Meet the Vancouver College of Art & Design Teachers

Alex Greenberg

Alex is an accomplished 3D Modeler, lighting and texture artist with several years experience in the CGI industry. He has an uncanny ability to make digital compositions look "real-world" realistic. Alex’s background and experience has served him well on numerous television and music videos. He is also known as the 'master' of CGI effects in the television commercials production world. Currently, he is Head of Post Production at Bear Studios in Vancouver.

Alexandra Suhner Isenberg, MA

Alexandra Suhner Isenberg is the voice behind the Searching for Style blog, and an accomplished fashion designer and writer. She has studied in at the famous Écoles de la Chambre Syndicale in Paris, France. She went on to become a designer at Sonia Rykiel, a post she held for nearly two years before relocating to London to complete her master’s degree at the prestigious Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.

Alexandra worked as a designer for Burberry before launching the luxury lingerie brand State of Undress, which was featured on the pages of magazines such as Vogue, Elle, and Sunday Times Style. Alexandra has also worked as a trend forecaster as well as a luxury consultant and a fashion lecturer at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and London College of Fashion. She recently completed a book on Technical Drawing for Fashion, published by Pepin Press, which will be released in late 2010.

Bethany Leffler, Ph.D

Bethany Leffler is a versatile educator with extensive experience and success in design and development of software technologies and programs. She holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rutgers University, and an undergraduate degree from Rowan University. As the Technical Director of Leffler Software Services, she oversees product development. In 2007, she co-organized the Women in Machine Learning Workshop, which has become an annual international event. In addition, Dr. Leffler has authored numerous publications collaborating with researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and the University of British Columbia.

Brett Vanderkist, M.Sc.

After completing a M.Sc. degree in Biology from SFU, Brett decided to switch careers and pursue a dream of becoming an animator. Brett has worked as an animator for seven years on a wide range of projects. He trained as a classical 2D animator, and worked on several Flash animated TV series such as Atomic Betty, Jacob Two-Two, Edgar and Ellen, George of the Jungle and Wow Wow Wubbzy. Brett then transitioned into the CG industry on Zeke's Pad. Since then he has worked on Thomas and Friends, a gameplay trailer for Piranha Games, and several commercial/advertising projects. His online portfolio can be found at www.brettvanderkist.blogspot.com.

Calvin Leduc

Calvin Leduc is a graduate of Sheridan College where he studied classical animation. His student film 'Common Problems' won the Canadian Independent Short Film Showcase Award. Calvin has more than 21 years experience within the animation industry working on animated features, television series and commercials. During this time he spent nine years at Walt Disney feature animation where he worked on films such as 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', 'Pocahantas', 'Hercules', 'Mulan', 'The Emperor's New Groove' and 'Treasure Planet'.

While at Disney he trained in computer animation and went on to work in Cinematatics for Sony games and animated at Omation studios. For four years, Calvin was head of Computer Animation at VanArts, where he developed the course outline and taught animation and sculpting. Currently, Calvin is teaching and mentoring computer animation. He teaches storyboarding for computer animation at Vancouver College of Art and Design.

David Juniper, MA

David Juniper has a Diploma in Education from McGill University and a Masters Degree from the University of Northern British Columbia, where he studied Internet communication. He has taught post-secondary courses in web development and New Media for more than 10 years, including advanced courses in JavaScript, Flash and dynamic website development. In addition to his work in the classroom, David has developed curriculum for both web development and digital photography courses and has also written a number of online courses for universities and governments.

Dusty Raynier, BComm

Dusty Raynier discovered a talent for sales at an early age and was featured in BC Business Magazine as Vancouver’s ‘Top Promoter’ at the age of 21. Upon completion of his Bachelor of Commerce Degree at Royal Roads Unversity, Dusty was hired as the Marketing Director for a small, private college.

Dusty has spent the last several years as a consultant, sales rep, and brand manager. His early passion for action sports led him back to the world of skateboarding and graffiti and his Custom Skateboards can be found in galleries across the country. Last year, he started Green Earth Apparel and the Tees for Trees project. www.teesfortrees.com.

Elena Underhill, BFA

Elena Underhill is a painter, graphic designer and illustrator. She has BFA from Emily Carr University and diplomas in fine arts and graphic design from the Kootenay School of Art.

An avid outdoorswoman, Elena hikes and skis and the outdoors are the frequent subject matter for her paintings. She currently works as an illustrator/designer, consultant and instructor.

Frederick Fung, MFA

Frederick Fung began a career in graphic design after graduating from Lee Wai Lee Technical Institute in Hong Kong. He went on to attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where he earned a BFA, and Fort Hays State University, where he later taught. Frederick later moved to Vancouver and where he studies fashion art at The Helen Lefeaux School of Fashion Design.

Frederick now works in fashion design and fashion instruction. In 2009, Frederick started TASS, a non-profit group, to promote Vancouver-based fashion. Frederick finished was involved in designing clothes for the 2010 Winter Olympic opening and closing ceremony and now busy preparing for a second years of TASS. He teaches Garment Construction at VCAD.

Glen Kennedy

Glen Kennedy started his animation career as a top comedy animator for Hanna Barbera Productions. His animation skills were developed with the mentor of Mr. Bill Hanna. Glen was promoted to Animation Director for production of the Jetsons Movie, Smurfs, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Flinstones, Yogi Bear’s Treasure Hunt, Hagar the Horrible, & Scooby Doo.

As Animation Director for Warner Brothers, Glen’s shows won two Daytime Emmy awards.

Hugo Gatsby

Over the last several years, Vancouver-based graphic designer, photographer and visual artist, Hugo Gatsby has gained recognition for the distinctive visual aesthetic he brings to various print-based and new media projects. He holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario, as well as an Enterprise Business diploma and an Applied Photography certificate, both from Mohawk College of Art and Technology.

As a graphic designer, imaging specialist and photographer, Hugo has worked with an impressive list of well-known clients, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Bustle, Earl’s restaurants, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Steamworks Brewing Company, Jack Astor’s restaurants and the Woodbridge Company. His work has been featured in numerous advertisements, magazines, CD covers, websites and countless other media around the globe. He is also a member of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada.

In addition, Hugo’s love of photography keeps him active as a visual artist. His artistic work has been displayed in several North American cities, including Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver.

Jannette Maedel, MFA

Jannette Maedel is a trained costume and set designer with a MFA from the University of British Columbia. Janette worked in the Vancouver film and theatre industry before pursuing fashion. She specializes in swimwear and lingerie design and is a partner in a local swimwear company.

Jannette Maedel is a staff writer for Malary’s Fashion Network and a freelance fashion writer specializing in Vancouver fashion design. Maedel is the creator of ScarletBlackFashion, a fashion blog that showcases Vancouver fashion designers and retailers. She currently teaches Fashion Writing, Pattern Drafting and Fashion Industry courses at VCAD.

Jasmine Stringer, BAA

Jasmine graduated from Ryerson University in Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Merchandising. Studying abroad in cities like London, Paris and Milan for part of her degree, her experiences helped her discover the relationship between fashion, art and architecture.

Jasmine Stringer's professional career has been an extensive one, starting twenty years ago as an intern at Flare magazine. She was quickly bitten by the publishing bug and has since worked for Lookwest Fashion Magazine, Ottawa City Magazine and several Canada Wide Media publications as an art director and graphic designer.

Jenny Gofman, B.A., Studio Arts

Jenny Gofman was born in Minsk, Belarus. She came to Canada when she was 12 years old. She has always been interested in animation and cartooning, and believed she would pursue a career in that field. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelors degree in Studio Arts, focusing primarily on media and graphic design. In 2006 she completed the Commercial Animation diploma program at Capilano College.

She worked independently in graphic design for over four years but has worked in the animation industry since 2006. She has animated on kids television shows like "Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!" and designed characters for the "Edgar and Ellen" TV series. She has also been involved in independent commercial productions, like "Fresh is Best" salsa.

Her online portfolio can be viewed at: www.jennygofman.com

Joe Crawford

Joe Crawford has worked professionally in the computer graphics industry for 14 years, and started teaching at the post secondary level in 1998. Joe owns Celestine Studios where he and a small group of artists provide digital media production services for a wide range of project types, including animation, pre-visualization, games, software development, and web design.

Joe also runs the non-profit project "Teaching 3D" which provides assistance to any students looking to learn about this industry. You can visit Joe on the web at http://celestinestudios.com or http://teaching3d.com where you can get support and resources for learning.

Marion Webber, BFA

Ontario-born, Vancouver Island-raised Marion Webber is a graphic designer, marketing and communications specialist, painter and artist. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria (1975) and a Graphic Design diploma from Grant McEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta (1979).

Prior to launching her graphic design career in 1979, Marian worked as a black and white photographer / darkroom technician for a newspaper publisher in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Since 1983, Marian has been a Vancouver-based graphic designer. And, after 20 years in the field, she has expanded her career focus to include marketing and communications.

Miriam Melanson, BA

Miriam Melanson is the proud president and designer of Flaming Angels Designs, a Vancouver-based avant-garde fashion label and boutique. Fascinated with the dark side of underground fashion culture, she is always looking for challenging new projects. Miriam has also worked in costume design and fashion merchandising and retailing.

Shankari Venugopal, B. Env.D, M.Arch. (c)

Born and raised in the prairies, Shankari Venugopal called Manitoba home until she finished her Bachelor of Environmental Design at the University of Manitoba. Soon after, she moved to BC to pursue a Masters degree in Architecture at the University of British Columbia.

Shankari built upon her education and Interior Design expertise during her time working for Design Manitoba and Perkins + Company Architecture & Urban Planning Inc.

Shannon Yang, BA, AAS

Shannon Yang brings a wealth of knowledge to the Fashion Design Program at Vancouver College of Art and Design. After attaining a bachelor's degree from SFU, Shannon headed to New York where she studied at Parsons School of Design and New York University.

Since graduating with a Fashion Marketing degree from Parsons, Shannon has built up an impressive resume that includes internships at DKNY and WGSN, an online fashion trend researcher. Most recently, she has worked for New York & Company, handling much of their online content coordination and e-commerce site management.

Sherwin Ruiz, BSc Arch

Sherwin Ruiz holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and has more than a decade of international design experience. After graduating university, Sherwin moved to Dubai where he was influenced by city’s modern design architecture. Sherwin excels in creating conceptual sketches, which he uses to produce detailed drawings for construction purposes.

Stephanie St. Loe, B Int.D

Born in Bristol England in 1964 into a family that included an aircraft designer, a boat builder, a commercial artist and a garment designer, it's easy to understand why Stephanie St. Loe would pursue a career in design industry. She grew up drawing, painting and sculpting. From an early age she enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked, and building ambitious but poorly constructed ‘forts' and tree houses. Naturally she became an interior designer.

In 1986 Stephanie graduated with a Bachelor of Interior Design from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba. At her final portfolio review meeting, the faculty advised her that her ability to create very original designs and develop spaces with strong character might not find full scope in a conservative city like Winnipeg: "You will scare the clients," they warned her, "and they will frustrate you." So she moved to Vancouver.

Over the next 23 years, with an impressive list of commercial and residential projects, she learned to master conservative design and still manage to push the envelope. As a senior designer for some of Vancouver's prominent design firms, Stephanie discovered an ability to mentor and foster the development of other designers. When she started work as an independent designer, she took up teaching in order to continue the mentoring role. Stephanie is NCIDQ certified.

Trevor Van den Eijnden, BA, BFA

Bridging the worlds of fine arts and design, Trevor Van den Eijnden is a professional print media designer and a nationally-exhibited painter. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. A portion of his academic career was spent at L'École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France.

Trevor has a great enthusiasm for creativity and his artistic versatility covers numerous genres, including photography, drawing, illustration, painting, print making and graphic design. He is currently the Production Manager / Art Director for 24 hours in Vancouver, the third largest daily newspaper in British Columbia.