“pARTners”
Partners in life.  Partners in art.

Exhibition Theme

Artem Paramonov and Raynelle Paramonova have been life partners for 29 years and
partners in art for the past 6 years.  Each clay sculpture or painting created and chosen for
this exhibit will celebrate the challenges and triumphs of partnerships; between partners, artists, animals and humans.  For example, “Foxy Lady” is a pastel painting that Raynelle created from a photo that Artem captured of a mother fox.  She needed our help to free her from a leg-hold trap so she could return to her young family. Partners in life.

Biographies
Raynelle is Canadian (B.C. girl) and Artem was born and raised in Eastern Ukraine. 
In 1994, when she was teaching ESL with her parents in Central Ukraine, she met
a ‘tall, dark and handsome’ man, Artem.  They fell in love and married in June 1995. 
They moved to Edmonton in 2000 and have worked and raised their three kids in the city.  Artem is a Network Engineer and Raynelle is an artist and art educator. 

In 2018, on a date night, Raynelle introduced Artem to throwing clay on a potter’s wheel. 
They quickly discovered that Artem has a natural talent for creating beautiful pottery.  He taught himself by watching videos from expert potter’s and lots of practice.
Raynelle struggled with conquering the potter’s wheel; so, she transferred her art skills
in acrylics and watercolours to ceramic art.  She started painting, using underglazes, on the pottery that Artem throws for her.  They continue to collaborate on the creation and decoration of vases, mugs, bowls, urns and other ceramic items. 

In 2020, their potter’s studio was closed due to Covid restrictions, so they brought their clay and glazes home. While waiting to set up a kiln and potter’s wheel at home, they both started working on clay sculptures.  While Artem’s sculpture style is abstract and very imaginative,   Raynelle’s sculpture and painting style is Realistic/impressionistic.