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Spark Box Studio | Printmakers, Muralists & Installation Art

@sparkboxstudio

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Chrissy Poitras & Kyle Topping
🎨 Printmakers, muralists, installation art
We help artists by sharing advice on YouTube
Visit us Wed-Fri, 11-4pm

POSTS STORIES REELS

The Morning Goblin! ☕️➡️😊

This fall we were invited to join the @canadian.letterpress.alliance, a collective of 50+ letterpress artists across Canada. This group exchanges prints throughout the year and for the first ever print exchange we decided to do something a little different.

Kyle had been wanting to create a two part story where a goblin transforms into a happy person after their morning coffee.

He designed a storyboard to work with an infinity, or never-ending, card mechanism (basically a folding structure that moves through four panels to tell a story on a loop).

We filmed the whole process (up on YouTube) and are so pleased with the end result. We created 51 in the edition.

Are you also a morning goblin or are you a morning person? Drop a ☕️ or a 😊 below.
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#letterpress #printmaking #infinitycard #printmakers #princeedwardcounty #printexchange #morningcoffee #coffeelovers #letterpressprinting #printmakersofinstagram #canadianartist #printstudio #interactiveart #papercrafts #printcommunity by @sparkboxstudio

Excited about the video of Kyle cleaning up this beautiful Challenge Proof Press (on YouTube channel)! Swipe to see the after! Give us some🔥below if you love the transformation! 👇
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#vintagefinds #deepclean #vintageprint #proofpressprintmaking #printmakersofinstagram #printstudio #printsnotdead #restoration #printmaker #artvlog by @sparkboxstudio

💫 KYLE TOPPING - Printmaker 💫

This week we are delighted to feature our 2024 County Arts Professional Development Grant Recipients, starting with Kyle Topping of Sparkbox Studio!

Kyle shares the following about the impact of his 2024 PD grant in this testimonial: "I feel very grateful to have had this opportunity to attend the Zea Mays Printmaking Residency Fellowship in Florence, Massachussetts. It recharged my confidence in the process of etching and brought new insights that will be beneficial to my community print shop. I am excited about the processes and techniques I learned and what they will bring to my practice."

🎉 Congratulations to Kyle!

Our Professional Development Grants are made possible through the Artist Fund, and aim to support Prince Edward County artists as they advance their career through learning / skills-building and market development activities.

👀 We are currently preparing to welcome 2025 applications - stay tuned for the launch coming soon!

#countyarts #princeedwardcounty #artistfund #countyup @sparkboxstudio

Image description: Kyle Topping creating in the Zea Mays printmaking studio during his residency. by @sparkboxstudio

ARTBARN paint jam vol 2 this Saturday. Don’t miss this opportunity to see artist at work painting live all day.
Saturday September 26th, ARTBARN 574 Morrison Point.
With guests @annabellefortin.artiste @sparkboxstudio @nellarules @olivierventura @broke_canvas & @jamiejanx
4 locals and 2 guest. Come enjoy the art and the sun. by @sparkboxstudio

All setup and ready for day 3 of @pecstudiotour
Got a pic of the studio as the sun was rising and loved the pink light ☀️💕

Stop in anytime from 10-5 by @sparkboxstudio

All setup and ready for @pecstudiotour! Come visit and check out the new pieces and chat about printmaking😀 by @sparkboxstudio

Picton is home to a great variety of art practices and a wonderful place to spend time during Studio Tour weekend in September. But did you know that several of these artists are open well before tour weekend? Here’s what you need to know.

Kate Sorbara — open tour weekend 10–5, joined by guests Tassie Notar (@tassienotar1), Rebecca Maracle (@rebeccamaracle) and Emma Barlow

Danielle Reddick — @daniellereddickartist — open by chance or appointment

Jennifer Topaz Bruce — @iconoclast_studio — open year round by appointment

Chrissy Poitras + Kyle Topping — @sparkboxstudio — May–Oct, Wed–Fri 11–4 or by appointment

Julie Seddon — @julieseddonpaintings — open by chance or appointment

Lucy Sterezylo — @stareatjello — open year round by appointment

Vincenzo Paolucci — @vincenzo_paolucci_art — open daily 11–5:30

Laurie McLachlan — @lauriemclachlanart — open by appointment

Paul Verrall — @paulssculptures — open by chance or appointment 9–5, year round, joined by guest Candice Woodard (@candicewoodardart)

Chris Caswell — @chriscaswellartist — open tour weekend 10–5

We always recommend reaching out before you make the drive to confirm availability.

The 33rd annual PEC Studio Tour runs September 18–20, free to attend across 39 studio locations throughout Prince Edward County. Download the @toureka.app to plan your visit, grab a brochure at over 250 local spots, or head to pecstudiotour.com.

#pecstudiotour2026 #princeedwardcounty #visitthecounty #princeedwardcountyartists #countyarts countyup by @sparkboxstudio

Before you hit the road, open the @toureka.app and search PEC Studio Tour, select the tour, and view the map. It’s perfect for planning your trip.

Picton and the area just north of it are home to a diverse range of studios, including wire sculpture, printmaking, abstract painting, stone carving, featherwork, and more — this stretch has something for every kind of art lover.

This year you’ll find:

Danielle Reddick — @daniellereddickartist — wire mesh sculptures of ethereal figures and yes, delightful chickens

Kate Sorbara + guests Tassie Notar (@tassienotar1), Rebecca Maracle (@rebeccamaracle) and Emma Barlow (@dilemmabarlow) — painting, featherwork and ink at Edwin County Farms Studio

Chrissy Poitras + Kyle Topping — @sparkboxstudio — printmaking, painting and public art

Jennifer Topaz Bruce — @iconoclast_studio — large-scale abstract paintings built through masterful layering of colour

Julie Seddon — @julieseddonpaintings — abstracted paintings inspired by store windows and the layers of everyday life

Lucy Sterezylo — @stareatjello — letterpress, intaglio and lino printmaking with a sense of wonder and a deep love of nature

Vincenzo Paolucci — @vincenzo_paolucci_art — portraiture and contemporary painting with 16th century sensibilities, on Picton’s Main Street

Laurie McLachlan — @lauriemclachlanart — large-scale abstract acrylics exploring emotion, isolation and mental wellbeing

Paul Verrall + guest Candice Woodard — @paulssculptures + @candicewoodardart — soapstone sculpture and pastel landscapes in Picton

Chris Caswell — @chriscaswellartist — bold abstracted landscapes in a spacious studio in the heart of Picton

The 33rd annual PEC Studio Tour runs September 18–20, free to attend across 39 studio locations throughout Prince Edward County. Download the @toureka.app to plan your visit, grab a brochure at over 250 local spots, or head to pecstudiotour.com.

#pecstudiotour2026 #princeedwardcounty #visitthecounty #princeedwardcountyartists #countyarts countyup by @sparkboxstudio

One thing you might not know about me is that I like to collect chairs from yard sales and I get really happy when one that seems useless becomes integral to something I’m doing.

Recently I painted a mural inside a concrete pipe at @huffestateswine and the overhead painting made one chair that has been sitting around my studio for years a necessity.

The mural was painted inside a booth that sits outside overlooking the vineyard and you experience the mural from underneath. I love how the whole ceiling becomes a canopy of vines and roses above your head.

Painting that ceiling was a challenge, I was too short to stand on the ground and paint, but too tall to stand on the table and paint. I ended up sitting on an old elementary school chair, the kind made for a five year old, on top of a table. I got this chair years ago because a friend said “that might come in handy for mural painting”. It wasn’t until this piece that I finally put it to use.
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About the mural, the design came from photos I took of the vineyard. Something I learned during this job was that the roses at the end of each vine row are actually the canary in the coal mine for powdery mildew on the vines. If the roses get sick first, they know to act before the grapes are affected. I loved that detail so much I made the roses central to the mural.

If you’re visiting @huffestateswine this season check out the Pipe Dreams at the restaurant. by @sparkboxstudio

The County, Episode 8 - “Restoring County History”
The Taylor House project. A historic 4 bedroom home that was picked up and moved to its new location on the grounds of the @claramountclub. This project was about transforming a full home into a memorable commercial property that can be rented out through the affiliated hotel. The goal was to balance heritage, hospitality and big design swings.
It’s not often that you get to have this much fun in a single project!
SKDS xo

Design Team @sarahkeenleyside, @jo.smeeth + @katelavenderdesign

Video @storiedmarketing

General Contractor @portpictonhomes
Wallpaper Install @shorelinestudio.pec
Mural Artist @sparkboxstudio
Artwork @anthony.buttazzoni
Vintage Decor @county_rust
Tile @centuratile
Counter Tops @blackbirdstoneandtile
Plumbing Fixtures @kohler
Wallpaper, Furniture, Fixtures - see sourcing guides at link in bio or at sarahkeenleyside.com ‘the county’

#thecounty #hgtvthecounty #SKDS by @sparkboxstudio

You guessed it! A new episode of ‘The County’ tonight at 8pm on HGTV and streaming on @city_tv plus.
Episode 8 “Restoring County History - The Taylor House”.
SKDS takes on our biggest project to date. The coveted Taylor House project. A historic Main Street landmark backed by a powerhouse builder family and affiliated with the boutique hotel The @claramountclub. As we design the full home into a design-forward commercial property, we must balance heritage, hospitality and bold design risks. As designers you want your hotel design to be memorable, and no one will be able to forget this one! Don’t miss it. 🤍

Photos @dsgphoto

Locals keep an eye out for @portpictonhomes, @shorelinestudio.pec, @sparkboxstudio, @county_rust

#TheCounty #HGTVthecounty #SKDS by @sparkboxstudio

We did it!

‘Come on In’ is installed in the Barlow Room at The Royal Hotel. We’re still kind of catching up on sleep after working some super late nights completing this piece.

We’ve always been drawn to making work that invites people to look closer and explore. When the curators Christina Zeidler and Stacey Sproule gave us the theme of hotels through the lens of film and words like liminal space and in-between we couldn’t stop thinking about luggage and hallways. Both connected directly to life in transit, and the feeling of waiting to arrive somewhere.

We decided to create a sculptural piece of stacked of old luggage, and in-between the cases would contain liminal worlds.

This was our first time working with mirrors and pen and ink drawings to create illusions. This piece taught us a lot about how to use mirrors and light to extend drawings and lengthen space (it also taught us the going rate for vintage luggage is more expensive than we expected).

Come see it in person if you can.

Hotel Confidential at The Royal Hotel, Prince Edward County

Opening Reception: April 17, 7:30 – 9pm

Exhibition: April 18 – 19, 11am – 5pm

@countyarts @theroyalhotelpicton by @sparkboxstudio