ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rhonda (nee: Bobinski) Beckman
Rhonda Beckman has had the advantage of growing up in Northern towns across Ontario and Manitoba; picking blueberries in the hot sun, paddling a canoe down a lazy stream, listening to the howl of a lone wolf….it is inevitable that her surroundings are going to influence her artistically.
Rhonda left Red Lake, Ontario, after high school to obtain her Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours Degree, then continued on to receive her Bachelor of Education Degree at the University of Manitoba. She then taught Visual Arts at RLDHS for almost 20 years while continuing to make her own art on the side.
In 2014, Rhonda established herself as the sole proprietor of The Clever Corvid Art and Art Workshops, and continues to run artistic workshops for all ages and abilities.
In 2015, Rhonda and her husband Brad took on the adventure of buying a derelict piece of property outside of Dryden to slowly turn into a space that can be shared with artists across Canada and globally. After years of driving back and forth between Red Lake and Dryden, they moved to the land permanently in 2022. It is then that the building of The Bird House came to be: an artist’s retreat and workshop studio in the heart of Sunset Country in Northwestern Ontario. A 25 year dream of Rhonda’s was coming to fruition.
Rhonda is a multi-media artist and a scavenger that enjoys integrating several art mediums and techniques into one art piece. She enjoys using “lost and forgotten” mediums such as coffee and Bic pens, but she also enjoys going back to a purist perspective and using mediums as they were originally intended. She truly loves using reclaimed materials in her work, which is her creative way of recycling and giving back to the Earth. Lately, she has loved using found natural objects and incorporating them into her art.
Rhonda works in a variety of movements, from Abstract collage to Expressionism to Realism as well as a variety of styles such as alcohol ink tiles, photography, watercolour, found object sculpture, jewelry, printmaking, book illustrating and writing, and digital art.
Rhonda is passionate about Art Education and its importance in the development of not only creative, but critical thinking. When not developing educational programming, running workshops, or working as an artist in residence in schools, she can be found roaming their acreage with her husband and dog, Willow, and occasionally her son, Alexander when he comes to visit.