Meet Our Team

Founder, CEO | Visionary | Dog Lover

Deena Kruger

Deena discovered her love of painting when she was a teen, but didn’t really consider taking it more seriously until her early 30’s when she chose to leave her job in sales and fully commit herself to building a career where she would get to be creative every day. She quickly discovered that she had a real passion for business and creating something from idea to empire would become one of her life’s greatest challenges… one that she feels she was meant to do!

When it comes to her personal art work she considers living in North Western Ontario to be a gift, with each season bringing beauty in it’s own way. Some of her most treasured time is spent camping, traveling and exploring Lake Superior with her husband Jeff. She also enjoys time with her frenchie, Stanley. Her work is a reflection and interpretation of those adventures transformed onto canvas with the intention of bringing a little of that beauty into your home. 

About Deena

Artist | Co-Founder | Dog Lover

Steve “StevO” Gerow

Steve Gerow was born to be an artist! He has been creating since he was a child, using art as a way of healing. Growing up he was faced with numerous medical challenges, and during those times where he needed an escape or a way to “get through the day” he would turn to his art for comfort. As a result, over the last 40 years he has created some beautiful pieces that are now being enjoyed all over the globe. 

Steve met Dee in 2017 on a whim, and together they embarked on a journey to share the joys of creating with everyone! In the early days of 2020 when The Creative Company Paint Kits were born, Steve was hand drawing them by the thousands, and doing zooms with people across Canada sharing his passion and love of art with others. 

Today he is proud to say that he is a “Full Time Artist” living his dream come true by getting to create for himself, and others. In his spare time he loves hiking with his partner Janine, chilling with his dog Baxter and hunting for records to add to his never-ending collection. 

About Steve

Product Development Manager/Digital Imaging/Operations Assistant | Dog Lover

Steve “Hoier” Hoier

Prior to joining The Creative Company in 2021, Hoier (called by his last name since the company has two Steves) invested almost 20 years in the print industry. With him he carries a vast knowledge of operations management, product development, digital image processing, project management, problem solving - the list goes on.

He is a father, husband and in his spare time a part-time musician who writes and records all of his own original material. This is his art, metal music. He loves the team at The Creative Company and couldn’t have asked for a better life-changing environment to work in.

Customer Account Manager | Dog Lover

Simone Conrad

As a teenager, Simone met Dee and worked together during what they call “The Partylite Days”, and formed an instant connection. Several years later, Simone was brought on board at The Creative Company to work on the Production team. This new environment was a breath of fresh air for Simone, and she loved learning about Indigenous Culture from some of the artists on staff and ended up becoming a natural for our Customer Service front end. She currently heads the Customer Accounts Manager role, ensuring top notch service and follow up.

Simone enjoys spending time with her husband Cecil, their dog Lexi and with her family. Traveling and camping are important in their lifestyle as well. She most enjoys sitting on a tropical beach, sipping tasty beverages.

Business Administrator/Production Supervisor | Dog Lover

Marlee Martin

Marlee is Dee’s sister, and right hand lady. Structure and organization is very important to her. She began her career in bookkeeping unexpectedly while on vacation, where someone hired her on a whim to work for her company. Since then she has worked for several companies, and recently has returned to Thunder Bay and is back in The Creative Company offices.

When she isn’t carefully keeping the company’s books in order or supporting the Creative team, she enjoys the outdoors fishing, camping, traveling (36 countries and counting!) and spending time with her frenchie, Franklin.

Artist | Cat Lover

Angela Benedict

Growing up, Angela had very little access to brushes, paints, and canvas due to her location, the cost of materials, lack of available space, and the limited income of her family so it was not until 2010 that she finally decided to purchase these items for herself and begin exploring the world of acrylic painting. Most recently, she has begun exploring the stained glass medium.

Angela is a self-taught artist and the work she currently does is inspired by the people in her life. She starts each new piece with a friend, family member, or specific person in her thoughts and continues thinking about them throughout the painting process. As a result she is always happy with the final image. While she is still developing her own style as an artist, she would describe it as influenced by First Nations/Woodland styles but with her own feminine twist to the colours, lines, and forms.

Artist

Kevin Belmore

Kevin is an Ojibwe Artist from Gull Bay First Nation located in the Thunder Bay District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Kevin joined The Creative Company as a collaborative artist in 2020. Kevin has felt the need to express himself artistically since he was a young boy.

At the age of 16 Kevin found himself in a workshop led by the late influential Anishinaabe artist Roy Thomas, who in turn was inspired by Norval Morrisseau, one of the founding members of the Woodland School of Art. This workshop is where he learned how to paint in the Woodland Art form, one that captures spiritual tradition as it shines through in the everyday, exploring the relationships between people, animals, and plants. With encouragement and positive support from Roy, Kevin’s journey as an artist transformed. His original acrylic paintings are brought to life with his brilliant use of balance, colour and the way in which he is able to capture emotion in the stories he is translating onto canvas.

Published Artist | Dog Lover

Yvette St. Amant

Yvette St. Amant is a French-Canadian Born American-Based licensing and published artist influencing thousands of aspiring artists through her online art courses and social media. She has been drawing and painting since she was a toddler and developed a strong interest in interior design by her teens. Yvette was raised on a lake surrounded by wilderness and is deeply connected to nature and water. She developed a great love for the beach and tropics which inspired her first globally published tropical florals setting the foundation to her professional artist career in 2003. Fusing styles influenced by culture, nature, personality, and interior design while incorporating trend forward colors are her specialty. Nature is very much the foundation to her creations, and she is known as “the chameleon” in the industry for producing a variation of unique styles with her diverse techniques.