Skip to main content
OCA

Atlantic Canada

Art from the neighborhood, made by hand

Organized Chaos Arts is a local cultural hub for independent artists. The directory is built by hand so you can find the work — and the people behind it — without a feed getting in the way.

Meet the artistsWalk the gallery

Gallery

Fresh off the wall

A few recent pieces from the directory. Follow a work back to the person who made it.

  • The Beach at Deauville

    Eugène Boudin · oil on wood panel · 1864

    During the 1860s, Boudin executed many paintings and watercolors representing well-to-do tourists and vacationers enjoying seaside resorts in Normandy, principally Trouville and Deauville. In this scene, the informally posed figures suggest a sense of relaxation and intimacy. The overturned chair in the foreground underscores the impression of a casually observed moment, as though a sea breeze or a quick departure by its former occupant has upended it. The majority of Boudin's small oil paintings of beach scenes of the 1860s were executed on wood panel. After laying down a thin white ground, Boudin seems to have begun painting directly, not drawing or laying in guidelines for the forms. The result is a freshness and airiness appropriate to a windy day at the beach. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

  • The Vine

    Samuel Palmer · etching · 1852

    This early proof (an impression created while the artist is still working on the design) by Samuel Palmer features his illustrations before the accompanying text for Songs and Ballads of Shakespeare was printed. Both images relate to a drinking song featured in act 2 of William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, praising Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, and his products. Palmer’s handwritten notes describe modifications he was planning to make. Palmer started to work in prints late in his career but quickly became accomplished in the medium. His imagery is characterized by juxtaposing delicate textures and dramatic lights and shadows, as seen here in the contrast between the radiant Bacchus and those making and enjoying the drink. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

  • Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

    John Sell Cotman · etching · 1810

    Rievaulx Abbey belongs to Cotman’s first series of etchings, published in 1811. The thirteen images depict the landscape of Yorkshire and picturesque architectural views such as rural cottages, ancient stone walls, and overgrown, ruined abbeys. The crumbling Gothic church was a quintessentially Romantic theme, intended to allude to a lost past. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

  • Portrait of Isabella Brant

    Peter Paul Rubens · oil on wood · 1620

    Isabella Brant was Rubens’s first wife. He painted her many times in many different ways before she died at the age of 35 (she is a model for a nymph in the other work by Rubens in this room). This intimate portrait, painted at least five years before her death, suggests the close relationship between the painter and sitter through the warm palette, the luscious brushstrokes, and her lively expression. Image and data from the Cleveland Museum of Art, released under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

How it works

Find the work. Meet the people who made it.

No middlemen. No gatekeepers. Just artists and the people who love what they make.

  1. 01

    Find the makers

    Browse the directory by craft or city. Painters, potters, photographers, and printmakers working down the street.

  2. 02

    Look at the work

    The gallery is hung slowly on purpose. Follow a piece back to the person who made it.

  3. 03

    Stay in the room

    Read the notes, join the pilot, or write to us. The community is the point — not the feed.

Artists

Independent makers, nearby

A working directory of painters, potters, photographers, printmakers, and more across Atlantic Canada.

  • Development stand-in portrait: person against a dark background (not a photograph of Eugène Boudin)

    Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

    IllustrationPaintingCharlottetown

    Eugène Boudin

    Eugène Boudin is traditionally presented in literature as a self-taught artist, independent of the Parisian art world whose works, painted out of doors in a sketchy, light-hued style, foreshadowed impressionism.1 Recent scholarship has tempered this interpretation of the…

  • Development stand-in portrait: person with short hair in a wool sweater (not a photograph of John Sell Cotman)

    Antigonish, Nova Scotia

    IllustrationPrintmakingAntigonish

    John Sell Cotman

    John Sell Cotman (British, 1782–1842) Active 1782–1842. Public-domain works from the Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access collection, used as development stand-ins for the Organized Chaos Arts directory.

  • Development stand-in portrait: person with dark hair photographed outdoors (not a photograph of Peter Paul Rubens)

    Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador

    IllustrationPaintingPrintmakingCorner Brook

    Peter Paul Rubens

    Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640) Active 1577–1640. Public-domain works from the Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access collection, used as development stand-ins for the Organized Chaos Arts directory.

  • Development stand-in portrait: person standing in open daylight (not a photograph of Samuel Palmer)

    Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

    IllustrationPrintmakingCharlottetown

    Samuel Palmer

    Samuel Palmer (British, 1805–1881) Active 1805–1881. Public-domain works from the Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access collection, used as development stand-ins for the Organized Chaos Arts directory.

  • Development stand-in portrait: person against a warm background (not a photograph of Berlinghiero)

    Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador

    PaintingGander

    Berlinghiero

    Berlinghiero was first recorded in a Lucchese document of 1228 and mentioned as already dead by 1243. Crowe and Cavlcaselle's mistranslation of the document of 1228 (known only from a 1600s transcription) gave rise to the apparently mistaken assumption that Berlinghiero came…

  • Development stand-in portrait: person in professional attire (not a photograph of Camille Pissarro)

    Bathurst, New Brunswick

    PaintingPrintmakingBathurst

    Camille Pissarro

    Camille Pissarro's parents ran a general merchandise business on St. Thomas. After attending boarding school in Paris, Pissarro returned to the West Indies to work for his father from 1847 until 1852. As an artist he was largely self-taught, receiving some instruction from…

Values

What this place stands for

We built this for the working artist — clay under the nails, paint on the jeans, and a table that has to be cleared for dinner.

  • Seen, not sold

    We link to your shop. We do not take a cut. Your sales are your business.

  • Readable by everyone

    Clear type, strong contrast, keyboard paths, and no decorative obstacles in the way of the work.

  • Local on purpose

    This is a hub for people making art in Atlantic Canada — neighbours first, algorithms never.

  • Honest about the work

    Process, doubt, and unfinished thoughts belong here as much as the finished piece on the wall.

For artists

Are you making work here?

Join the directory and put your work in front of people who care about local art. Free during the pilot. No commission, ever.

Apply to the pilotSee the gallery