Artspace Book + Zine Fest 2022

ArtSpace 6th annual Book and Zine Fest, a celebration of regional press, zine, and comic arts runs from Monday, March 7, 2022 7:00 am to Sunday, March 13, 2022 5:00 pm. Rob Niezen is participating with a digital vendor booth, featuring three of his projects. Artspace hosts a number of activities as part of this Zine Fest. Check them out here.

Rob Niezen again participating in the Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour

Sandy MacFarlane and Rob welcome you to their studios during the Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour on September 25 and 26, from 10am to 5pm, for a view of what they have been up to the last few years.

Last year we could only do this by appointment, so it is a relief to be able to open up. To make everyone feel safe and at ease, we will follow COVID-protocols as laid out by the Peterborough Public Health Unit and the Government of Ontario.
• Masks are required while visiting the studio
• Physical distancing measures will be in place
• Hand sanitizer will be available
• Maximum capacity for the total of our studio spaces is 12 persons
• Visitors are required to complete COVID-19 screening questions and contract tracing prior to entering the studio

As always the event is curated and organized to perfection by the Art Gallery of Peterborough, and you can find all you need to know about the studio tour, including an interactive touring map and a printable map, as well as artist links and bios on the gallery’s website.

Rob Niezen illustrates children’s book by Jamaican author Angela Punky Stultz

 

During the strange year of 2020 I had the pleasure of working on illustrations for a children’s book titled Ameliya Dissappears. Jamaican author Angela Punky Stultz has combined childhood memories and her deep understanding of community culture to create a story of a little girl living with her grandmother and cousins in the Caribbean who stumbles upon her grandmother’s age old family secret. It is now available on Amazon
In the Peterborough, Ontario area copies are available at By the Books, 384 Water St, Peterborough, LAUNCH at the Art School of Peterborough, 174A Charlotte St, and Happenstance Books & Yarns, 44 Queen St, Lakefield.

Rob donates 50% of sales to Jamaican Self-Help on November 28 and 29

Jamaican Self-Help’s 14th annual Artisan Show & Sale will look a little different. This year, the organization invites you to shop online for local, handmade gifts, and I’ll donate 50% of all sales of linocuts and oil paintings to Jamaican Self-Help (JSH) during the two-day event. Email me at or call me at 1-705-933-9988 for any purchases, and mention JSH. My website includes all available work.

Want to know more about the good work JSH does in Jamaica? Visit  Jamaican Self-Help

OSA 147th Open Juried Exhibition

This juried exhibition of contemporary art is going virtual this year. Jurors John Bingham (Photographer), Ron Bolt (RCA, Painter) and Cathy Groulx (OSA, Painter), selected Rob’s nocturnal oil painting Metro Glow and 81 other works from over 372 submissions. See the online exhibition here.

Rob Niezen at Artspace Book + Zine Fest

Rob Niezen will participate in the 5th Annual Artspace Book + Zine Fest that takes place at the Peterborough Public Library on Saturday, February 29, 2020 from 10 am – 5 pm.
This event will feature artist-made zines, comics and graphic novels, letterpress prints and cards, the work of small presses, woodcuts, screen prints, handmade books and other types of book and paper arts by thirty artists.

Fire and Ice receives Honorary Mention

At the Art Gallery of Bancroft’s 37th Annual Juried Exhibition, jurors Laura Culic and Marc Gagnon, awarded Fire and Ice an honorary mention in the Still Life category. This 24 x 24″ oil painting shows the last light shining through a glass of white wine and two water glasses with lots of ice; through the window we see a downtown Tucson, AZ street with a yellow umbrella and woman on her phone: a moment of reflection. The painting was created as part of Rob Niezen’s Celebration series. The exhibition of close to a hundred artworks at the Art Gallery of Bancroft runs through December to the end of January 2020.

Shows in Fall 2019

This fall is turning out to a busy and exciting time, with a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Bancroft titled Nocturnal Reflections, opening November 1st, and participation in a number of other shows.

Also opening November 1 is Squared, a 50/50 fundraiser for the Art School of Peterborough. Six of my Celebration pieces, ranging from 6×6” to 24×24” are on the walls looking for new homes and supporting the art education programmes for this not for profit organization.

November 7 will see the opening of PRINT 2019 at the John B. Aird Gallery in Toronto, for which one of my Heads & Tales linocut-mixed media prints was accepted. This is a promising exhibition for fans of printmaking.

Five of my oil paintings are part of A Holiday Art Market at the Colborne Street Gallery in Fenelon Falls. This show runs from Thursday, November 7, 2019 until Sunday, January 5, 2020, with a reception on Thursday, November 21.

On November 23 and 24 I’ll be participating in the Jamaican Self-Help Artisan Show and Sale in Peterbrough with linocuts and my Heads & Tales works, as well as doing demonstrations. Funds raised during this show will support education and community development programmes in Jamaica, and in the inner-city of Kingston in particular.

And lastly, my most recent Nocturnes can be found at Studio22 Open Gallery in Kingston and at Meta4 in Peterborough.

Rob Niezen opens studio during 2019 Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour

Sandy MacFarlane and Rob Niezen invite you to their studios in Douro, just east of Peterborough. Get the brochure issued by the Art Gallery of Peterborough, that you can pick up at the gallery and at many other locations, and  map-out your itinerary.
We hope for some fine fall days for a drive in the country, and are looking forward to seeing you Saturday September 21st or Sunday the 22nd.

Rob Niezen Artist