about the artists of Summer House Studio

about us

SUMMER

HOUSE

STUDIO

We are the Bushells - Helen, Bill and son Eric,.an eclectic family creating sculpture, mosaics and paintings for the home and garden as Summer House Studio.

You’ll find us in Victoria, BC, which is just about the most tropical place in Canada. And yes, we can grow palm trees here. OK we admit they’re pretty hardy palm trees.

We all work quite differently and the mix of fun and viewpoints makes for great creative ideas. As a group, along with our great friend, Hart Downey, (see Hart’s work featured as our guest artist) we’re heavy into recycling, art and just having fun.

So if you are looking for a gift for a gardener or for your own garden or home, or other artwork, we hope you will spend a bit of time with us and enjoy our galleries in Sculpture, Mosaics, Fine Arts and Design.

Our Bios

William (Bill) Bushell

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art and with Post graduate time spent at the U of A, Bill has been involved with painting, drawing and collage, showing his work in Calgary and until recently at Fran Willis Gallery here in Victoria. He has had many years working in Graphic design creating book covers for many authors and designing for corporations. While his paintings and mosaic pieces express a love of abstraction, his work has often drifted into incorporating the human face and figure as well as the landscape. He often uses photographs in his work, in part or whole, applied to the surface with various media and has an affinity for collage. His first series in cast stone while still abstract, has as it’s inspiration the Art Deco period.

Helen Bushell

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art with a major in Painting, Helen has since spent many years immersed in the art of mosaic. Her pique assiette mosaics collage broken dishes and ornaments into a variety of themes and have even made their way to the garden as stepping stones. Her interests vary, often following a serendipitous course from flowers to abstraction. Helen enjoys teaching mosaics and creativity to her many students every year.

Helen is the writer of the group. Check out her new blog for ideas about inspiration, getting creative, recycling, gardening, mosaics and anything else that catches her fancy.

Eric Bushell

After achieving Honors in Art in High School, Eric went on to the Alberta College of Art where he majored in Jewelry. His jewelry often incorporates semiprecious stones, silver and found objects. He’s worked in antique restoration and as a scenic artist for theatre and film in Victoria. The set he designed for the play “ The Ant and the Grasshopper” went on tour across Canada and to China. He has always been drawn to figurative sculpture and architectural detail and his two Green man pieces “Oak Man” and “Grape Satyr” give this expression. Sculpting in clay as well as soapstone just feels natural to Eric and he never knows exactly where an idea will lead.

Guest Artist and Great Friend Hart Downey

A graduate of the Alberta College of Art with a major in Painting, for the past 10 years Hart has shifted a lot of his artistic focus to mosaics. If you can’t find Hart toiling away in his eclectic garden, you may find him searching for treasures at flee markets to incorporate into his work. Hart is a collector. Everything from Found Objects for the garden, to 50s decorative wall plaques, salt and pepper shakers and jelly molds,--- if one is good a dozen is better. He creates lush surfaces filled with vivid color in his home and garden and artwork. That is where he finds inspiration, looking at and enjoying all of these areas. Painting. drawing, collage , photography as well as garden design and decorating are the ways he chooses to express his vision.