Brenda Castonguay Photography Inc.

08/11/2026

Pretty impressive! Did I mention I sold my piece in this fantastic show! Click on the see more below. ✌️😎

And about that painting… 🎨💩🌎

Wendy Chartrand’s portrait 'The Don of Dung' led the Sooke Fine Arts Show around the world this summer.

The Donald Trump portrait, created with an especially unusual medium, appeared first on , then on CTV News, NowThis, The Daily Beast, Times Colonist, Black Press including the , and other news outlets across New York, Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Turkey and Russia. It even inspired a song or two.

We’re grateful to our media partners for covering the story with balance, humour, and an appreciation for the role of art in reflecting its time. We also extend a heartfelt thank you to Wendy and the artwork’s purchaser, who handled the unexpected—and considerable—media attention with remarkable grace.

The attention also had an impact beyond the news. This year, the Show welcomed a 20% increase in attendance, generated a 300% increase in social media engagement, and and briefly crashed our website—quite a way to celebrate turning 40!

This one, unforgettable art piece may have captured headlines, but our visitors were captured by a gallery filled with hundreds of other creative and original works, award-winning artists, a vibrant youth gallery, and the remarkable community of artists, volunteers, sponsors and patrons who have built the Show over four decades.

Sooke Fine Arts Show 2026: 40 years of art, one record-setting celebration, and a little more attention than anyone anticipated. 💙

08/07/2026

“Undulate Glow” 20x30 1st Edition has been adopted!! It glows in the dark too! Buy the remaining editions here: https://shop.toviewmore.ca/products/shadows-at-long-beach-20x20-1st-of-3

08/07/2026

“Undulate Glow” 20x30 1st edition is going to a new home! 2 editions are left - get it while it’s HOT! https://shop.toviewmore.ca/products/shadows-at-long-beach-20x20-1st-of-3

07/28/2026

It is such a delight to have my entry “Milky Foam” accepted and then sold at the distinguished Sooke Fine Art Show! Cheers to keeping art alive on Vancouver island. 🥂

07/27/2026

“Herring Jewels” triptych has sold!

07/19/2026

Hey look! It’s meeee! Keeheeehee! ✌️

There’s something about stepping inside an artist’s studio. The works in progress, the materials, the stories behind the pieces. 🎨

Today and tomorrow, two self-guided studio tours will open up the creative world of Parksville Qualicum Beach — the Summer Breeze Studio Tour (10 AM–4 PM) and Studio Tour San Pareil (10 AM–5 PM).

Studio Tour San Pareil also includes a silent auction raising funds for a wheelchair for a young boy in our community — a small gesture with a meaningful impact.
Grab your map in advance from The MAC or The Old School House Arts Centre.

Head here for the details: https://www.visitparksvillequalicumbeach.com/blog/summer-art-events/

Photo: .artscentre

06/19/2026

The regime has reached all the way across the pond.

06/09/2026

There’s just something about this photo that makes me come back to it. Should I paint it?
Mystic Beach Pacific Rim BC.

05/06/2026

When I first saw this photo I was shocked - I thought it was a photo of me in the mid 80’s! I looked closer, my doppelgänger, same hair, same slouch, same intensity when sketching. Everything about it -right down to the deck shoes (I lived in my deck shoes till they fell apart)! My second thought was DAMN this chick has life by the ass. Accomplished artist, art teacher, even an art magazine publisher supporting other Vancouver island artists. I godda meet her! She published my first west coast magazine cover and double truck spread. Coolest chick ever.
She just passed away suddenly of an aortic rupture. All I can think of is the amazing amount of artists she’s promoted, inspired, taught, encouraged. She built a pretty groovey legacy in island arts. None of us will be as cool as Susan Schaefer RIP.

From the archives, in a land far far away, many moons ago, I am doing a little outdoor sketching. I don't remember that day, but I do remember that car.

https://gallery.susan-schaefer-fine-art.ca/

05/02/2026

This is a reticulated Quartz that has a glow in the dark element! I’ve painted two layers of phosphorescent gel in the cup behind the stone. A great idea for Mother’s Day!