I'd love to say I know people in Canada who receive excellent art tuition, but I don't. The only other Canadian artist I've met lives here in Sydney!
You may have already tried this, but do any of the schools you're looking at list alumni that have done well for themselves? It might be an indicator if you can find some of those artist's work online. Though it would be a truly tedious endeavour to trawl through all their works, I expect.
Otherwise, there are local artist societies all around Sydney, and I imagine there would be some over there, too. Those sorts of places often have the resources to help you find a good school, or members might give you their own testimonials.
And while I'm thinking about it, have a look at conceptart.org - there are some excellent artists on there, both digital and analog, and they might advise you about Canadian schools.
The texture of and the skill required to make analog paintings do make up a great part of their appeal, I think. It's probably a similar thing to why you might pay $20 for a CD, but will sometimes pay more than $120 for a concert ticket.
Caps are definitely fun, but I don't want to push my luck by continuing in that fangirl vein. I feel so dirty afterwards, and no matter how often I scrub my knuckles to bleeding the filth never comes off.
Fritz, are the flaming potentials of my personal pursuits moistening your knickers? Or should I whinge about the state of political affairs (typed, of course, on my new Portege R500 laptop whilst I sip macchiatos worth more than most Indonesian's weekly wages) some more?
