Artist. Photographer. Memory keeper.

Wilna Furstenberg is a South African living in Canada (21 years). She is an artist, photographer, digital designer, art journaler, and lifelong journaller with multiple full moleskine journals to show.

She holds a BA (FA) from the University of Pretoria, which means she spent several years studying art before deciding that making a mess with paint was more fun.

Wilna’s mixed-media work is colourful, layered, a little unruly, and deeply meaningful—often all at the same time. She works with paint, paper, charcoal, fabric, digital media, and whatever else happens to be within reach. Her art is less interested in behaving itself and more interested in making you feel something.

For 11 years, Wilna worked in the scrapbooking industry, after being named one of the 25 Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame winners in 2006. She went on to teach her particular brand of creative chaos across the US, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Germany, and Australia, as well as online for Studio Calico, Big Picture Classes, and Craftsy.

These days, she is happily returning to the things she loves most: painting, art journaling, photography, making things with her hands, and finding meaning in the ordinary. She is especially fond of late-afternoon light, good books, a captivating audiobook, movies that are actually worth watching, and the occasional workout—mostly out of necessity.

She has three beautiful adult daughters, one fabulous son-in-law, and, most importantly, time.

Time to make art.
Time to notice things.
Time to think up ideas.
Time to make another mess.

And she considers this a pretty excellent stage of life.