MJ Edwards in the Grand Manan Museum Gift Shop (2018)
Download my CV in pdf format by clicking MJ Edwards CV – January 5 2023
ADDRESS
Rocky Corner Studio
150 Whistle Road
Grand Manan, NB E5G 1B5
Tel: (506) 662-4215
Website: www.mjedwards.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockycornerstudio
Email: mjedwards454@gmail.com
EDUCATION
1984 B.A. (English Literature) Mount Allison University
1984 Executive Secretarial Certificate Mount Allison University
1988 Certificate in Office Administration St. Lawrence College at Kingston
2007 B.F.A. (Interdisciplinary; First Class) NSCAD University
2009 B.Ed. (Secondary; First Class) University of New Brunswick
ACADEMIC AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
1980-1982 Undergraduate Scholarships Mount Allison University
1980-1983 Dean’s List Mount Allison University
1981 J.H. Chase Prize in Philosophy Mount Allison University
1983 Individual Course Award Athabasca University
1991 McNeil Prize (English) Queen’s University
2007 MacKenzie Fund Scholarship NSCAD University
2007 Simon Chang and Phyllis Levine NSCAD University
Foundation Scholarship
2009 Irene Peterson Literacy Prize University of New Brunswick
(Faculty of Education)
WORK EXPERIENCE: TEACHING
Teaching – Grand Manan Community School
Fall 2022 Art After School – I was hired by Sunbury Shores Art & Nature Centre to teach 13 grade 3-5 students two hours of art enrichment, once a week, for eight weeks. I was asked to teach it again this coming winter but other work obligations meant I was unable to do so.
2011-2023 Casual supply teacher, Gr. K-12 teaching: art, English, health, physical education, math, music, history, social studies, culinary, wellness, environmental biology.
Spring 2015: Seven weeks co-teaching Grade 10 English with R. Griffin, teaching a poetry analysis and writing unit using synergistic texts (photo/poem). Also was on K-2 playground duty and doing elementary literacy intervention for this seven weeks.
2011 ArtSmart Grant with Audrey Norman, Grade 9 math teacher, incorporating art into the math curriculum for a period of 6 weeks in February-March, 2011.
2009-2010 Two Consecutive Long-Term Supply Positions (Sept – June)
Social Studies – Gr. 9, 10; Family Living – Gr. 12; Physical Education – Gr. 6/7; English – Gr. 12, Level 3; Digital Photography (middle school – 1 day a week); World Issues – Gr. 12; Media Studies – Gr. 12; English – Gr. 9, 10; Culinary – Gr. 12
Teaching Practicum – Devon Middle School, Fredericton, NB (Fall 2008 – Spring 2009)
I completed a 15-week practicum at Devon Middle School in Fredericton from September 2008 – May 2009, teaching: Grade 6 Language Arts and Math Enrichment classes (3 weeks); Grade 8 Social Studies, Language Arts classes, and Grade 7 Enrichment classes to students struggling with literacy (7 weeks). For the remaining five weeks I observed and assisted with varied classes throughout the school which included: physical education (grades 6, 7, 8), art (grade 8 and Native Art), language arts (grades 6, 7, 8), math (grades 6, 8), language arts enrichment in drama and poetry writing (grade 6), and science (grade 8).
Supply & Volunteer Teaching – Grand Manan Community School (Fall 2007 – Spring 2008)
Teaching Assistant for Grade 5 (1 day, 2007)
Supply Teacher for Grade 6/7 (October-November 2007)
Supply Teacher for Grades 9, 11, 12 English (April-May 2008)
Volunteer, Grades 4, 8, 9, Grand Manan Community School (2007)
Volunteer work included helping out in a grade 4 class and teaching some art classes. I worked with the literacy teacher and some grade 8 students several times, helping them prepare for their grade 9 literacy assessment testing. I was a writing tutor assistant to grade 9 English students for a few months.
Volunteer Teaching – Oxford School, Halifax, NS (Fall 2006 – Winter 2007)
Volunteer Art Teacher, Oxford School, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
I worked with an art specialist teacher for four months, helping with art projects in grade 7, 8, and 9 classes while attending NSCAD University as a full-time visual arts student.
WORK EXPERIENCE: ADMINISTRATIVE & EDITORIAL
Grand Manan – Administrative
2010 – present Director and Curator, Grand Manan Museum
General administration of the museum, which operates on a seasonal basis from mid June to late September.
Duties include: Working with museum board to maintain and develop the museum and its collections; conception and creation of exhibits and interpretive materials; planning and presentation of evening programming through July-August (two evenings per week); planning and organizing of special events concerts, workshops, nature hikes and dinners; conducting tours on request; preparing annual reports and brochures; grant writing for operational, renovation, exhibit creation and renewal, special projects, cataloguing, and student employee funding; handling memberships; email and other correspondence; publicizing museum events; fund-raising raffles; gift shop merchandise & orders; maintenance of database catalogue and accessioning and storage of artefacts; overseeing building maintenance and contractors; gardening; security and outdoor exhibits management; social media; website; public relations.
2019-present Tour Bus Guide for the Pearl Mist Cruise Ships out of Portland, Maine, when they visit Grand Manan. I also host their visit to the Grand Manan Museum.
Kingston, Ontario – Administrative
1995-2004 Administrative Secretary to the Head, Department of Psychology
I worked for four Department Heads during the 13 years in this department. Administrative support for the Head, Associate Head, and additional faculty, including the following main duties: Faculty Appointments; Renewal of Appointment, Promotion and Tenure; Secretary of Personnel Committee (Appointments; Renewal, Promotion and Tenure); Secretary of Merit Committee; Correspondence; Assistance with administration of PSYC 100 Subject Pool Research; Secretarial Services to five additional faculty members (grant applications, correspondence); Back-up Assistant to the Undergraduate Departmental Assistant; Reception and scheduling of appointments for the Department Head, Booking of the Conference Room.
1991-1995 Senior Secretary, Department of Psychology
Secretarial support for 13 professors including course work, grant applications, graduate scholarship applications, student references, research papers and reviews, conference abstracts, and routine correspondence; Back-up to Undergraduate Departmental Assistant; Back-up to the Administrative Assistant (1994-1995); Computing Advisor for the General Office staff; Assisted with Departmental Ergonomics Assessment of Workstations and Report (1992).
1988-1991 Faculty Secretary, School of Industrial Relations
Secretarial support for Director, Associate Director and one additional faculty member. Typing of course work, correspondence, and Labour Arbitration Awards for the Director (Dictaphone transcription); typing of research proposals and papers; maintenance of Faculty Associate Directory and liaison with Faculty Associates; booking of committee meetings; assistance with telephone and reception duties; assistance with promotional mailings for Seminars and Conferences, and the Masters of Industrial Relations program as needed.
Queen’s University at Kingston – Freelance Editorial Work
Managing Text Editor and Typographer (1996, 1999, 2000) (Dr. R.J. Beninger, Department of Psychology, Queen’s University)
I was the managing text editor and typographer for three volumes of conference papers dealing with neurological disorders and diseases. This included converting between 20-30 highly specialized and technical text files from different software programs into Word, checking reference citations and cross-checking; assuring uniformity of spelling, abbreviations, technical terminology, fonts, text, reference and table formatting; checking and marking insertion of figures and tables; generating subject and author indexes, table of contents, cover page, list of contributors; contacting authors for corrections to text and references; communicating with co-editors in Spain and Sweden.
Conference Proceedings Books Published:
Palomo T, Beninger RJ, Archer T (eds.) (2000) Neurodegenerative Brain Disorders. Madrid, Editorial Sintesis (813 pages).
Palomo T, Beninger RJ, Archer T (eds.) (1999) Interactive Monoaminergic Disorders. Madrid, Editorial Sintesis (797 pages).
Beninger RJ, Palomo T, Archer T (eds.) (1996) Dopamine Disease States. Madrid, CYM Press (668 pages).
2001 Editing of Masters Thesis (Steven Hall, M.D.)
ARTISTIC EXHIBITIONS
Dec 2022 Deck the Walls, Sunbury Shores Art & Nature Centre. I exhibited four photographic diptychs in a group show.
Sept 2022 Islander’s Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two cold wax and oil paintings and two digital montage photographs.
July 2022 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Four collage paintings and mixed media paintings.
June-Sept 2022 By The Sea, From the Sea, Grand Manan Museum. A group exhibit featuring 23 New Brunswick artists, I exhibited four photographic diptychs, one digital montage, one photograph with poem, and two encaustic paintings.
July 2021 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Four mixed media paintings.
Sept 2021 Islander Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery
Aug-Sept, 2021 Defining Places, Grand Manan Art Gallery. An exhibition of mixed media encaustic, oil and cold wax, and acrylic paintings on display from August 22 to September 10, 2021 in the Main Gallery.
July 1 – Dec 31 2020 Online Galleries, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Participation in the Islanders’ Art & Artisan Show & Sale, and the Square Foot Show (both group shows). Four submissions for each gallery/show, online display and sale until December 31, 2020.
June 2019-Sept 2020 Walkabout, Grand Manan Museum, Elmer Wilcox Memorial Hall. A photographic exhibition of 54 colour diptychs (16”x20”) of objects and scenes captured on daily walks with my griffon dog (and sometimes my black cat). The images are by turns beautiful, shocking or whimsical, encouraging the viewer to think about the transience of life, how human actions impact the natural environment, and the consequences of climate change and pollution. Small framed texts interspersed throughout the exhibit pose questions or provide personal insights.
Sept 2019 Members Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two digital colour photographic diptychs.
Aug 2019 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. An encaustic painting and an acrylic mixed media painting.
June 2019 Islander Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. An encaustic and a cold wax & oil painting.
Aug 2018 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Three encaustic mixed media paintings.
Aug 2018 Making Waves, Sunbury Shores Nature Centre Art Fund-Raiser Silent Auction, Minsters Island, NB. I donated two encaustic mixed media paintings and both sold (50/50).
June 2018 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Three encaustic mixed media paintings.
Aug-Sept, 2017 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two digital montage photographs.
Aug 5-17, 2017 Weathered & Worn, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Solo show of 26 digital montage/collage photographs and 42 encaustic mixed-media paintings in Gallery 1.
June-July, 2017 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Encaustic painting and digital photo collage.
Aug 19-Oct 11, 2016 Memory: Transfer, Trace, Transition, Charlotte Glencross Gallery, Charlotte Street Arts Centre, Fredericton, NB. A selection of encaustic and encaustic mixed media paintings.
Sept 2016 Island Photography Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Three digital colour photos.
Aug 2016 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two digital montage photographs.
June 2016 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two encaustic paintings.
July-Sept 2015 Memory: Transfer, Trace, Transition, Elmer Wilcox Memorial Hall, Grand Manan Museum. A selection of digital montage photographs and encaustic mixed media paintings.
July 2015 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two encaustic paintings.
June 2015 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two encaustic paintings.
Nov-Dec 2014 Deck the Walls, Sunbury Shores Christmas Exhibition, Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre Gallery, St. Andrews, NB. Group show featuring 47 Charlotte County artists (showing three encaustic mixed media paintings).
Aug-Sept 2014 Memory Transfer, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Beeswax encaustic mixed media paintings and new digital montage photographs in the main gallery, Grand Manan, NB.
August 2014 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Two encaustic paintings.
June-July 2014 Square Foot Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery. Group show participant, digital montage and encaustic painting.
September 2013 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery.
Jan-Mar 2013 Memory, Moment, Meaning”, Saint John Arts Centre, Frazee Gallery. A solo retrospective show covering 12 years, consisting 41 large format still life, B&W digital montage, colour and B&W photographs and 41 beeswax encaustic mixed media paintings.
Sept-Oct 2012 Memory Transfer, Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre Gallery, St. Andrews, NB. A selection of beeswax encaustic mixed media paintings was on display.
August 2012 Memory Transfer, Hooper Studio Gallery, Hampton, NB. A selection of beeswax encaustic mixed media paintings was on display.
August 2012 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery.
June-Aug 2012 Memory, Moment, Meaning, Elmer Wilcox Memorial Hall, Grand Manan Museum.A solo show of digital montage, large format tabletop still life, and macro photography were exhibited.
Sept 2011 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery.
August 2011 Memory, Moment, Meaning, Grand Manan Art Gallery. A retrospective solo show in three galleries of large format and 35 mm abstract photography and encaustic mixed media paintings.
August 2010 Island Group Show, Grand Manan Art Gallery.
June-Aug 2010 Swallowtail Lighthouse: 150 Views”, Grand Manan Museum. Group exhibition, contributed three photographs.
June 2009 The First Annual Faculty of Education Art Exhibition, UNB Faculty of Education. A group show of the Independent Study Art Education Students under the direction of Professor Mary Blatherwick. Marshall d’Avery Hall, UNB Campus.
June 2008 Island Art Show, Grand Manan Island Art Gallery.
July 2008 Explorations & Excursions, Grand Manan Island Art Gallery. A selection of ink drawings and acrylic, oil and encaustic paintings on display in two galleries.
June-Sept 2008 Recent Archaeographies: Portraits from Grand Manan, Grand Manan Museum.
June-Sept 2007 Following the Line: Selected Journal Ink Drawings 2003-2007, Grand Manan Museum.
April, 2007 Here It Is, NSCAD Undergraduate Graduation Exhibition 2007, Halifax, NS. Exhibited one encaustic painting.
February 2007 Explorations and Excursions, Foxy Moon Gallery, 2393 Agricola St., Halifax, NS. A selection of encaustic, oil and acrylic paintings on display for one month.
Nov 28-Dec 2, 2006 Recent Archaeographies: Re: Collecting the Pieces, B.F.A. Graduation Exhibition, Gallery Two, Anna Leonowens Gallery, NSCAD University, Halifax, NS. Twenty large format still life tabletop photographs and 30 medium format portrait photographs on display in Gallery Two.
April 2001-2004 Annual Juried Exhibition, Kingston Photographic Club – Wilson Room, Kingston Public Library, Kingston, ON. Two or three photographs on display each year.
PHOTOGRAPHIC AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Kingston Photographic Club: Member of Canadian Association of Photographic Arts (CAPA)
2004 Annual Club Awards
Rosette Award – Top Slide of the Year (May 2004): Suspended; 3rd Place, Colour Slide Photographer of the Year – Vern Napier Camera’s Award (May 2004)
Annual Three-Round Club Competitions (CAPA): 3rd Place Ribbon (January 2004) – Black & White Prints: Scale Baskets; 2nd Place Ribbon (January 2004) – Black & White Prints: My Recorder; 2nd Place Ribbon (January 2004) – Colour Slides: Clematis; 1st Place Ribbon (March 2004) – Colour Slides: Rainbow Flight; 2nd Place Ribbon (March 2004) – Colour Slides: Flight
Club Activities: Judge: CAPA (Individual Entries – National Level) Creative Slides Competition.
2003 Annual Club Awards
3rd Place – Vern Napier Camera’s Award (May 2003): Colour Slide Photographer of the Year
Annual Three-Round Club Competitions (CAPA): 2nd Place Ribbon (Nov 2003) – Black & White Prints: Summer Clouds; 2nd Place Ribbon (Nov 2003) – Colour Pictorial Slide: Rainbow Droplets; 3rd Place Ribbon (Nov 2003) – Creative Experimental Slide: Suspended
Club Activities: Judge: 3rd CAPA Competition (Kingston Photographic Club entries). Pictorial & nature slides; B&W, pictorial, & creative prints. Judge: CAPA (Individual Entries – National Level) Creative Slides Competition. Newsletter Editor: 2003-2004
2002 Annual Club Awards
2nd Place – Camera Kingston Award (May 2002): Print Maker of the Year; 2nd Place – Kingston Photographic Club (May 2002): Creative Experimental Photographer of the Year; 3rd Place – Vern Napier Camera’s Award (May 2002): Colour Slide Photographer of the Year;3rd Place – Kingston Photographic Club Trophy (May 2002): Photographer of the Year
Annual Three-Round Club Competitions (CAPA): 2nd Place Ribbon (Nov 2002) – Creative Experimental Prints: The Angel;1st Place Ribbon (Jan 2003) – Colour Pictorial Slide: Mosaic
Club Activities: 2nd Vice-President: 2002-2003
2001 Annual Club Awards
Harrison Burbidge Memorial Award (May 2001): Top First Year Photographer; 2nd Place – Camera Kingston Award (May 2001): Print Maker of the Year
Annual Three-Round Club Competitions (CAPA)
3rd Place Ribbon (Nov 2000) – Black & White Prints: Willows; 1st Place Ribbon (Jan 2001) – Black & White Prints: Summerhill in July; 2nd Place Ribbon (Jan 2001) – Black & White Prints: Two Feathers in a Tidal Pool
Club Activities: Handbook Editor: 2001-2002 (Creating, editing and printing the first Club Handbook.)
PUBLISHED PHOTOGRAPHS, INK DRAWINGS & PAINTINGS
In Poetry Books
Clifford, Wayne. On Abducting the ‘Cello. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill Press, 2004. http://www.sentex.net/~pql. The book cover design incorporates two of my photographs. I also have photograph credit for one inside photo and the author photograph.
Clifford, Wayne. The Book of Were. Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill Press, 2006. Author photo credit.
Clifford, Wayne. The Exile’s Papers: Part 1: The Duplicity of Autobiography, Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill Press, 2007. Cover photo credit.
Clifford, Wayne. The Exile’s Papers: Part 2: The Ship as its Thousand Faces, Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill Press, 2008. Cover & author photo credits.
Clifford, Wayne. Jane Again. Emeryville, ON: Biblioasis, 2009. www.biblioasis.com. Author photo credit.
Clifford, Wayne. Learning to Dance with a Peg Leg: Tunes for a Third Mate. Victoria, BC: Frog Hollow Press, 2009. www.froghollowpress.com. Illustrations by M.J. Edwards (Cover design ink drawing and10 interior ink drawings).
Clifford, Wayne. The Exile’s Papers: Part 3: The Dirt’s Passion is Flesh Sorrow, Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill Press, December 2011. Cover photo credit.
Clifford, Wayne. The Exile’s Papers: Part 4: Just Beneath Your Skin, The Dark Begins, Erin, ON: Porcupine’s Quill Press, 2016. Cover photo credit.
Nichol, B.P. & Clifford, Wayne. Theseus: A Collaboration. Toronto, ON: Book Thug, 2014. www.bookthug.ca Cover Photo Credit.
Lane, M. Travis; Donaldson, Jeffery; Ruthig, Ingrid & Neilson, Shane (ed.). Am, Be: The Poetry Of Wayne Clifford. Essays, Literary Criticism Monograph: number six. M.J. Edwards – Photographs front and back cover and six interior photos. Frog Hollow Press, Victoria, BC, 2018, www.froghollowpress.com
Clifford, Wayne. Flying the Truck: Poems from the Artist-in-Residence Program of the New Brunswick Museum Biota NB Project, New Brunswick Museum, Saint John, NB, 2017. Author Photo Credit.
In Arts & Literature Quarterly Publications
Cover Image Photo Credit: one of my encaustic mixed media paintings was chosen for the cover of the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Winter 2016, Issue No 24. Still Point Arts Quarterly (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
Portfolio: “Memory: Transfer, Trace & Transition”: A portfolio of 11 images of encaustic mixed media paintings appears in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Winter 2016, Issue No. 24, featuring a biography, artist statement and discussion of the series of work represented, pp. 52-61(www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Nature’s Textures” Competition: Award for Distinctive Interpretation of Theme, “Sea Urchin Pink”, Digital Photograph Montage, Still Point Arts Quarterly Gallery, Winter, 2017, Issue No. 28, p. 13. Back image “Leaf Bolt”, digital montage photograph, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“The Time for Home” Competition: Two of my digital montage images, “Future Perfect Dream Machine” and “Safe Passage”, won the Award for Best in Show and were published in the Winter 2018, Issue No. 32 of Still Point Arts Quarterly, pp. 12-13, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
Portfolio: “Weathered & Worn”: A portfolio of 11 digital photographic diptychs, biography and artist discussion was featured in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Winter 2018, Issue 32, pp. 70-77, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Open Theme” Competition: As one of 30 artists chosen in this anniversary competition for publication, four of my encaustic and oil and cold wax paintings are featured in the digital online Still Point Arts Spring 2018 Gallery, and the encaustic mixed media painting “Ephemeral Landscape #33” is featured in the Summer 2018 quarterly publication, Issue No. 30, p. 34. https://www.stillpointgallery.com, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“The Garden” Competition: “Spring Tulips”, colour photograph, was chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly Spring 2019, Issue No. 33, p. 75, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Our Beautiful Planet” Competition: “Solitude, Rhossili Beach, Wales”, digital photograph, was chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Summer 2019, Issue 34, p. 58, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“The Dance” Competition: “Fire Pit Fling”, ink on paper, was chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly Fall 2019, Issue No. 35, p. 30, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Grandparents & Other Wise Ancestors”: Three digital montage images, “Annie E”, “Someone’s Island Ancestor”, and “Memory & Forgetting: Great Grandmother Ives” were chosen for the online gallery exhibit, and “Memory & Forgetting: Great Grandmother Ives” won Award for Best in Show in the Still Point Arts Quarterly Spring 2020, Issue No. 37, p. 16 (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Making a Mark”: Three paintings were chosen for the online gallery and one (Gateway to the Garden) was published in the Still Point Arts Quarterly Summer 2020, Issue No. 38, p. 17. Painting images in digital online gallery were “Land & Sea, Came to Be”, “Gateway to the Garden”, and “Snow Storm in the City”.
“The Secret Life of Objects”: Portfolio of six diptych digital photographs and accompanying text, chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Fall 2020, Issue No. 39, pg. 110-111, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“My Deep Love of Place”: Portfolio of seven digital photographs and accompanying text, chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Spring 2021, Issue No. 41, pg. 94-97, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“The Art of Isolation”: “The Fool Errant”, collage and acrylic on wood, chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Summer 2021, Issue No. 42, p. 30, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Living on the Water”: “The Call of the Sea”, digital montage photograph, chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Fall 2021, Issue No. 43, p. 43, (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
“Mixing Mediums”: Portfolio of four digital montage photographs and accompanying text, chosen for publication in the Still Point Arts Quarterly, Spring 2022, Issue No. 45, p. 17, 118-119 (www.shantiarts.com, Brunswick, Maine).
POSTERS
Sand Prints (2013); Fisherman’s Shed Exhibit, Grand Manan Museum (2013); The Rocks of Grand Manan (2003)
MEDIA PRESS & REVIEWS
2010 Daily Gleaner, Fredericton, NB, “Poetry Collection ‘is more jig, swing, stomp, and swivel than intimate waltz’”, review of poetry book Learning to Dance with a Peg Leg: three dozen tunes for a third mate, by Wayne Clifford, Illustrated by M.J. Edwards (Frog Hollow Press, 2009), article by Diane Reid. “…. tensioned ardour is delightfully captured by M.J. Edwards’ lively pen-and-ink illustrations – diverse, witty, and as appealing as Australian Aboriginal, Fijian tapa, and Tobique First Nations designs. Because Edwards (also a superb photographer) sees human relationships as fluid and organic, she employs curved, flowing lines – tendrils, tendons, and other cellular structures. “For me, she says, “the dance of life involves the attraction and repulsion of opposites.”
Aug 20, 2011 Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB, “Committed to Memory: M.J. Edwards pieces together meaning from the past”, from in the galleries section of Salon, interview-based article of show Memory, Moment, Meaning, (Grand Manan Art Gallery) by Shannon Webb-Campbell.
Aug 2012 Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB, ARTS section of Salon, a photo and brief review of Memory Transfer show at Hooper Studios Gallery, Hampton, NB.
Jan 2013 Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB, in the Agenda section of Salon, photo “Lena & Hattie Bartlett”, large format photograph from Memory, Moment, Meaning exhibit at SJAC (Jan-March 2013).
Mar 2013 HERE Visual Arts magazine, Saint John, NB, “MJ Edwards minds her own beeswax: Artist uses encaustic painting to build textures and collages”, three photographs of artwork and interview-based article by Hilary Paige-Smith.
Mar 2013 Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB, “Talent on Display”, photo by Cindy Wilson showing a wall of my encaustic paintings as part of the exhibit Memory, Moment, Meaning at the Frazee Gallery, Saint John Arts Centre.
Aug 3, 2013 Telegraph-Journal, Saint John, NB, in the Salon section, a medium format portrait photo of Newton Rowell Bowles (Companion of the Order of Canada, Program Director of UNICEF, author, artist), to accompany the article by Angela Kippers, “Something special to pierce your very soul”, about Newton’s life’s work and upcoming posthumous art exhibit at Grand Manan Art Gallery.
June 4, 2016 Telegraph Journal, Saint John, NB, ARTS section of Salon, photo collages of my paintings and photography, interview, “Island Imagination”, a feature article about the Grand Manan Art Gallery and the artists who show there, including myself. Five photos of encaustic paintings and three photos of digital collages, three photos of scenery of the island.
July 6, 2016 Telegraph Journal, Saint John, NB, ARTS section of Salon, “Tidal Spiral”, featuring interview and photos taken by me as curator of the Grand Manan Museum, with a feature article about the making of the marine tidal murals at the Museum, a large two-year project consisting of six marine murals which I administered and curated.
Aug 20, 2016 Telegraph Journal, Saint John, NB, ARTS section of Salon (S3), photo showing two encaustic paintings from my show “Memory: Transfer, Trace, Transition” on display at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre.
Jan 2019 MUSE magazine, a national magazine of the Canadian Museums Association. As director and curator of the Grand Manan Museum, I was invited to write a feature article on the conceptualization and challenges of creating over a three-year period a marine mural exhibit featuring 129 species of the Bay of Fundy, a project covering 33’x19′ of a spiral staircase exhibit space and consisting of six murals and comprehensive interpretive signage.
RADIO, VIDEO & DOCUMENTARIES
2013-2022 CBC Radio One. I have been interviewed on CBC Radio One, on Shift and the Morning Show, on the topics of the endangered Gannet Rock Lighthouse, Marine Biologist and Heritage Preservation Advocate, Dr. Laurie Murison (twice, just following her passing in 2021), Community Museums Struggling During the Pandemic, and Ghost Stories of Grand Manan.
2014 Radio-Canada (Film) Les Îles De L’Atlantique, Grand Manan – Jardin de la mer, Réalisation Julien Cadieux, www.productionsphareest.com I am interviewed as an artist and photographer and as curator of the Grand Manan Museum and featured 5-6 separate times in a 25 minute made for TV film about Grand Manan that was filmed in October 2014 and released in 2016. The film was produced by Radio-Canada, Fonds des médias du Canada, and the Province of New Brunswick and was also aired on Land & Sea in spring 2017. Footage settings that I am in include my art work in my house and my Rocky Corner Studio, with the Archivist at the Grand Manan Museum, and photographing and talking at the National Historic Site of the Seal Cove Smoked Herring Sheds.
2017 Sesquicentennial Celebrations. I was interviewed in and helped produce two 10-15 minute videos celebrating and highlighting the Grand Manan Museum’s history and development over 50 years as part of our Museum’s Sesquicentennial Celebrations.
2020-2022 A Charlotte County Moment. I have researched and scripted a two-minute historic documentary about shipwrecks and navigation aids around Grand Manan which was created as a Charlotte County Moment video.
2021 Grand Manan Museum Promotional Videos. I researched, recorded and put together the visuals for four 1–3-minute videos promoting exhibits at the Grand Manan Museum.
2020 Got a Minute. I was featured in one of Jennifer Pazienza’s Got a Minute videos promoting NB artists.
2021 Nature Trust of New Brunswick. I was featured in a nature conservation promotional video by the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, filmed on Ross Island.
2022 CHCO TV, St. Andrews, NB. In September 2022 I was interviewed and part of a documentary produced by CHCO TV in St. Andrews, about the preservation of the Grand Manan’s iconic Swallow Tail Lighthouse.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
2012-2019 CARFAC Maritimes
2016 ArtsLink NB
2009-2022 New Brunswick Teacher’s Association (NBTA)
Annual Association Heritage New Brunswick (AHNB)
Annual Canadian Museums Association (CMA)
2001-2004 Canadian Association of Photographic Arts (CAPA)
OTHER MEMBERSHIPS
Grand Manan Art Gallery
Grand Manan Museum
Grand Manan Historical Society
Nature Trust of New Brunswick
Co-Chair of the Fundy Culture Zone
Grand Manan Island Tourism
GALLERY REPRESENTATION
I have sold work through the Art Sales and Rental Gallery (at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia) 1723 Hollis Street, Halifax, NS, and through the various exhibition venues listed above. I am currently represented (encaustic paintings) by The Gallery on Queen in Fredericton. I also sell my work at the Grand Manan Museum Gift Shop, my Rocky Corner Studio, and through my website and my Rocky Corner Studio Facebook page.
COLLECTIONS
My photography, paintings, ink drawings, and small rock paintings are in private collections in Canada, UK, USA, Germany, Australia, and Africa.
