Our Instructors

Sharon Hart

Instructor

Art Esteem
Kids in the Kitchen
Stuffie Creation
Free Play

As a Child and Youth Advocate for many years, Sharon has created and delivered healthy relationship programs to students in grades one to nine in both the public and private school systems. She believes having a healthy relationship with oneself is the foundation to developing strong connections with others.

Tarayn Hiddink

Instructor

Miss T of Magical Movement
Lil' Yogis Nature Camp

Tarayn is a certified yoga instructor who possesses a 200 hour YTT certificate paired with her Rainbow Kids Yoga certification. She enjoys teaching on her deck overlooking the Bay of Quinte, as well as in schools and libraries. She comes with years of experience working in the Social Service Sector and has been a home educator to her daughter and other children for the past few years.

Summer Camps are her jam and she loves bringing her mix of child-led play, mindful crafting, nature walks and Magical Movement to Baxter each year.

Magical Movement started in 2018, with Miss T teaching lil yogis on her deck overlooking the Bay. Her years of yoga practice, her love of the magical minds of children, and the tranquility of nature all came together to create what is now Magical Movement where she brings her mobile studio to you.

Stew Jones

Instructor

Oil 101
Life Drawing Basics
Dynamic Composition

Jones’ work focuses mainly on the sidelines of the city and the relationships of light and shadows within the urban environment. His subjects are the often overlooked, seemingly unimportant places and moments within the cities he paints. His unique compositions – the unexpected angles and perspectives, the shadows and light between buildings – are described with a passionate and confident touch, making these spaces instantly familiar, and yet new and exciting all at once.

Jones is currently a Professor with Sheridan’s Bachelor of Illustration program and has been teaching Drawing/ Painting since 2023. He has taught Years 1 - 3 Life Drawing, and Painting.

Stew holds a 4-Year Associate Diploma in Drawing & Painting from the Ontario College of Art Toronto (1995) and graduated from Sheridan College’s 3-Year Classical Animation program Oakville (2001). Jones is an active founding member of the Canadian Art Collective and City Field North Shore Painting Collectives, and his work can be found in several corporate collections nationwide. Jones has gallery representation in Ottawa & Prince Edward County. He currently lives & paints in Prince Edward County, Ontario. Read about his artistic journey in the Fall 2020 Edition of Invest in Style Magazine.

Angela Jane Lavender

Instructor

Art Break March Break Camp
Acrylics Skills Summer Camp
Like the Masters Summer Camp

Angela is a local mixed media artist and mom of two. In 2012 she graduated from The Visual and Creative Arts Program at Sheridan College of Art and Design with honours, a silver medal and a 4.0 GPA. Prior to that she studied Art Fundamentals through distance education at AIS in Minneapolis, Minnesota and in 2021, obtained her certificate for the Mastery Program virtually through Milan Art Institute in Georgia. She is a member of the Prince Edward County Arts Council and has taught art through the Baxter Arts Centre, The County Arts Lab, and out of her home studio in Picton. She loves sharing her passion for creating with the next generation.

Jeremy Smith

Instructor

Dungeons & Dragons
D&D Summer Camp

Jeremy Smith is a professional theatre maker living in Picton. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Driftwood Theatre, a company with a rich history of touring outdoor summer theatre, now dedicated to the development of epic and mythic stories by Ontario-based playwrights.

Jeremy has also been playing D&D for an epically long time and brings his skills as a professional theatre performer, director and dungeon master to enliven each and every adventure he leads. He lives in Picton with his wife, two daughters and their cat Merlin, Grand High Wizard of Catnaps.

Lucy Sterezylo

Instructor

Artful Adventures

Lucy is a full-time artist living and working in Prince Edward County. In her studio, Stareatjello Paper and Press, she focuses on letterpress printing, printmaking and bookbinding. Lucy enjoys exploring various art and craft practices, and sharing her creativity and passion for art making with others.

Chantal Leblanc

Instructor

Little Guardians of the Land

Chantal has worked in schools, leading art workshops for many years, working with kindergarten to grade 12. She was an artist-in-residence for 15 years, leading various themed art camps and art projects in schools and the community. She was nominated for Excellence in Arts Education from the Ontario Arts Foundation and has received multiple grants to support her work as an artist in schools and communities. Chantal is Métis and loves to share her love and respect for nature with the young ones!

Lisa VanGalen

Instructor

Introduction to Line Dance
Beginners Line Dance
Beginners 1 Line Dance
Beginners 2 Line Dance

Lisa has been line dancing for 35 years, teaching for 13. She is fond of the classics, but loves to learn new choreo to share with her students. She also likes to change the music up, including everything from country to rock. Her and her husband are new to the County and still working on their permanent accommodations, and are looking forward to getting back to country living. They are a military family, with two grown children who were replaced by two large dogs (they don’t dance). They can’t wait to meet you all!

Venus Lukic

Instructor

Venus (they/she) is currently a Prince Edward County based Visual Artist and Creative Arts Therapist. They have exhibited works in Toronto, Montreal and abroad in South Korea. They have a background in abstract painting, creative writing and conceptual practice. They enjoy blending figurative and objective impressions into colourful abstract environments. They are passionate about the arts and empowering others to embrace their own creativity as well!

Julie Seddon

Instructor

Julie Seddon is a Canadian painter who, since graduating from York University Fine Arts in 1991,has consistently painted and exhibited in and around the Toronto Area and more recently in Prince Edward County and surrounds. Her practice of photographing window reflections with their instant abstractions leads the artist to the painted works, where the imagery becomes more abstracted. The artist describes the coexistence of the natural and human made world, alluding to the fragmented way the mind records and processes memory. Seddon’s work is at once familiar and mysterious, tapping into what is seen but not realized.

Hedy Campbell

Instructor

My art practice has always been a mix of painting, sketching, and collage as well as stitching (hand stitch and free-motion machine) and sometimes combinations of these, such as Fabric Collage. In mixed media I can indulge most of these interests, and love the challenges.

I have a B.Ed. In Visual Arts. Teaching Experience: Art at High School level, and adult workshops; - Arts Council, and 5-week session at Baxter Arts Centre, & Iris Gallery. Exhibited Mixed Media: Gallery 121, Melt Gallery, Milford Coffee Gallery, Ntl. Trade Center, Tor.

Ambivalently Yours

Instructor

Natalie, aka Ambivalently Yours, is a Picton-based visual artist, animator and writer. She earned a BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University in Montreal and an MFA in Visual Art from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and shared virally online. She was artist-in-residence at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Oboro Artist-run-Centre, Espace Projet, Artengine, Sonoma State College and the Drake Devonshire. From 2016 to 2018 her installation “As Seen on Tumblr” toured galleries in North America. In 2020, The Foothills Art Center in Colorado commissioned a site-specific installation for the exhibition “False Choice”. In 2022, her book of short stories, poems and drawings “Fire and Other Feelings” was published by Thought Catalog Books. Ambivalently Yours has 20 years experience working as a creative professional and educator. She has led art-based workshops at venues such as Cambridge University, Queen’s University, the Vermont College of Fine Arts, Sonoma State College, and Carleton University, and has taught art and animation at the County Arts Council and OCAD University.

Janine Sheeres

Instructor

For the past 25 years, Janine has been dancing in Toronto with a professional, world-class Russian instructor. She has experience in Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Rumba, Salsa, Zamba, Tango, Bachata, Cha Cha Cha, and Quickstep. She is an active senior and has recently completed teaching a Basic Ballroom Segment in the County to mature students through The Probus Club. In 2024, she taught beginner Salsa and Swing and in 2025 she taught Rumba and Waltz. She has lived in the County for the past 18 years part time, now becoming a full time resident.

Alysia Ausubel

Instructor

I have always loved flowers and plants, making little gardens wherever I live and filling my home with plants and foraged objects. I worked in a local flower shop growing up before moving to Toronto, where I enrolled in various floral education programs and workshops and continued working in flower shops and studios for a decade. Eventually, I moved out to the country to open my own garden based studio and to grow more flowers. With over 20 years of floral experience, I am still just as taken by this world and love to share my passion with others.

Christine Renaud

Instructor

Christine Renaud is an activist, writer, textile artist, and certified nutritionist in Plant Based Nutrition. Working with various community based organizations, she has taught zine making, mixed media, embroidery, children’s dance classes, strength training, and healthy plant based cooking. Her belief is that creative energy can permeate many disciplines and that sharing that creativity is a path to strong communities.

Billie Smith

Instructor

Leading with an open heart, Billie’s (they/she) teaching encourages freedom from expectations and empowers you to take what you need and leave what you don’t. They specialize in teaching body inclusive, trauma informed movement classes that encourage mindful connection to breath and body. Billie attended their first yoga teacher training in the fall of 2016, and has since completed over 650 hours in training including vinyasa, group fitness, mobility, inclusivity and trauma informed teaching. Billie started her own teaching business in 2020 specializing in teaching inclusivity-focused movement classes, and began teaching movement teacher workshops in 2023. Outside of the mat Billie loves spending time outside, reading, gardening, and hanging out with their family.

Micha

Instructor

Micha (Mee-sha) is a Certified Medical Qigong Practitioner, Soul Restoration Practitioner, energy worker, and creative artist based in Prince Edward County. Her lineage-based training weaves Qigong, Daoist philosophy, soul healing and spiritual psychotherapy with somatic practice and plant medicine. She teaches qigong weekly and facilitates workshops around the County. Micha lives on a farm, where the rhythms of land and seasons inform her work. Her classes are warm, grounded, and welcoming to everybody.

Carla McCormick

Instructor

Carla McCormick is the maker behind small batch, a handcrafted soap business born in Prince Edward County, where she lives full-time.

What began on a whim grew from a desire to return to something tangible and creative, working with her hands and exploring the inspiration and ingredients offered by the local landscape, surrounding gardens, and the changing seasons.

As her soap making practice grew, Carla wanted to share the craft with others. That curiosity led to small batch workshops, where she guides participants through the art and science of cold process soap making in a laid-back, welcoming setting. Her approach encourages experimentation, connection, and the simple satisfaction of making something useful by hand.

Could this be YOU?