I, Michael Bedore: artist, designer and environmentalist, was born and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Exposure to the Kawarthas' beautiful lakes and rivers, and growing up with family in the plumbing industry, developed my awareness and interest in water – especially in respect to landscape. Both wetlands and forests are my most desirable spaces of self-immersion. Water and the woods (and their depth of uniqueness) symbolize the unconscious mind. Perhaps this offers an explanation as to how these spaces helped develop my interest in psychology and art - leading me to Trent University. Obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Cultural Studies, I learned about people, society, and our culture's expression.
During my Trent days and following employment within landscape construction, a best friend and I established a small landscape design/construction business. Upon our realization of landscape as art medium, as space of desirable mirroring, and as means of connecting us to nature, my passion for landscape grew. I journeyed to England to study in the country’s first accredited course in landscape architecture, located at the University of Gloucestershire. Living in the beautiful Cotswolds, an environment that so easily fosters creative thought, was a privilege. Both its people and historic built form inspired my efforts towards successfully obtaining my Masters in Landscape Architecture. Thank you to all I encountered; my philosophies are now refined and environmental stewardship is more strongly woven into my value system. I am committed to the practice of designing for wellbeing: we are the landscape.
The shaping of the environmental context, as per design’s influence, does not just encompass a physical transformation of land. It has the power to shape people through the creation of new experiences, sensations and perceptions - all stemming from the chosen stimuli sewn into a site. I will always be inspired by the aesthetics of nature and the inclusivity it offers. I respect all species and life, and believe the best design manifests from an extension of empathy that must also reach beyond humanness.
