About Barbara Buntin

I make original print collage pieces in my studio in Cobourg ON, drawing from the energy of the natural world.  Just as collage is an assemblage of materials to form a unique composition, the layered influences on my creative life bring me to this point in my art making.

The bustle and hum of the nearby city, peaceful rhythms of our beloved shoreline and treasured opportunities to travel to wild open spaces all work their way into my abstracted landscapes. The dynamic interactions of shape and form become metaphors for our life journeys.

Some of my earliest memories involve making art and the practice remains a constant for me to process life experiences and relationships.  A grandmother who never failed to show us the wonders of the natural world, uncles who pointed me towards art history and friends and family who continue to engage in conversation about the forces at work in my art, all bring meaning and joy to the process.

My art studies in Toronto encouraged a spirit of exploration of materials, technique and a dedication to ongoing practice.  My training in Art Therapy expanded my understanding of the emotional connections made through visual art.

These layered influences are played out in my collage process.  Working with my unique printed papers, I cut and move shapes around the piece until the elements create a pathway for the eye, a place for the imagination to dwell.  The shapes, colours and movement in the materials seem animated while I construct the scene, resulting in compositions that echo human energy and geological transformation. 

I enjoy the opportunity to exhibit my work in Galleries and Art Shows both locally and in Toronto as well as welcoming visitors to my studio by appointment.  The conversations that arise with the viewer are a sustaining part of the process of making art.

Artist Statement

I’m drawn to wild, open places; I feel a sense of connection and wholeness there.  Within that vastness I’m bearing witness to the cyclical nature of time and finding evidence of incremental movement that promises change. I yearn to express that potential for change.  I’m aware of a deep and quietly powerful demand for us to learn what’s at the heart of our existence, to uncover what fuels us and learn to express and protect it.

I compose each piece based on personal observation in the natural world.  I’m aware of how the experience affected me; the mist on my face during a hike, the surreal sense of the clouds reflected in the water below my canoe or the evidence of a glacier’s path on the rocks beside the sea.  That personal response becomes part of the way I express the scene.

I’ve been told that I have a way of personifying inanimate objects, that I imbue soul into rocks, paths and trees.  I happily embrace that description; the life I feel in those elements of the landscape are as compelling and soothing as a beloved friend.

My process involves an experimental approach to printing, drawing and painting on a variety of papers which then become the materials for my abstracted landscape collage pieces.  I use natural patterns and textures as the stimulus for the surfaces I create.  Once these papers are placed within a composition they imbue each area of the piece with subtle variation and movement.

Selected Exhibitions

2025- Solo exhibition, ReVision, Ganaraska Art, Port Hope ON

2022 - Northumberland Hills Studio Tour

2022 - Riverdale ArtWalk, Toronto ON

2022-present, Represented by Ganaraska Art, Port Hope ON

2021- 2025, 25 Days of Minis Online Holiday Show

2021- Autumn Artisan Market, online fundraising exhibition for the McMichael Canadian Collection

2021 - Riverdale ArtWalk, online exhibition

2020 - Layered Landscapes, solo exhibition, Northumberland Arts Gallery, Port Hope ON

2019 - Riverdale ArtWalk, Toronto ON

2019 - Art Gallery of Northumberland Wall Takeover

2019 - Northumberland Hills Studio Tour

2019 - Autumn Art Sale, McMichael Canadian Collection Kleinberg

2018 - solo exhibition, Metaphor, Whitby Station Gallery, Whitby ON

2014 - 2018, Simple Pleasures, an Annual Show of small works, Cobourg ON

2015 - 2019 participation in Juried Exhibitions at The Station Gallery Whitby and The Visual Arts Centre Clarington

2015 - 2017 representation at The Engine Gallery, Port Hope ON

2015 - Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit

2014 - Group Exhibition, Idea Exchange, Cambridge ON

2004 - 2014 representation at the artist run Colborne Art Gallery

2012 - 2014 representation at The Crimson Feather Gallery, Alton ON

2013 - solo show, off the map, The Colborne Art Gallery, Colborne ON

2013 - Beauty in the Eye exhibit and theatrical performance,
Etobicoke Civic Centre & Port Hope on Main Street

2012 - Figuratively Speaking feature show The Crimson Feather Gallery, Alton ON

2012 - Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit

2009 - Solo show, in this moment , The Colborne Art Gallery

2008 - 2012 Northumberland Hills Studio Tour

2008 - 2010 Propellor Gallery, Toronto ON, Washi 1 & Washi 2 & Go Figure

2008 - 2010 group shows The Upstairs Gallery, Port Hope ON

1985 - 2022 Numerous Regional Juried and group Exhibits, including fourteen Art Gallery of Northumberland Juried Shows

Art Work in private collections in Canada and USA, including in the Permanent Collections of The Art Gallery of Northumberland and The Japanese Paper Place, Toronto ON.

Professional Affiliations

Past Member and Chair of the Colborne Society of Artists, Colborne ON, www.thecolborneartgallery.ca

Past Marketing Committee Member, Northumberland Hills Studio Tour, www.northumberlandstudiotour.ca

2010 Juror for Ontario Arts Council National & International Residency Program

The Shelter Valley Folk Festival, a Founding Member, past member of the Board of Directors and Artists' Village Coordinator

Private Art Therapy Practice serving Individuals and Groups

Education & Awards

2025 one week residency at Point Pelee National Park

2022 Best Mixed Media, Riverdale ArtWalk

2019 Second Place Award Juried Exhibition Visual Arts Centre Clarington

2017 Honorable Mention, Juried Exhibition, Art Gallery of Northumberland

2016 and 2017 Best Drawing Awards for Juried Exhibitions at Visual Arts Centre Clarington

2012 Awarded an Ontario Arts Council Exhibition Assistance Grant

Awarded funding by the Ontario Arts Council National & International Residency Program

for a seven week trip to the Yukon in the fall of 2012

Expressive Art Therapy Course, Sir Sandford Fleming College

Art Therapist Training Program, Toronto Art Therapy Institute, Toronto ON

New School of Art, full time studio program, Toronto ON

Part time studies in life drawing, painting & sculpture; Ontario College of Art & Design, Three Schools of Art & Central Technical School, Toronto ON