MISSA Board of Directors and Staff

Tony has been working as a professional photographer for twenty seven years and is a photo arts graduate (BAPA) from Ryerson Polytechnical University. He is a member of The Professional Photographers of British Columbia (PPABC) and The Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC).

He currently teaches Photography, Digital Photography, Photo Based Mixed Media and Collage at The Victoria College Of Art and is a part-time second year instructor at The Western Academy of Photography. He also runs workshops in Collage, Encaustics and Mixed Media. Tony is also one of the founding members of The Imagists (a Victoria based Arts collective).

He exhibits and sells his own Fine art prints and mixed media work throughout North America.

Tony has both taught and been a student at MISSA and loves the energy and sense of creative community that MISSA provides.

Life-long Metchosin resident Isabel has been involved in the arts scene since taking up weaving and dyeing in the ‘70s. She has taught for Convergence, the biennial conference of the Handweavers and Spinners Guilds of America, and exhibited in many Weavers Conference shows.

Several years ago, Robin Hopper talked her into joining the MISSA board. She took the course on colour taught by Barbara Shelley some years ago, and has since concentrated on textile art from the sewing machine rather than the loom. She is a member of “Fibres and Beyond”, a group of twelve textile artists formed in 2002.

Robin Hopper is a man of many parts, mostly worn out, rusty or dysfunctional, due to a lifetime of excesses! He started working seriously with clay at the age of three and is still doing it 65+ years later. This lengthy career as a potter has included side trips into working as a Professional Actor, Stage Designer, Property Maker, Stage Manager, Stage Carpenter, Failed Musician, European Travel Guide, Founder of Several Clay/Craft Organizations, Amateur Alchemist, Amateur Geologist, Ceramic Historian, Educator, Author, Garden Designer, Lecturer on Japanese Garden Design and History, Laborer and Star of Stage, Screen and the Potter’s Wheel! He has written six books, countless articles for magazines worldwide and been at the center of 13 educational videos related to working with clay. He has taught in England, all Provinces and Territories of Canada, 42 States of the US, all States in Australia, as well as New Zealand, Japan, Korea, China and Israel. With his wife Judi Dyelle, he owns and operates ’Chosin Pottery, just outside Victoria, B.C., Canada. An extensive website shows their work, studios, gallery and gardens. www.chosinpottery.ca

Ann Pennant has served on the Board for many years. In her spare time she is a fibre artist.

As well as being a member of the Board, Barb is a MISSA student and is an important part of the registration team.

Betty Burroughs has been a potter for over 30 years and is still as passionate about clay as ever.  She has had the privilege of studying with such top ceramicists as Robin Hopper, Gordon Hutchens, Les Manning, Vincent Massey, Tom Coleman, Steven Hill, Bill Shinn and many others.  She is a founding member of Pacific Rim Potters, South Vancouver Island Potters Guild and Muddy Women.  MISSA has been a big part of her life, first as a student and now as a Board member and co-ordinator of “Friends of MISSA”.  You will find her at the Registration desk with Barb Lovick ready to welcome you when you arrive.

“I have had a life long passion for nature, spirituality of nature and paint. During the past twenty five years my body and soul have traveled extensively across this land, thus nicknaming Canada, ‘my big backyard’. The diverse scenery I have encountered from coast to coast has heightened my sense of landscape formation and structural forms, colors and patterns. Because of its vastness, nature has offered an incredible variety of subjects to examine and pursue. At present, I try to combine elements of abstraction and traditional realism in my work. With respect to the spiritual aspect of my work, the simplicity of a landscape displays great power. It commands respect for nature, exposing how insignificant I am… a small integral part of the environment.”

Carol Rae is a Vancouver artist now living in Lake Cowichan. Her art education spans many years and includes California College of Arts and Crafts, Western Washington State College, & Central Washington State College. She specializes in printmaking, but has also enjoyed glassblowing, photography, costume and set design, bookbinding, collage, painting, sculpture, and yodeling. Her work has been featured from coast to coast in both Canada and the US in shows and publications. She has been teaching off and on for 30 years and believes she learns more with each experience. She has been on the MISSA board of directors for several years.

Karel Roessingh is a composer, arranger, producer and musician who has written scores for over five hundred television episodes, and many award-winning films, documentaries, and promotional videos. He has recently written for a number of Bravo Channel features, and is currently working on music for interactive electronic toys. As well as performing on countless recordings for other artists, he has produced more than fifteen of his own recordings, including several for the Canadian Naturescapes series which have been distributed world-wide, two jazz trio CDs and many solo piano CDs, the latest three just released in November. He has performed with symphony orchestras and rock, jazz, folk, show and country ensembles throughout the world, from small-town bars to concert halls and battleships to cruise ships.

After studying  visual arts at Camosun College in Victoria and commercial photography at Sheridan College in Oakville Ont, Jo-Ann went on to assist in commercial studios in Vancouver and Los Angeles before opening her own business.  She has been working as a commercial photographer in Victoria  for the past 16 years.  www.worksphotography.ca

She has been a student at Missa since 2009 and credits MISSA for  opening her eyes to her need  for pure creative expression.

Dave has been active in the Victoria arts community for many years and has volunteered with and served on the boards of organizations including the READ Society, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Theatre SKAM and Village 900, the student radio station at Camosun College. He enjoys applying his passion for visual design to his work as a freelance photographer and writer.

Meira Mathison, an internationally recognized potter and teacher, has maintained the studio, Dancerwood Pottery in Victoria, BC for over 30 years. Meira served as the Executive Director of MISSA for over twenty years. Now a full time studio potter and instructor, Meira is noted for her high fire altered porcelain work that uses a variety of textures, colour additions, thick slips and multi-layered glazes. Her pots reflect her environment, the west coast rain forest and the deserts of Nevada, where she has worked and taught for many years.

Shana ‘s love of art can likely be traced back to her preschool years of fingerpainting with chocolate pudding. Her tastes in art and chocolate have developed since then and she can be fairly opinionated and passionate about both. When she isn’t helping out in the MISSA office, she helps Robin Hopper in his studio and in the gallery at ‘Chosin Pottery. The office would not run nearly as efficiently without Shana. Always cheerful and informative, Shana is a delight to talk to on the phone.