Artist: Clarence Porter
Medium: Soft pastels on sanded paper
Dimensions: 19.5''x 32''

Bidding on this artwork will take place at the Live Auction event, Friday, April 4. Tickets available at the link at dvsa.ca. Absentee bids can also be placed in advance – request a form at the school office or email bid@dvsa.ca.

Biography
Clarence worked in the Toronto advertising world as a graphic designer/art director until leaving to become a freelance commercial illustrator: a career move that spanned 30-plus years of creating illustrations for everything from packaging and logo designs to children’s books and magazine editorials, while working in a wide range of mediums. After relocating to Hamilton, he started working with pastels for his own pleasure, and in 2006 Clarence was juried into the Pastel Artists Canada’s Purely Pastels Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Hamilton where he received an Honorable Mention. That was the impetus needed to continue working with pastels and he hasn’t looked back.

Clarence is represented by Earls Court Gallery in Hamilton and his work is collected locally and internationally. He received his Master Pastel Artist of Canada (MPAC) signature designation from Pastel Artists Canada in 2014 and was elected a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America (PSA) in 2016. He has also received his Master Circle designation from the International Association of Pastel Societies, is a member of the Société de Pastel de l'Est du Canada, and the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Clarence recently retired from teaching at Sheridan College where he enjoyed eight amazing years working with creative young minds. He is now a part-time instructor at Dundas Valley School of Art, as well as an occasional instructor at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. Ongoing sources of inspiration for Clarence are the live and Zoom pastel demonstrations and private mentoring sessions he instructs all over Canada and North America. He finds collaboration with other artists using different media rewarding and enriching too.