Visual Arts Nova Scotia is pleased to officially announce the participants of this year’s Mentorship Program. Selected from a strong field of applicants, we welcome three mentees: Aimee Daigle, K.Plantinga and Stephanie Kossmann to the program. We are thrilled to pair them, respectively, with Marianne Brown, Bonnie Baker and Susan Tooke. This year’s program is based in the Annapolis Region. A pilot based on program review two years ago that suggested alternating between a rural community and metro HRM would provide opportunities to deepen community connection alongside the one to one relationships.

Aimee Daigle (mentee)

Originally from BC, I have called Nova Scotia home for the past eight years.

My passion is creating one of a kind, small scale sculptures that are wearable and meaningful. I work in precious metals and sometimes include semiprecious stones. I hand fabricate everything from sheet and wire and enjoy including filigree and granulation in many of my pieces.

One of the first jewellery pieces I made is a ring modelled after the mountains in BC where I am from. I wear this ring every day as it is a nod to my home of origin, but it also acts as a daily reminder that creativity is part of my core being so not to lose focus on this. I would love my art to act as relics or totems for others to remind them of what they value most.

Marianne Brown (mentor) From Thunder Bay ON, Marianne moved to Gabriola Island when she was twenty-one. She completed a four year apprenticeship in jewellery making and repair, in Nanaimo BC. She then spent 4 years on Granville Island in Vancouver, learning to hand fabricate jewellery, and doing piecework for a goldsmith, who worked for Bill Reid. Marianne operated The Red Door Studio, in Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island for 8 years, selling original pieces, and doing custom work.

After closing her shop, Marianne sold her work through galleries, and craft fairs.In 2019, Marianne moved to Annapolis Royal, to join Lucky Rabbit & Co.  Gallery shows include a two person show at The Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and a solo show at ArtsPlace in Annapolis Royal, Amulet – Portraits & Jewellery.

Marianne also weaves, and plays cello and violin.  Her work history includes film set dresser (Vancouver), retail display (IKEA new store buildups across Canada), theatrical set and props maker, stagehand (Vancouver Island).

Kyle Plantinga (mentee) is a musician and emerging visual artist from Vancouver Island, currently based in rural Nova Scotia. After many years touring across Canada in bands and as a solo musician—building a reputation for immersive, emotionally evocative performances—he began seriously pursuing visual art in 2023. Working intuitively, Plantinga creates paintings that often depict landscapes and surreal figurative forms, exploring what he calls peaceful tension: the coexistence of beauty and calm with a hint of the discomfort of being human. His background in music continues to shape his visual practice, and his public presentations often combine painting with audio or performance elements to create immersive experiences. Plantinga’s work has been presented at ArtsPlace in Annapolis Royal, 50/50 Arts Collective in Victoria, and mai/son in Montreal.

Bonnie Baker (mentor) fuses printmaking with experimental photography, manipulating materials to reflect the tension between the physical and the mutable world. Her current work serves as a metaphor for the complicated histories of geographic dispersal shared by plants and humans.

Bonnie often approaches her work with questions that consider how time, light, weather, and materials can communicate her ideas.

Bonnie works as an artist in a small rural community in the Kespukwitk district in the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaw Territory in Nova Scotia. In addition to drawing, printmaking and photography, she is known for her earlier work in textile. Outside the studio, Baker is affiliated with community and art based organizations, extending her practice into community engagement, teaching, mentoring and research.

Stephanie Kossmann (mentee) is a contemporary American Canadian artist. She works in her studio/gallery in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. She grew up in a coastal town in Massachusetts and lived in Ontario and Vermont. Her current work focuses on abstract oil painting and sculptural assemblage.

Her background combines studio art with environmental science (Studio Art, Geography, Boston University) and a graduate certificate in positive change leadership (Positive Organization Development, Champlain College). Her work balances a need for creative expression and analytical thinking.

​Since 2016, Stephanie has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada.

Her work has been featured in The Vermont Art Guide, The Remembered Arts Journal. She has received several grants and awards, including a $75k USD gift administered by Burlington City Arts, VT which helped her complete several major projects.

Susan Tooke (mentor) received the Established Artist Recognition Award in 2015 in acknowledgement of her artistic contribution to the province of Nova Scotia. Her artwork for children’s literature resulted in four Lillian Shepherd Memorial Awards for Excellence in Illustration.

She has served as national chair of Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens, and on the boards of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Visual Arts Nova Scotia, the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, The Annapolis Region Community Arts Council, and the Elephant Grass Printmakers Society.

With painting the foundation of her studio work, she is also known for her work in textiles, sculpture, and media arts, including sound, video, and animation. Current work uses abstract imagery to make political statements about human impact on our planet and the fragility of life.

Featured Image details: (L to R) Mountain Ring, March 2017, Sterling Silver, 2.4cm x 2.5cm x 1.3cm, A. Daigle,  Untitled Abstract, 2026, 46” x 40”Acrylic on Canvas, K.Plantinga,  Auriole Woven and patinated copper wire

5x12x12 2026, S. Kossmann