Blog

August Featured Artist: Justyna Z

August’s Featured Artist is Justyna Z, a scroll saw artist from Brantford. Justyna launched her business, Lush Lemon Co., in 2016 after discovering – and falling in love with – a scroll saw. Since then, creating beautifully unique 3D signs has become her full-time passion.

Justyna admits that she’s always had a creative brain first. Her resume includes work in painting, macramé, sculptures and photography. “I remember being young and, instead of asking for Barbies or LEGO, I would ask for the...

October Featured Artist: Nathan Balog

October’s Featured Artist is Nathan (Nate) Balog, a Brantford metal artist and the owner of Nate’s Custom Metal Worx.

Balog began working for a steel manufacturer in his early teens, where he learned basic welding techniques through trial and error. His biggest inspiration was his grandfather, Nicholas Balog, who could regularly be found working in his shop on different wood projects. “When I saw how he could build anything…” Nathan recalls, “…I wanted to learn to do the same.” 

His father...

Featured Artist: Kara Spencer

September’s Featured Artist is Kara Spencer, the Artistic Director of Theatre Hive, a brand new theatre company that just opened in Brantford earlier this year. Spencer is a trained actor and director, and is also competitively trained in tap, jazz and ballet.

Spencer grew up in Kingston, Ontario where she danced competitively, performed in many musical theatre productions, and attained her British Association of Teachers of Dancing Certificate. She recalls a life-changing moment in third grade...

August Featured Artist, Chris Strei

August’s Featured Artist is Chris Strei (pronounced “stray”), a country music singer/songwriter.

His music includes blues, bluegrass and even a bit of hard rock, and is inspired by Chris Stapleton, Johnny Cash and High Valley. As a songwriter, he finds inspiration within his own life challenges. He loves to share his music with others and feels personally rewarded when audience members sing along to his songs or find a personal connection to his lyrics. “Whether it’s from finishing a song and feeling...

July Featured Artist: Brianne Lavallee

July’s Featured Artist is Brianne Lavallee, the one-woman show behind downtown Brantford’s Bathtub Bakery. A few years ago, Lavallee noticed that many of her coworkers were strong, female entrepreneurs. She realized that she also wanted to create something that she was passionate about. “If I could land myself in my own business that I absolutely loved,” she says, “I would never feel like I was going to work.” 

She has always had a passion for eating delicious treats and creating new ideas....