Art Gallery

My Covid Winter

The Pas Arts Council received news on January 22, 2021, from the Safe at Home Committee that the Council will be awarded a grant for the project Stay at Home in Northern Manitoba. These exhibits are one of the projects resulting from the grant. Local artists submitted their work for either a solo exhibit or for the My Covid Winter gallery.

Featured Artist (click on photo)

Michael O'Toole

Mike O'Toole was born and raised in New Brunswick. As a youngster he spent most of his time wandering through the woods hunting, fishing and looking for things to draw. He moved to Northern Ontario and took a millwright trade in the pulp and paper industry.
In 1980 he moved his family to The Pas where he applied his trade until retirement in 2003. After his retirement his painting became a full time job. Mike spends a lot of time photographing and has experienced and captured many wildlife encounters. This love of nature, appreciation and knowledge along with his keen eye and perception to detail enables Mike to paint realistic lifelike creations that everyone can enjoy.
Mike has won many awards:
1998, 2007, and 2008
*Manitoba Ducks Unlimited Sponsor Print
*Rural and Northern Juried Art Shows
*People's Choice Awards
His murals also grace the town of The Pas.
Mike is happiest when he is wandering the woods in search of new inspirations and then in his studio with a new painting coming to life on canvas.
He likes to spend time with his five grandchildren and encourages them to draw and always has time to give his budding artists a few pointers.
Mike is a strong advocate and hopes everyone does his or her part to help preserve the abundance of wildlife and beauty of nature so future generations can experience it first hand.

Featured Artist (click on photo)

Joyce McLean and Karli Shepherd

Karli has been painting since the age of 9. She has been mentored and trained under her amazingly talented Grandma, Joyce McLean. Karli has had the privilege of having one of her paintings exhibited and sold in an art gallery in USA when she was in grade 4 (age 9). She has been fortunate enough to have fantastic local support as well, and has sold several paintings locally. She also entered the adult category in the art shows at The Northern Manitoba Trapper’s Festival, yielding her a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place win.
Joyce McLean is a self taught artist who lives in Northern Manitoba, Canada. Rocky Lake, north of The Pas is her home since retirement in 2013. Most of her work is done in watercolour which is her passion, but acrylic works also give her joy. Joyce paints for the pleasure of creating and gets inspiration from her beloved Rocky Lake. Having won first, second, and third for her art four consecutive years at the local festival art show, Joyce decided to offer her works for sale with great results. Her art has been enjoyed and sold not only locally but to many places in Canada and the United States.
Since 2009 Joyce has been sought out to provide paintings for auction at local Ducks Unlimited fundraisers as well as many other local fundraisers such as community animal shelter, high school grad, hospital equipment fundraisers and other local events. Two water color paint classes were well attended for a fundraiser in early 2019, another donation for the love of encouraging others to try watercolor. Joyce has been mentoring her granddaughter to paint in watercolor.
Karli has a passion for watercolour and loves spending time with her Grandma learning new techniques. Together, they put on several painting workshops for local artists wishing to learn watercolour.

Featured Artist (click on photos)

Krystle Paskaruk

As a life-long resident and local artisan of The Pas, MB, Krystle Paskaruk has been exploring her interests in the arts from a very young age. Over the years, she spent countless hours “crafting” with her grandparents, which has had a significant influence on her love for creating handmade items today, through various art mediums, including food. As both a hobby crafter and baker, her passion for “creating” was further inspired over the course of her travels where she discovered new perspectives and mediums which she continues to infuse into her creations. As she continued to diversify her interests in various art mediums, she established a social media page in 2014 where she could collate and share her collection of creations with friends and family. Over the years, her work garnered overwhelming local interest so she began to establish herself as a vendor through local farmer’s markets and craft sales and in 2019, Love Button Collection was officially established as a business! Krystle is a proud ambassador for the local artisan community and continues to explore new art mediums in an effort learn new skills and share her love of handmade with all of you.