Louis Bockner
I have been working as a photographer in the Kootenays for the past 15 years, specializing in photojournalism and event coverage. Over the years I have taught various photography courses including a similar course to this at Oxygen two or three years ago.
I have a certificate from the New York Institute of Photography as well as the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria.
https://www.louisbockner.com///www.instagram.com/louisbocknerphoto
Hi my name is Leonard Erlbruch and I’m a children’s book illustrator for more than 20 years.
Born in Wuppertal, Germany, I moved to Leipzig to study Illustration at the HGB where I did my diploma in illustration.
I worked for many well known publishing houses in Germany and created the yearly published “”Kinderzimmerkalender”” (children’s room calendar) for Peter Hammer Verlag.
I recently moved to Nelson, with my wife and our kids.
http://leonarderlbruch.de/
Susan Andrews Grace is a poet and visual artist. Her seventh book of poetry, The Waiting Bench, will be released by Gaspereau Press in 2027. She holds a BA in Philosophy and an MFA in Creative Writing, has exhibited visual works in public galleries over the last thirty plus years, mostly in Canada, but also the USA. Andrews Grace has lived in Nelson since 2001 and was one of the founding faculty of Oxygen Art Centre.
Gaëlle Lalonde is a trained printmaker with a strong foundation in silkscreening, illustration, and fashion design. After managing a children’s clothing brand and working as an illustrator and graphic designer, she returned to silkscreening as the leader and instructor at the community workshop Afko.Sérigraphie in March 2026, where she guides participants in screenprinting techniques.
Gaëlle holds a BFA in Studio Arts with a focus on Print Media and Textiles from Concordia University, and an MA in Illustration from the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (University of Graphic Arts and Book Design) in Leipzig, Germany. Her academic and professional experience has provided in-depth knowledge of screenprinting processes and a passion for sharing these skills with others.
www.gaellelalonde.com/silkscreen
https://www.instagram.com/afko.serigraphie
Emilie Leblanc Kromberg started her practice in the applied arts and has been a professional artist since 2010. Materials, their transformation and ancient techniques were aspects that ignited the spark that brought Emilie to work with metals, textiles and clay. Goldsmith by trade, she explored the subject of adornment by the making and selling of her jewellery in art shows across Canada.
Since studying Fine Art in the Netherlands at the ArtEZ AKI Academy for Arts & Design, her work has expanded out of the 3-dimensional form to incorporate painting, photography, video and sound. Through the exploration of these new mediums in tandem to her initial disciplines she seeks to investigate the multi-faceted bonds between human and object.
Myra Rasmussen is a community engaged artist, who focuses on the role of festivals and celebrations in bringing people together. Originally trained in sculpture, she graduated from Wesleyan University in 2004, where she was awarded a degree in studio arts with high honors. Since 2009, she has been based in Nelson, British Columbia, where she is the artistic director of the Polka Dot Dragon Arts Society, which focuses on creating multidisciplinary events that link the arts, nature, and community. In addition to her work with festivals, she also has extensive experience with lino and woodblock printmaking and is part of the ink + moon calendar collective. She teaches in schools through the ArtStarts program and at the Oxygen Art Centre.
Danielle Soucie is a fibre artist, educator, and co-founder and Coordinator of the West Kootenay Fibreshed. Her practice explores locally grown and gathered fibres, natural dyes, and the transformation of raw materials into cloth. Working with flax, nettle, wool, and alpaca fibre, she is interested in material literacy, traditional skills, and the relationships between land, labour, and textile-making.
Danielle’s education has developed through self-directed study, mentorship, experimentation, and years of hands-on practice. She has facilitated workshops and community learning opportunities in flax processing, spinning, natural dyeing, and regional fibre systems, creating welcoming spaces where beginners and experienced makers can learn through shared exploration.
Marceline Tanguay
Hello, my name is Marceline and I have worked in the Animation industry for over 15 years. My most recent work was story boarding for the movies Dog Man, Gabby’s Dollhouse and Puss in Boots 2 at Dreamworks Animation. I also did storyboarding for Cartoon Network, and created many Character designs for Pixar, Warner Brothers, Sony, BlueSky and Paramount Studios. I studied at Sheridan College in Animation and wish to bring back fast-pace costumed life drawing to help everyone enhance their skills in drawing fast, which can be applied to all art related disciplines.
Doug Thorburn
My formal fine arts training includes two years at langara college in Vancouver, and two years at DTUC here in Nelson. I have been involved in similar informal drawing sessions since moving back to the Kootenays in the late 80’s. These sessions have taken place in a variety of venues from the SUB building on the CIC campus, to people’s living rooms. The current Oxygen sessions carry on this tradition of volunteer led, community based life drawing sessions.
Zen Wang is a polymath renaissance man who specializes in anything that is challenging and worthwhile. His art has won many awards and was exhibited in galleries in Canada and the USA. His films have premiered in Toronto and other communities in Ontario.
He is an engineer with a MBA and a film diploma from Vancouver Film School.
His sculptures have been selected for the Castlegar Sculpture Walk for three years in a row.
Zen teaches Digital Art at Selkirk College and he volunteers as a firefighter and does Chinese Lion dance during his Abundant Spare Time.