Meet Jody!

What’s your background?
BBA, Marketing and Human Resources, Bishop’s University, a Diploma Fashion Merchandising, Academy of Design, and LIFE.

Why 4Cats?
Once you step inside a 4Cats Arts Studio you can’t help but be inspired to get creative. I wanted to bring it to my community so our kids could learn about art and get messy in the process. How many kids do paper mache at home?!?! Or “throw clay”?!?! And who is allowed to actually splatter paint and it is ‘no big deal’?!?!

Favourite colour?
Yellow and orange and red and pink, it changes often! Favourite art quote? Favourite art quote? “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced. ” Vincent Van Gogh

Who is your favourite artist?
Vincent van Gogh because of his use of colour and texture.

Favourite medium?
I love paint. It can be vibrant or subtle, thick or transparent, so many possibilities!

Any other interesting facts we should know about you?
I love searching for beach glass with my kids and hubby on the shores of Prince Edward Island. It is amazing to hold a piece of smoothed glass, polished by waves and sand and wonder about its past.

Meet Daisy!

What’s your educational background?
I completed the Early Childhood Education program from Sheridan College as well as the General Arts and Science program from there.

How did you first hear about 4Cats?
4Cats Meadowvale’s owner Jody Pillo!

Why 4Cats?
I love sharing art with kids. 4Cats offers amazing programs and kids are able to create wonderful artwork while learning about famous artists and their style of art. It is a very inspiring environment!

What is your favourite colour?
Lilac (light purple)

Favourite art quote?
“A picture is a poem without words”.

Who is your favourite artist and why?
Henri Matisse – Not only did he share my birthday (Dec 31) but he wasn’t just a painter but a sculptor much like myself. He put a lot of meaning into his work and it showed.

What is your favourite art medium, and why?
Drawing with Graphite because it was the medium I started with and used the most as I fell in love with art. Although I’ve fallen in love with sculpting and painting, drawing will always be number one.

Meet Celia!

What’s your educational background?
I have a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from the University of Windsor where I focused on painting and printmaking. I am also pursuing a masters degree in Arts Administration.

How did you first hear about 4Cats?
I first heard about 4Cats from Meadowvale’s amazing owner Jody Pillo!

Why 4Cats?
4Cats is the perfect opportunity for children to expand their knowledge and creative understanding of art and its history. 4Cats is a fun place that helps youth to develop artistic and creative abilities that they can later use and apply in everyday life. Art is a powerful motivator that indicates and influences social change. The children’s introduction to their creative potential happens HERE at 4Cats! It’s so wonderful to be apart of that.

What is your favourite colour?
I love purple!

Favourite art quote?
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. Michelangelo

Who is your favourite artist and why?
My favorite artist is Justin Bua, a poster artist that combines urban qualities with classical art training. He makes caricature portraits in urban settings. A style in which he has created, New Urban Realism. He’s like a modern day Toulouse Lautrec.

What is your favourite art medium, and why?
I like painting with acrylic paint because it allows me to work fast.

Meet Courtney!

What’s your educational background?
I studied Studio Art and English for four years at the University of Guelph, just West of the GTA.

How did you first hear about 4Cats?
I first heard about 4Cats from my 5-year-old cousin who has been taking classes in Woodstock for about a year now. My aunt told me how much my cousin loves the studio, the curators, and the cool art that he gets to make; I thought that it sounded like a great place to work!

Why 4Cats?
I like 4Cats because it’s a fun and vibrant place to learn about and make art!

What is your favourite colour and why?
My favourite colour is blue. I think that all shades of blue are beautiful, but my favourite is cerulean because it makes me think of a tropical, ocean side vacation!

Who is your favourite artist and why?
My favourite artist is Georges Seurat. I love the soft, serene paintings that he created and I admire his patience and ingenuity to paint in the pointillist style; he made huge paintings entirely out of dots!

What is your favourite art medium, and why?
I like working with paint because it’s colourful, bright, and fun to make pictures with. I also like how it’s (almost) always easy to fix mistakes; just add more paint!

So…any other interesting facts we should know about you?
I need to listen to music when I’m making art. Having a coffee handy is always a plus, too.

Meet Angelina!

Educational Background:
I’ve had a love and interest in art ever since I can remember. I’m a self-taught artist who enjoys working with many different mediums and styles and even spent time studying the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy. I also have 3 years of experience working in the design/layout and marketing industries.

How did you first hear about 4Cats?
I discovered 4Cats art studio while browsing online for a kids’ art studio in Mississauga.

Why 4Cats?
4Cats represents 4 things I love being involved with: children, art, learning and fun. For anyone who’s ever been to a 4Cats studio you’d understand what a wonderful, creative and fun environment it is. You can’t help feeling the urge when you visit a 4Cats studio to grab a paintbrush and some paint and let your artistic nature emerge. It’s a great learning environment that allows children to go at their own pace, get messy and have a lot of fun while creating beautiful masterpieces.

What is your favourite colour and why?
That’s a tough one as there are so many I love and the many different shades of each. I think it’s a bit of a mood thing with me, some days it’s yellow, other days a deep blue or sea green.

Who is your favourite artist and why?
I have a few favorites, one of whom is the American artist Norman Rockwell and how his work depicted every day life scenarios. I also love Claude Monte for his beautiful landscape and nature paintings. I’m really inspired by his impressionist style and the beautiful blends of color and light in his paintings.

What is your favourite art medium, and why?
I like to work with a variety of mediums and mixed mediums such as pastels and pencil crayons or designing an image on paper and then finishing it on the computer or just getting creative with paints on canvas.

So…any other interesting facts we should know about you?
Although born Canadian I’ve spent many years studying and traveling overseas during that time I taught myself to read and write in Mandarin Chinese and a little bit of Japanese.