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Member Spotlights

Bragging about the amazing artists in Calgary's animation community. Studio spotlights, behind-the-scenes clips, and other news from our membership.

Frame from an animation by Nina Patafi of a character opening a garbage bag

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headshot of Mide Kadiri. Mide has black skin, short black hair, and dark brown eyes. He has an earring in his left ear and is wearing glasses. He's wearing a navy-blue turtleneck with a zipper in the front

Various elements of my art include curls and curves contrasting with straight lines, cartoon-like figures, and vibrant colours. I like to manipulate my use of colours in a polychromatic style. Sometimes I try to replicate realism. Other times I take realism and twist it in a chaotic way, so it also produces something beautiful

A group of fuzzy-haired Muppets smile and wave, while in the background, small, hard-hatted Dozers work away.

Seeing so many talented local artists get the chance to be part of something so joyful, and that'll be seen on such a large scale, is a real treat

Black-and-white photo of Pocholo Cabarroguis in half-tone style.

Cholo is an independent Calgary-based artist, working primarily in digital illustration. Born in the Philippines and raised in Canada, they are a self-taught visual artist who’s worked in various mediums including digital illustration, graphic design, painting, printmaking, and very recently, animation.

A table in Richard Reeves' studio, covered in analog film, scissors, rulers, and scratch-film tools

A kinetic film scratcher, visual music maker, animated traveler of time and space, light sensitive, looper of loops and collector of motion picture projection bulbs to bring total enlightenment.

Frame from an animation by Nina Patafi of a character opening a garbage bag

Nina Patafi is a 4th year AUArts student whose focus is illustration and animation. Her current project is a stop-motion animation using cut-outs and pieces of garbage to simulate a garbage-filled world.

Still from Troy Kokol's animated music video for his song "Like a Record" — a hand-drawn tape cassette with mouth and legs over a scattered stack of 7" records

An award-winning Canadian singer, producer, video director and songwriter, Troy Kokol is also a talented animator.

The band Nobro jams in Hell with the devil on guitar and an audience of skeletons and demons

Greg Doble is a Montreal-based animator and illustrator who specializes in 2D animation. His work is easily recognizable by its playful absurdity and whimsical nature.

Rachel Bulman's work-from-home animation setup, including an improvised downshooter camera

A fun, creative person who loves to draw and create fun and entertaining scenarios to make people laugh, they enrolled in VCAD and began studying 3D modelling to help with that mission.

CGI characters projected onto a wall in downtown Calgary

Axis-Z Media Arts (AZMA) is a Calgary-based artistic collective interested in creating genre-blurring digital art experiences that step outside the confines of the rectangular screen and into the real world.

An illustration of a cat looking bashful

Kayla Twaddle is an upcoming graduate of the Alberta University of the Arts majoring in Character Design. She has a passion for all things silly and cute, and brings a child-like playfulness to her work using colour and style.

Still of a woman laughing from Julia Kansas' stop motion short Day by Day

DAY BY DAY, a new short animation from Julia Kansas, a multidisciplinary artist who creates work that explores narratives surrounding boredom, vice and identity. DAY BY DAY is Julia’s first claymation film.

Four still life images created in an online drawing session

Abbey Bennett is an artist and animator from Calgary, Alberta. Recently laid off from her job, she’s been looking for ways to nurture her creativity in isolation.

A bear in goggles looks sternly off camera

Thomas van Kampen is a professional 2D animator whose credentials include Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, the crowdfunded feature film Dawgtown and the StoryHive-funded short Gerry Mouse.