Lori Kallay

I have had a life-long passion for art and have been fortunate  enough in my life to pursue this passion.  I am a self-taught artist. I grew up spending summers and weekends year-round in the Haliburton Highlands in Ontario. This has had a profound influence on my art. I remain loyal to the area with my studio at my cottage.

Working mainly in acrylics and watercolour, my purpose is to take you, the viewer to a different place. Through a passionate attention to detail, I aspire to allow you to feel the breeze or the coolness of the water; to smell the fresh air and hear the wind and gain a sense of calm and sublime intimacy with the place by feeling that you are, indeed within the subject of my work. Awareness of a fragile environment is established through the intimate connection that I try to create between you and the image.

 I volunteered as an illustrator for my cottage association's newletter for 9 years. The newsletter has a readership of approximately 550 members. I created pen & Ink illustrations for both the cover and articles within the newsletter. This was a great opportunity for me to really explore my cottage surroundings and present the images to my fellow cottagers in an artistic manner.

I created the cover for my cottage association's 50th anniversary commemorative book.  This was a great challenge for me to create a nature scene in a more graphic art sense.

I have always believed that children are the best artists. When they are in the junior grades of elementary school, they have no fear of judgement. Their art is pure expression. What a joy it is to experience that. So, for that reason, I have worked as a volunteer in my local elementary school as an art instructor for grades 1 to 8 since 1997. I encourage them to understand that art is subjective. Art created may not be appealing to one person, but beautiful to another. I also introduce the kids to as wide a variety of mediums as possible. We explore work by various artists and styles. It is fun for both the kids and myself! We organize a yearly art show where each child in the school has at least one piece of art in the show. We make art important. It is a very fulfilling activity, and one I hope I can continue to do for many years to come. In a surprising turn of events,"The Lori Kallay Visual Arts Award" was created by the staff of the school to recognise the student who demonstrated great creativity and produced the most interesting work over the course of the school year. What an honour it is for me, and I shall always be grateful for the acknowledgement. 

The Scarborough Arts and the Haliburton Arts Guild are two groups that I am proud to be a member of.

I am also currently involved in a Toronto district School Board art initiative called "Creativity Can". I sit on a committee for this important project. This is a wonderful project designed to make the arts more important in our schools.  It gets the kids and the teachers invloved in visual art, drama, music and dance.

Coming in mid-February 2012, is a coffee table book entitled "Artists of Algonquin"(ISBN 978-0-9877864-0-1). Within the pages are 37 talented artists from the area around Algonquin Park. Each artist presents thier interpretation of this most magnificent and iconic Canadian landscape. I am fortuate enough to be included with these amazing artists and Robert Bateman has written a forward expressing his love of this area and support of the artists featured in this wonderful book. It will be available for sale at local galleries and shops in the regions around Algonquin including the Muskokas and Haliburton and Algonquin Park Visitor Center.

 I hope that I may be blessed with many more opportunities to create for years to come. I have passed the torch for creating beautiful images to my children and they possess an amazing talent for artistic endeavours. I couldn't be more proud!