Inspired by a fantastic art teacher in Grade 13 (good art teachers are few and far between) J.Christiane von Kalben-Reece grew to love art but intended it to be a side-line to a ‘real’ job. She therefore attended the University of Toronto where she received her B.A, majoring in English Literature with a minor in Women’s Studies. In addition, she has a certificate (office administration) from Seneca College in Toronto. Past employers have included the Toronto Board of Education and Revenue Canada - Excise and Taxation.
When she married Kemp, a talented technical illustrator and caricaturist and then had the babies her plans changed. With three small boys in tow, as well as a huge garden, graduate studies kept being pushed further and further into the future. Instead she began to concentrate on her art. As well as studying art privately, she has attended Durham College, Centennial College and Niagara College and has taken various courses and seminars to learn about new artistic media and techniques. She has participated in life-drawing sessions at Ontario College of Art, Rodman Hall (when they had them - before it became part of Brock University) and the Pumphouse Gallery in Niagara On The Lake.
Christiane has always loved doing portraits, especially of children. Now that her boys are grown and no longer requiring constant chauffeuring (a town without bus service) she is finding more time to be creative and exploring other facets of fine art. Her favorite medium is oil paint, seconded by pastels and occasionally mixed media.
Her hobbies including gardening, both indoors (orchids) and outdoors: lilies, roses and vegetables, especially tomatoes and various types of basils. On a spring trip to Italy she discovered a salad green called Arugula and is attempting to grow that too. She enjoys cooking, (Thai and Szechzuan) and loves to bake - elaborate tortes and rustic cakes. She is also an avid reader and has an incredibly hard time purging the book shelf to make room. It's easier to get another shelf! Christiane is an avid collector of vintage sewing machines (they have to be functional!) and early 60’s fashion dolls such as Barbie, Midge and clones. She likes designing and sewing fashions for them too and is currently working on a couture collection for Silkstone and Fashion Royalty dolls. Her next ‘future’ venture will be learning how to use the used kiln that was given to her and teaching herself the art of glass slumping.
He located his freelance business from Oakville to Toronto in the spring of 1976 and while freelancing, attended the Ontario College of Art for Editorial Illustration till 1979.
Over the years from 1977 to 1981 , running a successful freelance business and continuing his studies he moved his studio from Toronto’s Cabbagetown to Yorkville’ s Hazleton Avenue, and finally settling into a two story studio in Toronto’s Queen Street West area. His primary clients included advertising agencies, educational publishers, architectural firms and national banking institutions. Longing for work in technical illustration took him to a long term contract as a technical illustrator with an international engineering firm. He later accepted a position as technical illustrator/graphic designer with a major energy provider where he is still employed with to this day.
Freelance is still a passion with Kemp and Christiane and that is the reason why they created KDR Illustration in 1991. The company was renamed Lines and Curves Creative just two years ago and has since been incorporated. The family includes three sons, Tobias and Trevor (both presently attending Brock University) and Roland (to be attending university in the fall 2009).
His hobbies include– collecting old photographs, fly fishing, tying flies, lino and woodblock printing, drawing (what else!), restoring lightweight bicycles, bicycling, gardening, landscaping, home renovation.
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