I live and work in the oldest train station in the Maritimes in Rothesay, NB, having moved here from Ontario with my two sons in December 2023. I worked for many years in arts education and engagement, creating events and programming that brought arts learning to untraditional community spaces, often with a focus on environmental and community justice issues.
I create visual art in two different forms under the names Nigel is Awkward and Rogue Goat.
My Nigel work plays with text, depictions of animals and people, pattern and colour. It is frequently irreverent, overrun by rabbits and a visual extension of my writing practice.
Rogue Goat work began in 2011 in partnership with my husband Josh Hill. We were fortunate to build a strong following and travelled across Canada frequently to present our work at juried art fairs and festivals, proud members of the maker movement. In 2022 Josh died by suicide. I continue to make RG, taking on Josh’s woodworking contributions to sustain our core aesthetic ~ live edge wood inscribed with tree roots married with acrylic paintings punctuated by trees, with found object and mixed media embellishments.
I am also a writer. I wrote arts & culture profiles for community newspapers for a number of years. In 2020 I began taking writing workshops with Sabrina Orah Mark, experiences that transformed my writing.
Awards
2024 Best Creative Non Fiction Essay, Writer’s Federation of New Brunswick
2017 Best 2D Art, New Arts Festival, Ottawa, ON (RG)
2016 People’s Choice Award, Circle Craft, Vancouver, BC (RG)
2015 Honourable Mention, Best Booth, One of a Kind Show, Toronto, ON (Nigel)
2014 Best in Show, Summerfolk, Owen Sound, ON (RG)
2014 Best in Craft, Circle Craft, Vancouver, BC (RG)
2011 Finalist, Murray Clerkson Award, Collingwood, ON.
Grants
2015/2016 Ontario Art Council Exhibition Assistance Grants
2014 Circle Craft Travel Scholarship
Selected Juried Markets
One of a Kind Show Toronto, One of a Kind Show Chicago, Circle Craft Vancouver, Signatures Edmonton, New Arts Festival Ottawa, Calgary Art Market, Edmonton Folk Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Cabbagetown Arts Festival, Harvest Picnic, TURF.
Selected Community Art Projects
2022/23 Griefcake
2022 Reconciliation Art Crowdfunding (Elaine Doy)
2021 Reconciliation Art Crowdfunding (Brent Henry)
2021 Orange Shirt Day Classes & Installation
2019 Groundhog Day Children’s Arts Show
2014 Collingwood Aquatic Center Mural
2014 Collingwood Waterfront Collaborative Mural
2013 Cameron Street Mural
2008/2009 Eye (i) Art Installations
2008 Sonic Orchard, Art & Ecology Festival
2007 The Traveller Project
2006 Collingwood Public Garden Installation
Selected Volunteer
Saugeen Shores Mayor’s Economic Taskforce, Treasurer Owen Sound Artist Co-Op, Town of Collingwood Arts & Culture Committee, Collingwood Public Library Visual Arts Committee, Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts Gallery Restructuring, Magic of Children in the Arts.
