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He has photographed the likes of astronaut Roberta Bondar, actor Tony Curtis, physicist Stephen Hawking, and auto racing legend Sterling Moss; his photographs have appeared in two Toronto dailies, Photo Life Magazine and Canadian Yachting, among others.

Photographer W. Stephen Cooper's work will be on display as part of the fourth annual Roncesvalles Village Studio Tour, which this year promises top quality, handmade, locally produced pieces. Resident award-winning artists will be featured in neighbourhood homes and studios, showing collections in blown glass, painting, mixed media, textiles, jewellery, ceramics, mobiles- and photography.

Cooper, who works predominantly with archival black and white silver based prints, said this year's tour, which takes place Nov. 28 to 30, has increased in size with more artists and studios involved. Three artists will display their pieces in five different locations, he said.

"It's a juried show, but informal," Cooper explained. "Everyone on the tour has a lot of experience and is educated in fine arts. We're looking for professionalism."

Cooper, whose latest work has been shaped by patterns in nature, said he is inspired by the masters of photography, legends like Ansel Adams, known for his black and white photographs of the American West and primarily Yosemite National Park. Working with medium format camera and film, Cooper said he takes on every step of the process himself, including photo development within his own dark room.

His wife, fellow artist Carol Shibuya, who will also be appearing on the tour, specializes in semi-precious stones, pearls and crystals with wire-wrapping and chain maille techniques to create unique earrings, necklaces and bracelets. All of her creations are handmade using Argentium silver, a highly tarnish-resistant form of sterling.

Every winter, the couple travels to south western United States - New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona- where they go into the desert looking for landforms, for example, slot canyons, Cooper said.

"I hike down into them and take photographs," he told The Villager. "There's a mysterious look to them. These shapes emerge from them that are otherworldly."

His lens also captures ghost towns and historic artifacts, preserved by the clean, dry environment of desert regions.

"My wife, Carol, she collects a lot of material for her art from the southwest," he added.

A chance meeting at a fruit and vegetable market on Roncesvalles Avenue led to the creation of the tour. One of the founders included Valerie Knapp, a mixed media artist, who curiously combines stitching, printing and pattern in her cloth and paper works. Meticulous attention to detail characterizes her work, which has been exhibited across the country this year.

"It's been an incredible year," said the one-time Roncesvalles Village Studio Tour co-ordinator who has opted to take a break from the responsibility this time around.

Knapp's pieces include a hand-printed enviro-bag, hand towels and cards, among a whole range of items.

"We're really supported by the local community," Knapp said. "High Park, Roncesvalles, Bloor West Village, that's our catchment area where artists live and work. There's always something new and different."

Support the local neighbourhood and its artists. Visit the art tour on Friday, Nov. 28 from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 29 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. Visit www.roncesvallesvillagestudiotour.com for more information.

Sidebar: Participating Artists

- Carolynn Bloomer - porcelain and occasional stoneware and found objects

- Lissa Brunet - free-form jewellery using silver wire and chain embellished with precious and semi-precious stones

- W. Stephen Cooper - black and white photography of textures and patterns created by nature in remote deserts

- Beverly Couse - knitting inspired by an era, a culture or a story

- Gregor Herman - hot glass showing a love of historic Venetian glass, his forms recall Asian tea-bowls

- Rhona Jones - found materials, including wood, plant matter, bone and paper combining them in mobile sculptures

- Andrew Judd - landscape paintings, still life, portraiture, themed exhibitions

- Edward Knapp - landscape, natural and manmade film based photography

- Valerie Knapp - stitching, printing patterns, cloth and paper works

- Zsuzsa Monostory - ceramics, inspired by nature and human relationships both decorative and sculptural

- Kathleen Morris - weaver of functional cloth, combines traditional dyeing techniques

- Leslie Paul - one of a kind jewellery, statement pieces

- Cori Sandler - functional pottery in bold colours, decorated with dancing naked ladies

- Carol Sebert - oil paintings, landscapes often ofher neighbourhood in High Park

- Carol Shibuya - semi-precious stones, pearls and crystals to create earrings, necklaces and bracelets