Lionel Venne’s paintings express rather than depict the northern landscape that he experiences. Watercolour, acrylics, collage, printmaking and textile arts are among the media he chooses for interpreting what he sees and feels.

Lionel was born in Verner Ontario in 1936. His family lived in Matchewan briefly, then Windsor and finally settled in Leeville. Lionel got his BA in Humanities from Sacred Heart College in Sudbury and taught from 1956 to 1970 in Charlton, Uno Park, Brethour and Kenabeek. He lived in Leeville until moving to Elk Lake in 1983.

Lionel has gained a repected reputation for his art across Canada and internationally. He has had numerous solo exhibitions both locally, in Toronto and as far afield as the Queen Charlotte Islands and Italy. His work is in many private, public and corporate collections in New York, other parts of the US, Canada and Australia among other places.

He is represented by Fine Focus Gallery (West Hampton, New York), Madeline Jordan Gallery (Wincester, New York), Canvas & Clay Gallery (New Liskeard, Ontario), and Madelyn Galleria d’arte moderna e contemporanes “Fogolinio” (Trento, Italy).He has served on the Board of Visual Arts Ontario, the Northern Ontario Art Association (president for two terms), the Boreal North Sculpture Association (vice-president) and the Temiskaming Art Gallery.

In an interview with Heather Saunders in 2006 for the White Water Gallery, Lionel described his relation to his art. He said

living in northern Ontario affected his artwork by eliminating distraction. He enjoys walking around and taking in the landscape. He never sketches or paints en plein air, but he does note intimately the details of the landscape like how the air smells or the direction that the wind blows.Being an artist in northern Ontario. I value the closeness to nature, the open skies, northern lights and the landscape in all its seasons.