Studio West Instructors 


Nicolas Uribe (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Nicolás Uribe is a painter based in Bogotá, Colombia. He graduated with Honors as an Illustration Major from School of Visual Arts in NY. Nicolás has had numerous solo exhibitions both in the US and South America, and has exhibited his work in Mexico, Spain, Egypt, among other countries. He splits his time between preparing works for upcoming projects and teaching Life Drawing and Painting at the Fine Arts Faculty of the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá. Nicolás is also currently part of the team at Blank Atelier in Bogotá, where he teaches workshops privately.


Andrew Hem (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Andrew Hem  graduated from Art Center College of Design in 2006 and has exhibited internationally with shows in LA, Chicago, Seattle, NY and London. When not painting, Hem has built a career as an accomplished illustrator and designer working for clients such as Adidas, Lucky Brand Jeans, The Los Angeles Times, Sony Pictures as well as being published in the LA Times, Print Magazine, Guu Press and American Illustration. He has taught a number of classes at Art Center College  of Design as well as other studios. 


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Peter Chan 

Peter Chan is a painter based in Toronto. He began his professional career as an artist for Imaginism Studios, where he created paintings for film, television, trading cards, and books. In recent years, Peter has completely dedicated his time to traditional painting and preparing for upcoming exhibitions. His paintings has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in cities such as Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Montreal and Toronto. Peter teaches painting workshops privately as well as in institutions such as OCADU, Sheridan College, Seneca College, and Algonquin College.


Harvey Chan (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Born in Hong Kong and educated in Canada, Harvey has been leading a successful career as an illustrator for many years in Toronto. Harvey has received numerous awards through his career nationally and internationally. He is known for his diversified portfolio of work and a good balance between traditional and contemporary approach to his art. He has created 2 series of Chinese Zodiac design and worked on individual projects for the Royal Canadian Mint and most recently, the Year of the Rat stamp design for Canada Post. Besides illustrating and teaching, Harvey also keeps himself busy with personal work and creating gallery work. Harvey taught drawing, painting and illustration at Ontario College of Art and Design University, and Sheridan College. Harvey has also taught figure sculpture and drawing at The Toronto School of Art. Harvey has moved back to Hong Kong in Dec 2012 and has since then developing his career as artist, illustrator and educator. 


Anita Kunz (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Canadian by birth, Anita Kunz has lived in London, New York and Toronto, and has been widely published in Germany, Japan, Sweden, Norway, Canada, South Africa, Holland, Portugal, France and England. Her work has been featured in Time magazine, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, The New York Times, Sony Music, Random House Publishing and many others. Her work has also been published on many magazine covers including Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times Magazine, and on more than fifty book jacket covers. Articles about her work have appeared in Graphis and Novumgebrauchsgrafik magazines (Switzerland), Communication Arts and Step by Step magazine (USA), Idea, Illustration and Creation magazines (Japan), Applied Arts (Canada), Nuvo (Canada) and The Design Journal (Korea).


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Keita Morimoto

Keita Morimoto is a painter working in Toronto, Ontario. Morimoto was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and moved to Toronto in 2008 in order to pursue a post secondary eduction at OCADU. He has exhibited his work in several group shows around Toronto, Tokyo, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, as well as participated in a number of charity auction events to raise money for Japan relief after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Morimoto has recently mounted a solo exhibition in the Media/Retail Space of Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. His work has also been included in the 2014 collection of Art with Heart Auction at Casey House. 


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Gosia (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Gosia is a professional sculptor living and working in Toronto. Born in Poland in 1982, she moved to Canada in 1994. With a background in Illustration from Sheridan College, Gosia has been a professional artist for six years. Her career of creating and selling artwork through galleries and contemporary art fairs has led her to her passion for sculpting. Most recently Gosia was a finalist in the International ARC Saloon Competition and her works have been featured in Hi-Fructose Magazine as well as House & Home Magazine. Gosia's sculptures have been exhibited in solo and group shows in Canada and the U.S.


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Jeff Simpson (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Jeff Simpson is a concept artist and illustrator living in Montreal Canada, currently working for Ubisoft Montreal. His previous clients include Eidos (Deus Ex franchise) Ubisoft (Assassins Creed: Revelations, Assassins Creed: 3, Assassins Creed: Unity), Universal Pictures (Snow White and the Huntsman), Lionsgate (The Last Witch Hunter), MovingPictureCompany (various films to be announced), The Mill (VFX concept for several advertisements), Wizards of the Coast (Magic The Gathering).


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Megan Ellen MacDonald 

Megan Ellen MacDonald graduated from OCAD University in 2013 with a BFA in Drawing and Painting, and upon graduating was awarded the Xpace Summer Residency at Artscape Gibraltar Point, with an accompanying solo exhibition. She has since exhibited work in Canada and the US, and has had her work featured in both the Toronto Star and CBC Arts.


Benjamin Björklund (Past Guest Workshop Instructor) 

Benjamin Björklund is a 27-year old prolific swedish painter, born and raised in the south-west of sweden. Other than the time he attended an art high school for one year, he has been predominantly teaching himself and painting in his home studio. He has mounted a few group exhibition in Sweden, currently planning out his future exhibitions.