"I am a maker; creating has become my life’s work.”
Linda Ruscio is a Canadian mixed media artist whose work explores the intersection of nature, material, and memory. Her creative passion was sparked at an early age after feeling compelled to glide her mom’s lipstick across the bathroom mirror and experiencing pure joy in the sensuous mark-making. She is a recovering graphic designer who dove back into fine arts after raising two boys. An arts educator and active member of the Markham Group of Artists, Linda has spearheaded several collaborative mosaics to hang in local venues. In addition to giving back to the community, Linda has given art talks on cultivating creativity in all ages, hoping to spread the joy that expressive mark-making can bring. Her work has been exhibited throughout Ontario in solo shows and juried group shows and is held in private collections across Canada.
“Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie where the woods were my playground has shaped my sense of wonder and spiritual connection to nature. The colours, the quiet, the way light plays across rock and water—it stays with you."
Inspired by the rugged beauty of Northern Ontario, Linda combines traditional materials with unconventional substrates evoking the textures, shapes, and quiet drama of the northern wilderness, inviting viewers to experience the familiar landscape in an entirely new light. Her latest work transforms industrial steel into luminous landscapes layered with paint, fabric, paper, and rusted textures. These mixed media pieces harness the raw, weathered surfaces of metal, altered through sanding and oxidation, to mirror the elemental character of the land.