Aleshia Besplug
aleshia26@hotmail.com

Growing up in small town Saskatchewan, you would think my exposure to the art and design culture would have been very limited. Luckily for me, it has played an integral role in my upbringing. As an artist’s daughter, I learned the power of creativity and it’s endless opportunity. As a farmer’s daughter, I learned the value of hard work and determination. Together, these values influence my work today, not only as a designer but as a photographer as well. Graphic design has taught me discipline in order to communicate a message clearly to the viewer. Photography has become a valuable aid to my design work as well as a personal passion. Although my aspirations for the future lie in a career of graphic design, I will continue to work with photography as an alternative medium of expression. A career in graphic design is so important to me, not only because of it’s power to educate others, but the opportunity to create something beautiful in the process.

Alex Whyte
www.alexwhyte.com

Inspiration is everywhere. It is knowing how to filter the magnitude of this inspiration that allows a person to create. The Medicine Hat College’s Visual Communications program has really opened my eyes to this. When I first arrived at the college, I had no idea what constituted quality design. Upon leaving, I feel I have a very good grasp at not only what good design is, but also how to create it. I am excited about where my future will take me with the knowledge I have gained from my time at the college.

Amanda Hoffart
amandajhoffart@hotmail.com

Hi, I’m Amanda Hoffart, I love drawing. Prisma Colour and black Letramax are my favorite mediums to use.The black Letramax stands for all the darkness in the world, all the stress, seriousness and sadness you feel — the colour of the illustrations show that there is more to life, like dreams and imagination. Let your mind stay creative and not be confined.

My work is built from what I feel inside and the things around me that inspire and drive me to continue. This piece shows that each of us is created with a basic structure, but we are all different. It is our experiences, emotions, dreams and imagination that make us unique.

Angela D. Reimer
angela.reimer@hotmail.com

Angela Reimer, born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, started painting at a very young age. The development of creative thinking was prompted by her father, who worked as a ceramics artist in the studio he had built in their back yard. It was here that Angela developed her passion for the arts, a passion she possesses to this day. There was never any doubt in my mind that I had to pursue art and the pursuit was facilitated by the Visual Communications faculty at the Medicine Hat College. Here I became exposed to the world of design. A language which was both captivating and foreign. Though once apprehensive about how my fine art skills would translate, I soon realized the unique advantage of a well developed fine arts sensibility. As a dedicated creative thinker, I became assertive and resourceful using obstacles as opportunities for growth, gaining fluidity and confidence in the once foreign language . I remain open-minded and allow myself to be inspired by both the design and fine art worlds.

Anne McNeely
annemcn85@hotmail.com

I am from Ottawa, Ontario and I have been living in Alberta for three years. I moved to Medicine Hat to study and to discover a different part of the country. It was while attending fashion design college in Montreal that I found an interest in drawing. With hopes of a promising career, I decided to channel this interest in arts by studying in Visual Communications at Medicine Hat College. As a child, I would often visit museums and attend the theatre. I was fortunate that my parents encouraged me to develop my creative gift. My true career path is still undetermined in this field of visual communications, as I enjoy both being an artist and a graphic designer.

Ayumi Sawada
ayumi019@hotmail.co.jp

I have always been interested in art since I was little. To draw and paint were always just my hobbies, until a few years ago when I came to Medicine Hat. My intention was to expand my knowledge of art, so I decided to take Visual Communications at the Medicine Hat College. At first, language communication was a barrier, but over the years that has decreased. For me, art is the one way I express my thinking and ideas. I believe art is a form of visual language that is understood internationally. I was so happy to be able to have this opportunity to study with other nationalities and learn a lot of their cultural views. Each of my art pieces is somewhat related to my background, which reflects Asian taste or my perspective of western culture.

Brett Damberger
brett.damberger@hotmail.com

Born just an hour out of Medicine Hat, in Taber, Alberta; Brett James Damberger began drawing long before grade school at about the age of three. Brett focused on the human figure at a young age; He never drew stick people or tried to simplify his drawings at all. Brett focused on realism with his drawings and still does; although throughout the years he has expanded from just pencil to practically any form of media available to him, Brett has also expanded his range of subject matter in his drawing since being at Medicine Hat College and has also shown great creative versatility in both fine art, graphic design, and creative writing.

Christine Karchewski
ckarchewski@hotmail.com

I have spent the last eight years in Alberta, mostly in Calgary where design, good or bad, is at every corner. Living amongst this, many people it is easy for communication to be lost, considering that not everyone communicates or responds to communication in the same manner. I found this extremely interesting, especially when integrated in a visual means, which is where my appreciation and interest for design lies. Spending the last three years in Medicine Hat in the Visual Communication Program, I have gained through trial and tribulation the necessary skills to advance as a graphic designer. Ultimately, I aspire to be a designer creating appealing, innovative, and thought provoking design that reaches out to inform the public.

Dusty Melling
Du57y@hotmail.com

I enjoy many forms of art and have absolute confidence in my abilities. I focus my serious art in the human form, mostly doing portraiture. I also have been commissioned to do portraiture in the past. If I could make a living off that then I would be living my ideal lifestyle.

My mission as an artist is to relieve art of its meaning. I do not believe art must have a reason, I believe that the creator only need wish to do so. My entire life I have done my art for no reason other than I wanted to. At my youngest age I liked animals and would constantly ask my friends and family “what should I draw?†I never knew what I wanted to do, only that I wanted to draw something. When I has half way through my life I decided I no longer wanted to draw animals, so I only drew people, and obsessively. I have at least 20 sketch books compacted with images of cartoon characters and human figures. It would not be surprising to know that most of those sketches are just a portrait of often the same person, maybe having slight variation. I always started off with a want then I just started drawing out the profile, everything followed after that.

Jason Brown
brownbj@sasktel.net

When I first started art eight years ago, I was interested in drawing graphite works of local subjects. Within a short time, I enrolled in a Minnesota School of Fine Art correspondence course to learn more about the different techniques of art. Once the course was completed, I applied at Medicine Hat College for a semester of drawing, but soon enrolled in the Applied Visual Communications program. I wanted to learn more about the many other areas of fine art such as painting, printmaking, photography, and art history. Since then I have studied the many different styles of art, especially the Victorian era, Art Nouveau, and surrealism, where I take most of my inspiration from. Even though my paintings have realistic qualities to them, I exaggerate or change line, texture, and colour from the original sources. This allows my paintings to take on a surrealistic feeling. In the future, I will be focusing on mediums such as coloured pencil, oil painting, woodcuts, and photography. My subject matter will focus more on figurative works of art.

Jen Rempel
jen.orangeink@gmail.com

People say I am: a free spirit.
I am: all of the above and much more.
Mission as an artist: to make waves.
Selection of work I am proud of: website and identity design for The Great Commission Foundation.
Why I am proud: the successful design for a charitable organization that focuses on humanitarian projects around the world... Let the waves begin!

Link: The Great Commission Foundation

Jonathan Linowski
jlinowski@hotmail.com

As an artist and designer, I focus on creating imagery that presents itself in a unique way. My goal is to provide the viewer with a new experience. This piece of design illustrates this concept. Created from painter’s canvas and combined with a small paint set, this classical cd series alludes to the relationship music and art have, and if creatively inspired, allows the user the option of interacting with the case.

Jordan Dunlop
dunlop_06@hotmail.com

I came to Medicine Hat college to learn about design. Quickly finding that there was more to design than I thought, my interest in the field grew. After a second year photography class, I thought photography was where I needed to focus my attention. I tried the field out and realized photography was better as a hobby for me and kept with my first passion of design. Through this experience I learned a lot about photography and gained skills that I now use in my design.

The design that has interested me most is print design. Most recently, I have taken an interest in printing methods, different materials that can be printed on, as well as package design.

Joscelyn Martens
joscelyn_martens_137@hotmail.com

If I had to describe myself, it would have to be friendly and outgoing. Throughout my life I have lived in many different places such as Kamloops, Victoria, Calgary and Medicine Hat. Ever since I was a kid, art has inspired me, even when I was drawing on my bedroom walls with felt markers. As I got older, I tried to sustain this childhood enthusiasm about making marks on a surface. It is very much a part of who I am and how my friends and family view me. I am greatly inspired by nature and all of its beauty. It plays a big role in what I create.

Being happy and making people smile is what I would consider the best part of my life. If anything else, this is my greatest accomplishment.

Joseph Ibbotson
joe.ibbotson@gmail.com

Joseph Ibbotson is a twenty-seven year old ragamuffin that enjoys the absurd. He takes pleasure in long walks on the beach and in the scolding of others. He has never eaten whale.

Kaylene Newsom
kaylene.newsom@hotmail.com

I was born and raised in Red Deer, Alberta. I fell in love with photography at a very young age. The Visual Communications program has given me motivation to continue focusing on my dream of being a photographer. My main interest is portraits; however, I do enjoy all aspects of photography because it gives me free range to express myself.

Kelan Cleland
k_cleland@hotmail.com

My name is Kelan Cleland, I am from Bow Island, Alberta. I have been interested in art my whole life. During highschool there was not really a strict art class. We got to do what we wanted, whether it was fashion, silkscreening, drawing, or photography. I was 16 when my teacher approached me and gave me a camera and a list of shots he was looking for, since that day I have become very involved in photography. This program has given me the chance to build experience and the ability to get a good shot. When I am done this program I want to continue with photography whether it be working in a studio, shooting at sporting events, or even freelance work.

Meredith Rairie
mrairie@live.com

Hi, my name is Meredith Rairie. I was born in Winnipeg and raised in Swan River, Manitoba. I grew up on an acreage which brought to life my two main passions: animals and art. Medicine Hat College has been my first step into furthering my education and interest in the fine arts world.

Nicole Smith
nicole-smith-0@hotmail.com

I was born in London, Ontario on June 8th, 1987 and shortly after being born, my family moved to Red Deer, Alberta. From making maccaroni necklaces to finger painting, playschool was the begining for me because it stirred my interest in art and creating. Throughout my grade school years I excelled and loved all art classes, even colouring maps for social studies was thrilling for me. In grade 11 at Lindsay Thurber High School, my Visual Communications class had a guest speaker from Medicine Hat College. He introduced us to the Applied Bachelor of Arts program in Visual Communications, althoughI still had a year left of highschool, I knew then where I wanted to go for my post-secondary education. In September 2005, I was 18 and fresh into my college experience, every class I enrolled in provided me with a new appreciation for the creative world I was being introduced to. After my first year of classes I became focused in graphic design and photography. Now I am upon the completion of my applied degree and I am excited to enter the creative world outside the college walls.

Peter Haughland
peter.haughland@live.com

I spent most of my childhood drawing pictures. I have travelled all across Canada, and much of Asia. I have done many different jobs. I have a passion for politics, philosophy, and spirituality. I have seen people at thier lowest low, their highest high, and I have experienced both. In 2002 I decided to go to college to become a graphic designer. I have studied photography, art, design, and typography. It has been one of the most trying times of my life. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made. My life begins now...

Sarah Cahill
sarahcahill9@hotmail.com

I was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. I have always had a passion for fine arts, painting being my favorite past time. When I finish college, a career that would interest me would be photography, or perhaps to expand into the design field.

Sean Potts
sean.d.potts@gmail.com

b. 1986. My name is Sean Potts and I am just completing my Bachelor of Applied Arts (Visual Communications) BAA(VC) degree at the Medicine Hat College. I have developed my skills with the Adobe Creative Suite and am fluent in all programs that are included in it. I have also mastered the skill of creating snakes out of clay and sometimes even snails, and now, I am ready to put my degree to the test in the industry of graphic and website design.

Serge Bourgault
akaserge@hotmail.com

b.1984, St.Brieux, Saskatchewan. Born into a family of both artists and engineers, I was always encouraged to explore creative means of expressing myself. I attended summer art classes at the University of Saskatchewan at an age as young as 10. By the age of 14, I had become a fairly avid amateur photographer and was also building functional pieces of furniture to fill my bedroom. Torn between engineering and art, I decided to try my hand at engineering. At the age of 19, I became a Research and Develop-ment Technician at a local manufacturing company. After several years doing this, I had found a degree of success; however, it gave me little self-satisfaction, which in turn lead me here. Through these prior experiences and my time at Medicine Hat College, I feel that there could be no other career choice for myself but in the field of art and design.

Stephanie Dalla-Longa
stephanie_dalla-longa@hotmail.com

If I had to stay up until four o’clock in the morning doing something, what would it be? The answer is always simple and the same: I would easily stay up to create art. I have always been passionate about creating images, and have only recently discovered the pleasure of combining image-making with intentional exploration. For me, art is a way of exploring and processing the information about the world around me. I see my work as an opportunity for me to discover and learn about various subjects and concepts that are of particular interest to me. In fact, keeping a visual journal of my research and process excites and inspires me almost as much as producing my work does. The inspiration for my work generally comes from the various pieces of literature that I enjoy reading, as well as from issues or concepts relating to real life events that have been witnessed or experienced by people that I know. My style varies with my mood and subject, and alternates between graphic and traditional.

Suzette Sealy
sushi@accesscomm.ca

Ever since I was little, I have felt an affinity towards the creative. It was where I felt most at home, cutting, gluing and creating all sorts of pictures from my imagination. Now is not much different. It still feels amazing to be creative. The only thing that has changed is that the finished works are more refined. With this transition, I find that I want viewers of my designs and art to feel like they can do that thing that they have always wanted to do. I want them to be inspired as I have been, by my family and friends.

I enjoy using a computer to create because it allows me to work in a non-linear style. The programs I use allow me to layer, blend and undo things with great ease. My ideas can be easily manipulated and transformed into whatever I want. With the bits of data simulating a brush stroke or a sketchpad, my ideas are gathered in the unruly order that they come in, allowing me to save them for future application.

For the poster “Affair,†I did extensive research on the author and the font, which gave me a great foundation to start with. In the end I let each step pull me into the next, culminating into a piece that practically made itself. From the look in her eyes to the aged quality of the picture, even the colour comes together to create a feeling of longing, maybe for the “affair†(font name) that never was.

Vanessa Benson
vanessabenson1@hotmail.com

Because of her interest in both fine art and graphic design, the Visual Communications program was a well-suited environment for Vanessa to develop her versatility as an artist.Vanessa works mainly in painting and drawing, while incorporating her fine art aesthetic to graphic design work. She loves music and whales.

Vaughn Royko
www.vaughnroyko.com

<"When I was little" story> <Definition of something> <Critisism of society> <Goals for the future>...

I like making visuals. Some of these visuals are impactful, some are purposeful, and some are useless (self-indulgent). I work with sound and music in the same way. I am also interested in web design and the interactivity it allows (this site being an example of some of my work).