Nathalie Lambert is Canada’s Chef de Mission for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. She is a pioneer in short track speed skating—first introduced to the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (1988) as a demonstration sport. <read more>.

Susan R. Makin, brush on canvas, strives to reveal the best in people, objects, and abstraction. Her mission: to develop clear, powerful, and purposeful expressions and associations with “happy art.”  <read more>

Veronica Kvassetskaia-Tsyglan is an internationally renowned portrait artist, featured on Bravo’s Television’s popular Star Portraits series. Recent notable commissions include:  Mr. Mike Maedy (CEO Canon Canada), Sonja Bata (Bata Shoe Museum), Countess Von Wedel, Bishop Michael of Canada, Steam Whistle Founders, Dmitri Hvorostovski , Measha Bruggergosman and many more. Veronica was a First Place award Winner and Peoples’ choice Award Winner at the 2002 International Portrait Festival Competition in Toronto. She is a member of the Arts and Letters Club (Toronto) and founder of the Portrait Society of Canada.<read more>

Helen Nichol is one of Canada's most accomplished female Badminton players. She was born on February 18, 1981. Her sporting accomplishments include:  PanAm Games, 2003 (Gold Medalist), Dominican Republlic International, 2003 (Gold Medalist), Brazil International, 2003 (Gold Medalist), Pan Am Team Championships, 2004 (Gold Medalist), CaReBaCo International, 2004 (2 gold Medals), Athens Olympics 2004 (17th place finish),  <read more>.

Deborah Pearce earned her BFA from Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. She studied art under Robert Bateman at Nelson HS, and received a Canada Council Grant to paint the people of Africa. She studied portraiture at the American Portrait Institute in New York under John Howard Sanden and is an award winning member of the Portrait Society of Canada. Deborah has spent her life painting commissioned portraits, across Canada.  She has also painted large scale commercial murals in Ontario and the US. Deborah has taught art from Cape Breton to Vancouver. Presently, she teaches painting and portraiture at the Burlington Art Centre. 

Daniel Nestor was born in Belgrade,Yugoslavia Sept 4, 1972 and moved to Toronto just before his fourth birthday. He is Canada's most successful, and longest playing, tennis player. He is the world's Number 1 Doubles tennis player. He has currently won 62 tennis titles, including 4 Grand Slams and Wimbledon 2008 and 2009. In 2000, he won the Olympic Gold medal for Canada in Sydney, Australia. He also plays for Canada in the Davis Cup.  <read more>.

Ian Millar was born in Nova Scotia in 1947.  For more than three decades, he has been at the forefront of the Canadian equestrian scene. Ian is the most decorated equestrian in Canadian history, earning numerous medals and over 130 Grand Prix and Derby victories. He is a world champion and Olympic vice-champion of show jumping. He has participated in nine Olympic games (1972 to 1988) and has won nine canadian championships in show jumping.   <read more>.

Johanne Demuy has been an artist and portrait painter for about 15 years. She attended the Mission Renaissance Fine Arts School in Montreal, graduating in 1995. There, she learned painting techniques from Old Masters to Impressionists.  This school’s teaching methodology involved recreating many Great Masters’ works. Johanne is a representational artist, at ease with portraits, still life, and landscapes, either in oil or soft pastel. She thinks the richness of a painting is determined by its subject matter and composition, and considers a painting finished when it awakens in her the beauty and emotion she wishes to convey. <read more>

Jim Elder enjoyed more than three decades of Equestrian success, something rarely duplicated in other sports. He led Canada's Equestrian Team to numerous victories from the 1950s to the 1980s. During his 36 years in competition, Elder competed for Canada in seven Olympic games, five Pan American Games, and three World Championships. For his outstanding riding, Elder has won two Olympic Gold medals for team competition, in Mexico City (1968) and the alternate games in Rotterdam (1980).<read more>.

Marc Gagnon is one of the most successful athletes in the history of Canadian Winter Sports. An Olympian in 1994, 1998, and 2002, he won Gold at Salt Lake City in the 500m and 1500m relays. as well as Bronze in the 1500m . At Nagano, in 1998, he won Gold again in the 500m relay. With five olympic medals, Marc is the most decorated Canadian Olympic Athlete in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. In addition, he was five times World Champion and title-holder of all major Short Track Speed Skating races for many years. After a 24-year brilliant career in speed skating, out of which 10 were with the Olympic Canadian Team, he retired in 2002.

Jean-Marie Laberge was born in Chicoutimi, PQ, Canada. He has hundreds of sculptures in private collections in the US, Australia, Mexico, UK, France, Japan, and Canada—among them former MP Brian Mulroney and Jean Charest, Quebec LMP.  His work is also in corporate and public collections that include: Air Transat, Akan, Bombardier, Loto Quebec, Hydro Quebec, Glaxo International, CGI, Musee des Beaux Arts Sherbrooke, COPAP, Ultramar, Cegerco Inc, Canadian Bar Association, Metropolitan Insurance, and PFCN Inc. <read more>

Brady Reardon is one of Canada's top canoeists. Born in, 1986. Brady won three Gold, three Silver and one Bronze medal in the 2007 Canadian Sprint Championships. In the 2007 World Championships he placed 26th.   He placed 17th In the World Cup in Germany, and in the World Cup in Hungary, 8th.  At the Beijing Olympics (2008), competing in his K-4 1000m sprint event he finished 9th overall in the finals. Brady is presently studying kinesiology at McMaster University. His father, Jim, paddled for Canada at the 1972 games in Munich.

Deborah Pearce earned her BFA from Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB. She studied art under Robert Bateman at Nelson HS, and received a Canada Council Grant to paint the people of Africa. She studied portraiture at the American Portrait Institute in New York under John Howard Sanden and is an award winning member of the Portrait Society of Canada. Deborah has spent her life painting commissioned portraits, across Canada.  She has also painted large scale commercial murals in Ontario and the US. Deborah has taught art from Cape Breton to Vancouver. Presently, she teaches painting and portraiture at the Burlington Art Centre. 

Clara Hughes’s Olympic dreams began in 1988, when she caught her first glimpse of the Winter Games on Television. Watching speed skaters glide around the oval inspired her to believe that one day she, too, could represent Canada in that same sport. Little did she imagine that in pursuing her speed skating dream, she would first compete in two Summer Olympic Games, in another sport—cycling. With over one hundred victories under her belt, including two Bronze Medals in the 1996 Olympic Summer Games, Clara had established herself as one of the best cyclists in the world. It was now time to refocus and pursue her Speed Skating Dream.<read more>.

Jennifer Foster's drawings and paintings stress an appreciation of the everyday world. They seek to capture and convey positive things found in everyday life:  the peace and grandeur of the landscape, and the warmth, dignity, and inner strength of people. Portraits are a particular passion for her because of the opportunity they offer to capture seemingly conflicting elements.  She believes that a portrait needs to be accurate and yet expressive, representational but also perceptive and open to what lies below the surface.  A portrait, for Jennifer, is much more than a likeness.<read more>

Eric Lamaze is from Schomberg,Ontario. A winner of Olympic  Gold for Equestrian Individual Show Jumping in Beijing in 2008, his horse, Hickstead, is considered to be one of the finest around

Marcy Silverberg is a graduate of the University of Toronto and Seneca College, trained in  Computer Illustration.  She has participated in various shows in the Ontario countryside, solo and group.

Josh McGuire is a three-time Canadian champion. Born in 1983, he started fencing when he was only six years old, taking lessons at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He has been a member of Canada's National Men's Foil teams since 1996, and has proven himself time and again. In 2000, not only did Josh win gold at Canada's Nationals, in both the junior and senior categories, he also came first at the Cadet World Championships. His career has been on the rise since, with a qualification for, and 29th place finish at, the 2004 Athens Olympics when he was 21.    <read more>

Jamie MacDonald lives in Kingston, Ontario, and is a graduate of Queen’s University, with a BA (Hons) and BEd.  Aside from high school and community art classes, he has little formal artistic training, and has taught himself through an intuitive process.  Though he paints landscapes and illustrations, he prefers portraiture.  His goal, through portraiture, is to reveal the unique character of each person, and to tell their story as best he can. His medium of choice is oil, which he finds to be the most “satisfyingly messy.” <read more>

Frazer Will was born in 1982 in Saskatchewan, where he still lives, and is a judoka. He won Gold at the 2006 and 2007 Panamerican Championships, the 2007 Chinese Open, and three national championships in the lightweight (60 kg) division. He finished in 7th place in his division at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Hon Kong, as a young Asian, Hon, immersed himself in a land of graphic novels, with Mangas and Animes.  For him, the comics and cartoons of North America don’t feel as real. Beyond expressing the dreams and fantasies of their North American counterparts, graphic novels told stories of actual historical legends. The realness of the Mangas and Animes made Hon want to make art with “strokes of his hand.”  <read more>

Joannie Rochette is 5-time Canadian Champion in Women’s Single Figure Skating and reigning World Silver medalist. At the 2006 Olympic Games, in Turin, Italy, she placed 5th. Her elegant style and remarkable athleticism are a joy to watch. Joannie has represented Canada in several dozen international competitions. She has won medals in Canada, France, Germany, China and Russia and has stood on the podium 12 times in Grand Prix Series Competitions, alone..<read more>

Sylvie Frechette was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1967.  She is a Canadian Synchronized Swimmer, who won Gold in the 1992 Summer Olympics and Silver in the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1999, she was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. She has also contributed as a swimmer, designer, and coach to the synchronized swimming portions of Cirque du Soleil's "O," which opened at the Bellagio hotel, in Las Vegas, in 1998.

Yann Mathieu is a Wheelchair Tennis Athlete. In 2008, he and three other Wheelchair Tennis Players representing Canada, attended the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing. Appointed by the Canadian Paralympic Committee, these athletes are the best in their class. Yann trained for the Paralympics in a high performance system, which provides coaching and resources to help athletes to achieve their optimum performance. He competed against 64 of the world’s best athletes in men's singles and doubles events. Yann resides in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec and is currently ranked no. 2 in Men's Wheelchair Tennis in Canada.<read more>

Martha Southwell  is a classical realist artist residing in the Niagara region of Ontario.  Her paintings show the beauty in all subject-matter and the essence of the human spirit.  Painting subjects include people, wildlife, landscape, architecture, and vintage cars.  Her paintings are delicate in style, but strongly convey the subject’s personality.  Martha is a member of the Portrait Society of Canada and has attended several conferences on the art of portraiture. In 2008, her painting, “The Champion,” was a finalist in the Portrait Society’s International Portrait Arts Festival. <read more>

Joannie Rochette is 5-time Canadian Champion in Women’s Single Figure Skating and reigning World Silver medalist. At the 2006 Olympic Games, in Turin, Italy, she placed 5th. Her elegant style and remarkable athleticism are a joy to watch. Joannie has represented Canada in several dozen international competitions. She has won medals in Canada, France, Germany, China and Russia and has stood on the podium 12 times in Grand Prix Series Competitions, alone..<read more>

Sami Jo Small grew up on the outdoor hockey rinks of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Her passion for the game was honed in the Boys’ Minor Hockey System. As the only girl, she was forced, each and every day, to prove that she belonged.  This came through hard work and determination. Like her teammates, she dreamed of playing in the NHL. But, she also had a greater personal dream: to step onto the podium at the Olympic Games. She accepted a scholarship to Stanford University for Track and Field to throw the discus and javelin. Her dream of participating in the Olympic Games flourished until injury plagued her career.  She assuaged her feelings of failure by returning to the game she grew up loving: hockey.<read more>

Jennifer Robinson was born in 1976 in Goderich, Ontario, and is a Canadian figure skater who finished 7th at the 2002 Winter Olympics. She is a six-time national champion. After she finished her amateur skating career, she skated professionally with Stars on Ice. Presently living in Barrie, Ontario, she has been involved with, and has done some on-air, radio work at CIQB-FM.  She has worked with Darren Stevens as well as hosting a dinner hour news show called First Local for Simcoe County’s Ontario Public Access Rogers Cable Station.

Evert Bastet was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela. He moved with his family to Dorval in 1955 at the age of five. Evert grew up beside Dorval's Yacht Club, where he began sailing at the age of nine and competing at age 11.<read more>

Steven Rosati
Steven has studied the style and technique of the old European masters and instills his paintings with the same remarkable realism and beauty. <read more>

Barbara Ann Scott captured Gold in the ladies figure skating at the 1948 Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland: the only Canadian woman in history to win that coveted medal. This Canadian skating legend achieved her triumphs with the help of coach Sheldon Galbraith of Toronto, the same man who also inspired Oshawa's Don Jackson: the first Canadian man to celebrate Gold in a World Championship. Galbraith also contributed to the success of skaters Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul, who achieved the Pairs Gold Medal in the 1960's Olympics in Squaw Valley, California.<read more>

Raymond Thomas Woodhams began painting in 1992, as a hobby shortly after retirement. He studied landscape painting under the direction of Douglas Purdon, and completed courses at the local Art Works and Art School. Thereafter he became a member of the York Artists Guild, and later, the Portrait Society of Canada. He recently completed a course in Botanical Drawing given by Nellie Sue Potter. He has participated in several exhibitions since 1992 and will have his first solo show next year at the University of Guelph Humber Cultural Gallery in Toronto. <read more>

Silken Suzette Laumann, MSC was born in 1964, in Mississauga, Ontario. She is a Canadian Champion Rower. Since 1976, Silken Suzette has won many awards, including a Gold Medal in Quadruple Sculls at the US Championships, two Gold Medals in Single Sculls at the Pan American Games, a Bronze Medal at the 1984 Olympics in the Double Sculls with her sister Daniele. At the 1988 Olympics, Laumann finished seventh in the Double Scull.  <read more>

Petra Burka was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1946. The daughter of Ellen Burka, she came to Canada with her parents in 1951. In 1961, she was the Junior Canadian Skating Champion and the Senior Canadian Champion from  1964-1966. In 1965 she won the World Figure Skating Championships, the first Canadian to win the event since Barbara Ann Scott in 1947. She represented Canada at the 1964 Olympics and won the Bronze medal. She was also two times Bronze medallist at the World Championships.

Liane Amendy paints Canadian landscapes and people. Her greatest interest is in portraits and figurative art. Currently she is working on a series of paintings, which will combine both landscapes and figures.

Daniel Nestor was born in Belgrade,Yugoslavia Sept 4, 1972 and moved to Toronto just before his fourth birthday. He is Canada's most successful, and longest playing, tennis player. He is the world's Number 1 Doubles tennis player. He has currently won 62 tennis titles, including 4 Grand Slams , Wimbledon 2008 and 2009. In 2000, he won the Olympic Gold medal for Canada in Sydney, Australia.  <read more>.

Tracy Cameron was born in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. She won one World Rowing Championships medal:  a Gold in 2005 in the Lightweight Quadruple Sculls with Melanie Kok, Mara Jones and Elizabeth Urbach. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in the women's lightweight doubles with partner Melanie Kok and won Bronze.

Simon Whitfield was born May 16, 1975 in Kingston Ontario. Finished 2007 ranked second in the world. The three-time Olympian who is regarded as one of the world's top triathletes, won gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney and finished 11th at the Athens Games in 2004, won silver medal in Beijing 2008.Won three World Cup events in 2007 and took first at the 2008 World Cup event in Ishigaki, Japan. Has 15 World Cup podium finishes and is tied for second among all-time World Cup winners with 11 victories. Placed fourth at the 2007 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Won gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. Was the bronze medalist at the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada.

At the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Donovan Bailey not only won gold medals in the 100 metre sprint and the 4 x 100 metre relay, he broke the Olympic and world records in his 100 metre run. In 1998, Track and Field News declared him the “Sprinter of the Decade”. In 2001, Donovan retired from competitive track and field, winning many competitions worldwide along the way. The following year he founded the Donovan Bailey Fund which is committed to the advancement and financial assistance of Canadian amateur athletes. Today, he stays extremely busy with his various corporate and charitable initiatives.

Valda-Christine Glennie is a Londoner who earned a B.A. at the University of Western Ontario, a B.Sc. A.A.M. (Art As Applied to Medicine) from the University of Toronto and has completed Sheridan College's Computer Animation program. She has worked as a medical illustrator freelancing in Toronto and as a computer animator in the US for Andover.net, Inc. Recently Valda-Christine returned to Canada and is now pursuing a life long interest in portrait painting working from her studio on Dundas Street in the heart of downtown London, Ontario.

Artists are Athletic and Athletes are Artistic.  Both Are Canadian!

Canadian Olympic Athletes and the Portrait Society of Canada bring art, athleticism, courage, and community together.  One country, different modes of expression and different opportunities leading to similar objectives, messages, and achievements. 

Athletes’ and artists’ bios have much in common. To attain such high standards, reach goals, pursue dreams, and make their country proud, they have had to work very hard and not give up, whatever the challenges. Many have grown up and or trained in other countries, but come to call Canada home. They are thrilled to represent her, winning medals and accolades, locally and internationally. Ways to do this might not, always, have appeared certain, sure, or predictable, and some exceptional folk have had less recognition than they merit. 

Even when talent comes naturally, it doesn’t, usually, shine without the necessity of making unusual efforts and sacrifices, giving inordinate amounts of time and resources to help develop and nurture it. And, even with extreme dedication, there are still no guarantees—of reward, recognition, or satisfaction. Winning doesn’t have to be everything. Just being chosen to participate should be enough. But, it isn’t always...  Being so close, but yet so far, often without others’ understanding of the efforts made, begs further consideration and attention.

Regardless of outcomes, or how others feel about them, those who are successful in their athletic and artistic vocations know that their journeys are often lonely, long, and hard. Getting juried in and accepted, even without medal or acquisition following, can be arduous. Easier daily routines have to fade into the background:  self-discipline, endurance, and persistence being required to take over. Teams and groups may strategize together and have a spirit of camaraderie and fun along the way. But, there are still obstacles: not wanting to let self or others down, or cause embarrassment, may be restrictive, as can having to keep up the pace and not fall behind. Pressure and persistence are ever-present. Responsibility, obligation, and accountability prevail, even when end-results tend to, and or have to, appear flawless and uncomplicated.  The simplest objectives, and outcomes can have the most intrigues, detours, and dangers.

Bringing art and athleticism together requires courage, community, and conviction. We know that our sportsmen and women are terrific. Our artists are, generally, a little more hidden from public view—and not just due to the nature of their work, study, or personalities. With Canadian government cuts to arts funding, there just aren’t the mechanisms and support options to help grow talent and have it shine publicly. Canada, as one country, has different modes of expression and accomplishment to show off to the world. History, and popular opinion, more often than not, has Canadians being better known for their sportsmanship than artistic craft/cultural endeavors.  

In 2010, Canadian Olympians are uniting with Canadian artists to help make a difference and highlight that all Canadians are important, whatever their talent source and dedication to it.  Undying enthusiasm, energy, and the exceptional ability to go the distance and stand out, and up, count!  The Portrait Society of Canada’s artists’ unique involvements with Canadian Olympic athletes, during a year when the Olympic Winter Games are being held on home territory—Vancouver, Canada—has ground-breaking significance.  

As Canadians, it is imperative that a precious opportunity is seized, to help show a united and special front to the world, that we are happy to work and display together, no matter our areas of expertise and accomplishment, or pathways to get there.  Reciprocity and avenues for connection and celebration help us feel like we belong and can be part of something greater than ourselves. There can be multiple ways to be proud, as participant, on-looker, collaborator, or supporter, if we are open to them.  The portraits of Canadian athletes painted by Canadian artists contribute to, and enable wider goals and achievements—help better and lesser known citizens make their mark together, building community power, pride, and purpose.  A great nation is only as great as the sum of its parts (the individuals in it)!  Part by part, athlete, artist, and viewer, we can all prove this together!

Please watch and support our Canadian Olympic athletes at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. Also, please view and support, on-line, and in gallery, the Portrait Society of Canada’s artists’s show:  “Canadian Olympic Athletes:  A Dialogue in Art.”