About Symeon

Symeon has been working as a professional artist for over 30 years. While he is best known for his work as an artist, when the occasion merits, he also teaches and writes. He currently lives with his family in Alberta, who, from time to time, help in his different artistic endeavours.

A love of simple beauty naturally tunes Symeon’s hand and eye, and his mind travails the rambling thoughts necessary to tell a good story. This makes his perception of the world around him unique, but from it, he has cultivated a sense of wonder and curiosity. His artistic practice is drawn from local colour inspired by the land.

Latest BLOG Posts

  • Conestoga Blue

    Ever since I did the 100 Mile ART Project for the city of Cambridge in 2008, the studio has used indigo for its blue pigment. Finding a local blue in southern Ontario was one of the project’s biggest challenges. As with most of the work, it was the fantastic community that formed around the project … Read more

  • How to Plant Woad Seed

    Since a few people have asked for more details about how to plant woad seed before the winter snows get too deep, my daughter and I decided to create a short video about how we do it here at the studio. Please feel free to ask for additional information in the comments section below, and … Read more

  • Sharing Woad Seeds

    If you’re someone who follows what the Conestoga Iconographic Studio is doing, you’ll know that we really like the colours we create here in the village. And, one of our favourite local colours is the woad blue we make every year. Creating indigo blue from woad plants goes back into Neolithic history, and the colour … Read more

  • Woad Blue

    It seems to me that all blues are the colour of the air—and this is certainly the case for woad blue. As the fall season comes to Canada, the hazy sky of summer clears and becomes a blue as deep as eternity offset by the flaming yellows and reds of the trees’ autumn leaves. It … Read more

  • Firing Ochre and Bone

    This week I fired some ochres and bones at my studio in Conestoga. I love this process, and was excited to see the results of heating a few different soils and clays from here in the village in my outdoor firing pit. I’d also been given a large bag of bones last fall from a friend who had … Read more