U.S. Her work is held in many prominent collections and has been exhibited internationally including in Berlin, Miami and New York.

Shelley Adler’s website, here.

Her Instagram, here.

Exhibition page at Nicholas Metivier, here. Exhibition runs March 2 through 28th.

Image at top of post: And Then, 2023, oil on canvas,60 x 60″