Me and my art
I am a visual artist living on Ile-du-Grand-Calumet, in the Ottawa River, west of Ottawa/Gatineau. As an artist, I am primarily self-taught. I began my career as a Batik artist. Then, in 1985 with the assistance of two study, research, and production grants from the Québec Ministry of Culture I began exploring the medium of Hand Painting on Silk. Since then I have never looked back. Through the years, I have used this medium to create wearable art (one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories) flyable art (kites), hanging art (framed paintings and large wall hangings) and silk sculptures.
In recent years, I have studied and experimented with different types of printmaking: Relief (woodcut and linocut) and Intaglio (Etching and Dry Point). Never wanting to leave my silk painting too far behind, I have done some unique relief printing on hand-painted silk.
Over 45 years, I have exhibited my work in exhibitions and galleries in Ontario and Quebec, and internationally in Nagoya Japan, St. Petersburg, Russia, and Vermont, USA. In 2006 I was invited to participate in an art/nature symposium in Petit-Nation, Quebec where I completed my first outdoor land art installation. In 2004, I illustrated the book «Trap Axe and Plough, The Settlement of the Pontiac».
I have taught silk painting at Algonquin College Mississippi Mills School of Art, The Pontiac School of the Arts and at regional schools through the Quebec Culture in Education program as well as giving workshops in my home studio.
I am a founding member of the Pontiac Artists’ Association, the Pontiac Artists’ Studio Tour, and the Pontiac School of the Arts.
I have received awards for Best of Mixed Media, Best in Show and, Artists’ Choice Awards at various exhibitions during my career. I was featured in Canadian Living Magazine, Ottawa Life, and in regional newspapers and television.
I am always looking for new challenges and new ways to express my vision. I welcome commissions and collaborative works.
In 2023, as part of their “Art to Heart” video podcast interview series featuring venues, artists and artisans from across the Outaouais region, the 100 Mile Arts Network filmed a video of me in my studio.
You can view the video at Art to Heart – Dale Shutt