MASTRIUS mentoring info



Master Artist Mentor @mastrius.official

I am pleased to announce that I will be offering online mentoring
through the MASTRIUS platform.
CLICK for registration and more info
2 hour ZOOM sessions 
THURSDAY (3rd week) each month
Starting FEB 19th 2026

Register NOW as it will be an intimate group (max 8). For the ASPIRING level - so lots of basic next steps to give your creative practice confidence and once a month - you can learn from anywhere! 

With support from our group NAVIGATOR we'll manage the Zoom platform and enjoy live chats, quick demos and feedback on the challenges & progress in your painting practice.

And yes there will be homework!
That's how we push forward with PRACTICE ;-) 

I live in a small town - so I look forward to meeting new students and connecting online with those from afar.
Bring your questions and roadblocks - and lets get it done!

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JAN POYNTER  -  Artist Statement   2026 

The world is a never-ending source of inspiration & wonder to me. Whether in my own garden, on a mountain top or sitting on a rustic wall in ancient places – I strive to find the beauty in the commonplace and capture the awesome bits to celebrate. As a painter I am always chasing the light – and feel there must be darkness to make the light shine. 

My current acrylic painting “style” and techniques have developed over the past 20 years – a unique combination of underpaint, drawing, layers of luminous glaze and random marks. Summer finds me painting plein air – on location early to late - catching the transient skies, light, shadows and sparkling shimmer and reflections on water. I love the patterns in Nature of dynamic growth and movement, from trees & waterfalls to snowslides & gullies. A single leaf, the center of a flower, the geology of water, ice and stone hold a lifelong fascination for me.

Working in Acrylic, Watercolor & Gouache. These small studies and my sketchbook along with a thousand reference photos inform my large studio paintings throughout the winter months. I also use digital devices as studio tools to develop compositions and color for my canvas & palette.

Over 50 years career as professional illustrator, designer & fine arts painter, I have developed a skill set with a vast knowledge of materials and techniques.  My job as a teacher & mentor is to help others to SEE as a painter and pass on that knowledge – so that they can build a “tool kit” to back up their own creative interpretation and style.

A tool kit that lasts a lifetime.

I do not want students to paint like me – or join in to follow along and then go home to face an empty canvas without direction. I want my students to ask, try, fail, experiment and feel confident in their own choices – as those choices will accumulate with practice & intention to become their own style.

I am privileged to live & work overlooking the majestic Howe Sound fjord, on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nations.