Jacques Descoteaux Shining Through: Episode #2

         Jacques background is accounting, while his passion is art in a multitude of mediums. Practicing his craft for 25+ years he has woven an intricate tapestry of  artwork that has a range many would be intrigued by. He loves the process of working with his inspiration - where he grew up in Northern Quebec, and the places he likes to travel.

         Inspired by landscapes, although the longer you look at these compositions the more you begin to see the thin layers that he uses to 'have the images create themselves.' That the layers he applied previously shine through the layers painted thinly on top. This he admits must be from his experience with working with pastels.

        Primarily Jacques uses oil paint, but he also works with watercolour, sculpture, pastel and a range of other mediums to capture the atmosphere, the emotion evoked by nature. To catch the essence of a space and time. Amongst his mediums he pauses time with his compositions of stillness.

Podcast Credits:

Carolyn Botelho/Jacques Descoteaux

Adobe Creative Suite

Transcript

Carolyn Botelho Hey everyone, welcome back to the Creatively Thinking Podcast. Join Carolyn Botello as she uncovers the inspirations behind some incredibly creative minds that are orbiting our local communities. All right, so hi, Jack. Yes. Is that correct?

Jacques Descoteaux That's correct. Yes. Okay.

Speaker 1 I'm never sure with French if I, if I get the pronunciation right.

Speaker 2 No, you got it.

Speaker 1 Okay. Awesome. Okay. So how are you? It's it's a great way to, uh, to meet you. Sort of. Well, digitally.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes. I'm I'm I'm pleased. Uh, I'm quite pleased to meet you. Um, I think I was following you before that.

Speaker 1 Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, nice.

Speaker 2 And, um, so I sort of half know you?

Speaker 1 Yeah, well, that's really nice. Awesome. You are the fourth guest artist I have spoken with from Propeller Gallery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. So that sort of seems to be a pattern that I'm making. Yeah, yeah, definitely going to have to talk to propeller and say, look, you know, I think we've got something here.

Speaker 2 Yeah. You need uh, there's another whatever thirty some members.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 Who might be ready to speak.

Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 So it's great to have you on the show today. And I sort of found you online, sort of on Facebook, of all places.

Speaker 2 Yeah, that's that's interesting because, well, I mean, I do post on Facebook, but I mostly create stuff for Instagram and then just add it to add it to Facebook. Mhm. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Well it's weird because I, I kind of just, I, I have a tendency to just really like a lot of abstract and really bright sort of artwork. And so I guess just the algorithms figure out what I like. Right. And then they just kind of put it all out there for me.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Though sometimes I have, I have friends that I've followed for forever and all of a sudden they just disappear. So I have to after a while, you start thinking, oh, I haven't seen this person in a while. So you look it up and oh, lo and behold, there's a whole bunch of stuff. So the algorithm is an interesting animal.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I know, because then there's, there's often times where I'm like, wait a minute, I want to be seen sort of more realist stuff. And, and I want to be seeing photographs and I want to be seeing sculptures and like, there's just so much art out there and it's like, I want to I want it all to be around me, you know? But it's like it's hard to have that, I guess. Yeah. Realistically. But. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 2 And.

Speaker 1 Initially, what drew me to your work was how you described what brought you to paint. I enjoyed your work, but. But how you described what brought you to put paint to canvas really struck a chord with me. Could you share with our audience what it is exactly that drove you to this field originally? Was it loving the medium? What you can do with your hands, your emotional insights or something else?

Speaker 2 Well, it it's a long. It's a long journey. Um, first of all, I. I just love art. Um, and though I pretty much didn't do much of it for, for so many years. Um, when I, when I, when I got my first job, the first thing that I did was to buy two paintings. So, so that that was a start, but I didn't, uh, and I and I've been collecting art for, for many years, but I'd never really done much. Um, just a little bit of background. My, my, my background is an account as an accountant. I'm a I'm a CPA. And, um, and I tended to spend a little bit more time at work than, than maybe my boss thought I should, um. And maybe that I knew I should, but I still did. Uh, one night I was working. It was probably six or six thirty, and my boss said, Jack, um, go away, go home, Find something else. Figure it out. And you work. You spend too much time at work. So I thought. Oh, okay. Um. And so I went home, looked up, uh, the Toronto school board. In those days, the school board had a lot of, uh, evening classes, and I didn't quite know what to choose. So I took, um, a watercolor class and, uh, an improv class. So theater and I enjoyed both. And I had a lot of fun doing improv, but but I still. But I thought if I'm working on somebody else's schedule, I. You know, when you're doing theater, people get together and they get together at a specific time. I thought, maybe it's not fair for people to have me. Sometimes. Sometimes I travel for work. Sometimes I, um, you know, I still need to to put in some long days. You know, year end for accountants is is pretty critical. So I eventually dropped off. Dropped off the, um, the improv. Well, finished the class, but I didn't do anymore. And, um, and I kept doing watercolor, and it was pretty, pretty horrible in those days.

Speaker 1 What do you mean, horrible watercolors? Awesome.

Speaker 2 Well, I was I was starting.

Speaker 1 Okay, so you were. So you were exploring.

Speaker 2 I'd say I was exploring, um, so in a class, I'd be saying. I'm not sure that I like what I did this class, but then I looked at the piece that I did the previous week or a few weeks before, and I thought, oh, okay, that's interesting. That's it's evolving. It's moving in the right direction. So I so I kept doing it and eventually took classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I took classes at, uh, in in those days it was called Ontario College of Art and eventually Ocad. And now, um, I, uh so I kept doing it. And then at some point I thought maybe watercolor is not quite my medium. So I started doing, uh, chalk pastel. And I really had fun doing that. And it was messy and powdery. And I worked a lot with, you know, mixing colors on the paper with my fingers and, uh, and so I, you know, I'd be spending a few hours doing a piece or working on something, and I'd be wearing more chalk than than I had on paper. So eventually I thought, okay, let's try something else. I, um, I got a few, um, oil paints, brushes, a few canvases or boards, and I guess at that point I used boards and, um, and I started taking, um, oil class, and I, it kept going and, uh, and eventually one of my instructors, um, said, Jack, you know what to do? Just go out and do it. Stop taking classes. So I said, oh, okay. So I, um, so I did, and the rest is is a long story. So it's, uh. And it's been fun. It's it's I still I enjoy it immensely. Um, and, uh, and, you know, I've had a few interesting successes in, in over the years and, uh, and I've shown a lot. So. Yeah. So that's, that's a little bit of my story. Um, yeah. And, um, I sometimes, uh, have talked about, um, my, my double life. It sounds like I'm, it's a spy story, but it was, um, some words that I put in in my bio, and it was accountant by day, painter by night. Um, and, uh, and I that's that's what it was.

Speaker 1 That's what it is.

Speaker 2 I still worked for a number of years and, uh, and, um, and painted in the evening. So it was, it was nice.

Speaker 1 Yeah. You could totally write a spy novel about that.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know the double life.

Speaker 1 Sorry. No, I was just saying. The rest is like they say. The rest is history. Right? So.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes, yes. And, you know, the double life was was cool, even though in those days, uh, I had to paint, I did small paintings, um, like, you know, uh, eight by or something like that. Just just small pieces that I could that I could mostly finish in, in one sitting. Um, and, uh, and so if I, by doing small ones, I could just do them in the evening and, and started eventually moving up in size and so and, and uh, and I'm still doing it. So.

Speaker 1 So one question I, I just always kind of want to ask artists is, well, what do you do with all of those paintings? Like do you when you start a painting, do you know what's going to happen when you finish? Like you've already sold it kind of thing, or does it just accumulate in your studio?

Speaker 2 Well, it accumulates. It accumulates. I have, uh, I have my my studio is on the third floor of the house, and, um, I have some in the basement in a little, in a small room. And I also have, uh, a storage locker to to keep them. Uh, at some point, I'm going to start, uh, um, disposing of them. Uh, a friend of mine told me of a, um, a non-profit charity organization that gives furniture to people who need it. And, uh, and he gave a lot of his paintings to this organization. So I'm I'll be in touch with them and and, uh, and donate.

Speaker 1 That sounds like a great idea. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. I mean, people can't afford have difficulty affording food in this day, in these days and age. So, you know, if, if they get a nice painting for their home, well, maybe that's, uh, that's that's good.

Speaker 1 Yeah. That does sound like a really amazing idea. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 You have been living. Yeah. You already said that you've been living a double life of sorts for over twenty years. Twenty five years, and you've already you've already shared with our audience what your double life entails. So we we already answered question two. It looks like, um, because how have you managed it for so many years? And have you what have you learned from this? I guess that's one thing we didn't we didn't touch on. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Well, um, what I learned from doing from from doing both of these, um, these lives, I guess. This living this double life, um, is that, uh, even though we think accounting and art are at different ends of a of a spectrum, um, in fact, there's a lot of, uh, things that are similar. Um, you know, you have to be a little bit more creative when you when you look, for example, you follow you look at the rules for accounting. Well, you need to give it give them a proper interpretation. You need to be, you know, understand. Um, um, just the, the concepts. Well, the same thing applies when you're doing art. You have to understand the concepts. You have to understand how to do certain things. And then if you find that maybe it's better not to follow those rules then than you don't. But but it's. But it has to be in in full knowledge of, uh, of the rules, uh, both ways. Um, so you have to be creative. You have to be imaginative. You have to be, uh, a problem solver. Um, so all of these skills are, are are skills that you practice in both of these, um, these, uh, these endeavors. So work as an accountant and, and paint and do sculpture and do all of these wonderful things.

Speaker 1 Um, yeah, I totally I totally see what you mean, because, yeah, they seem like they're they're completely separate and on different sides of, I guess, ways of thinking, but, uh, they're, they're very similar, as you said, that you have to be creative, you have to be imaginative. And really, numbers are just sort of word pictures anyway, right? They, they. Yes. And the very big like pictograms. It all, it all start. It all started with just that. Right. So and then we just decided to separate them and say no, this is left brain and this is right brain. And, and yeah, that actually actually leads us into our third question. What are your thoughts on the the left brain or the left and right sides of the brain being for distinctly different areas of the brain? You have been working in accounting and art for more than twenty five years. Have you found a balance? Have you shared how you were able to establish this?

Speaker 2 Well, I in the in the early days, um, I remember, um, doing exercises from a book that probably most artists have, uh, have seen, have read, have worked on, uh, drawing from the right side of the brain.

Speaker 1 Oh, my gosh, that's right there on my shelf right there. Sorry I'm interrupting you, but, yeah.

Speaker 2 I have it somewhere. Um. Uh, and so you you you start by thinking that's my that's my right side, and that's how I do this. And then the other part of my life is my left side, and that's how I do this. But then you realize in time that that that there is, um, there is no solid line between them. Um, you know, you need, for example, creativity. Well, creativity is I don't remember what side is what. So it's, uh, um, um, but I, you know, you think creativity, imagination. Well, imagination, um, is is is art. But then drawing, Uh, is, you know, is is very following certain rules. If you're doing, um, if you're doing a portrait, you need to if you're trying to do it realistically, you need to know where the eyes are, where the where the nose is. And it's the same thing with numbers. You need to really understand the rules around those numbers. And so so you find that in time that there's a merger between these these two sides. And um, so I'm, I'm, uh, I think there yes, there is a balance that you need to find, but I in some ways I think the balance finds you, um, and uh, and it's as you do things, you, you organize, you plan, and, um, and so it's, uh, it these are things that you have to do sometimes or ignore sometimes and just, just do them when you need them.

Speaker 1 Mhm. Yeah. It sounds like the accounting sort of kept you structurally just sort of focused and, and sort of just I don't know, just uh, just sort of doing the everyday sort of sort of nine to five doing, doing that. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And you know, I find I found in time that, um, um, I even in, even in my accounting work. So today I look at my paintings and they're, they're highly simplified. Um, and when I was, when I was working as an accountant. My my my job at times needed forced me to find new processes or new ways of doing things in my department, and I always looked for simple solutions. Sometimes you, you, you know, you come up with some convoluted answers to very simple questions. But I always tried to find a simple answer to complex questions. And, and, and I think, you know, that's where, for example, my work and and my and my other work, uh, eventually merge, uh, and and become become to to aspects of the same, um, the same. Well, the same person, I guess.

Speaker 1 two sides of the same coin. Right?

Speaker 2 Yep. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

Speaker 1 I have seen your many travel photographs you post socially. How do you think this shapes both sides of your double life? Does it impact both the analytical and creative equally? Do you see them as shaping your journey both creatively and mathematically?

Speaker 2 Um, I think my my travel has been probably has had probably a little bit more impact on my, uh, on my art and my creativity. Um, then then really the, the, the accounting part of, uh, of it, um, you know, I. It when, when I travel, I always look for, um, museums to visit or galleries to visit. Uh, for years brought back art from from Iceland and art from Sicily and art from France. And um, and so so it's always the, the. The focus has often been arts. Uh, I've done a number of, of trips um. Uh, doing either doing workshops or traveling. Uh, I did, I did residencies, uh, I've done um, so a lot of the travel has really been for art, uh, and, uh, and art related, I guess.

Speaker 1 Um.

Speaker 2 Not always, but, but, uh, fairly. Fairly. Fairly frequently. Uh, there's always some element of of art to to to the travel.

Speaker 1 Oh that's good. Looking at your work, there appears to be a central theme. Your palette is muted on large pieces, creating a sort of feeling. Are you looking for calmness, stillness or quiet or all of the above?

Speaker 2 I think all of the above. Um, the and and in some ways it's more my I'm not looking for it. It's my personality that that, um, I think that shines through. Um, uh, it's in creating creating simple pieces is, is is me. Um, it's it's who I am. Sometimes I've tried in oil mostly, uh, I've tried creating things that maybe have a little bit more movement, but there's still the element of calmness, stillness and quiet. Uh, in, in, in pretty much everything that I've, that I've done. Um. But I do, I do some, uh, some, um, mixed media pieces that are a little bit. No, not a little bit that are quite different from from my paintings, but otherwise they, that's, you know, it's a, it's almost like, um, a it's a totally different body of work and, and, uh, and just the materials that I use tend to force me to do a little bit more, um, things that are a little bit more, um, that have maybe a little bit more movement, a little bit more, Or, um. Perhaps sometimes not as calm. Just you just look at them and and I think. Was that the same person?

Speaker 1 But so what what kind of mediums would you be using with your mixed mediums?

Speaker 2 Well, um, uh, I, I've, um, I some a couple of years ago, uh, I took, um, a class in, um, painting on mylar and mylar. Is is a is a film transparent film. Um, and, um, you can you can work on both sides, and it creates some interesting effects. One of the participants started asking questions to the instructor about doing image transfer on mylar. And, uh, and all of a sudden, you know, drawing on mylar was okay for me, but I wasn't. I wasn't totally excited until we started doing this, this exploration of, uh, of image transfer. The image that you transfer is it's actually comes from a, a laser photocopy, and you transfer the image onto the mylar on the front, on the back. And, uh, and I've been doing some, uh, some pieces. I did one, um, called We'll Always Have Paris and you can see Paris buildings, the Eiffel Tower, uh, the Seine, and then, um, uh, scene from Casablanca. Probably the last scene when, uh, when, um, Bogart tells the love of his life that she has to go. Um, it's during the Second World War. And he said, we'll always have Paris. So that was subject. So it's very busy as a as a piece. It's got all these. It's almost like a collage but a collage on a transparent film. Um, and I've done a few that, uh, eventually went on a show at the Art Gallery of Ottawa, and I did, um, I created some again, just abstract image transfer, um, that are a couple of are going to, uh, Propeller Gallery, um, for, uh, for a group show. So and they're very there's a lot of movement in those.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Casablanca is one of my favorite movies. Yeah, it's a good one. It's a good movie. While researching you, I saw that you participated in a residency a number of years ago in Kerry, Ireland. How did this come about? How did it enhance your practice and what did being creative abroad teach you as an artist?

Speaker 2 Well, the the the residency in Kerry, um, actually, it, um, it wasn't a residency. It was, uh, it was actually three times residency. I've done it three times. Um, and so when, when, when I started working, um, traveled painting. Um, we traveled, um, first, first trip, uh, was to the south of France, where we had rented a farmhouse, and there were nine of us, and we we we invited a friend of ours and paid his expenses to come and not really do formal teaching, but to just be there as almost a mentor to to a bunch of watercolor painters. Um, just to, you know, give us hints and, and that kind of stuff. And, uh, and so we spent two weeks in the south of France, and it was amazing. Um, and then over the years did a few other trips in, in Italy and in, in Mexico. Um, and oh, about, I'd say about fifteen years ago, um, we went to, we traveled to Ireland, did a, did a little bit of a road trip from the north west to the southwest of Ireland and, um. We we'd rented a house, um, in, um, in County Kerry on in the last leg of our trip. And one morning we just decided to go for a walk, and we walked up a hill and found this little village of stone cottages. And each one had in the front window and front door window and the back door window, uh, a sign that said do Not disturb. Artist at work. And I thought, oh, this is interesting and eventually researched it a little bit more. And then I thought, okay, when when the time comes, when I'm ready for it, I'll, uh, I'll apply and hopefully be accepted. And so that was twenty fifteen. So it was ten years after I first encountered that art village. And, uh, so I applied and I was accepted. And in March twenty fifteen, I flew to Ireland and, uh, drove to cross across the country. So flew to Dublin. And Dublin is on the east side and um, County Kerry is on the west side. And, uh, just drove across across the country and, uh, spent almost two weeks discovering, um, discovering that I couldn't really paint in oil in, uh, in a cottage in County Kerry. I, I I brought a canvas. I brought stacks of oil paints and brushes and everything that that I might need. And then nothing dried.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. That's that's.

Speaker 2 So I really. Well, because the first of all, the climate is very.

Speaker 1 Different.

Speaker 2 Is very dense.

Speaker 1 Yes. It's always damp.

Speaker 2 On the Atlantic.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 And the houses are also quite damp. So the paint never dried. And I ended up bringing back, um, pretty much nothing other than, um, other than what remained of my paint and what remained of the canvas. So it was, uh, was a little bit, uh, a little bit crazy. The second time I decided I was going to paint in acrylic, and I did, and that was twenty nineteen, just before the pandemic and, um. So in my first trip there, I, um, I became friends with, uh, an artist from Dublin. And over the years, we'd been in touch, um, just, uh, just casually, um, and a few the occasional, uh, the occasional zoom. And then, um, in the second trip. So that was twenty fifteen. In twenty nineteen, um, we were there were seven of us, and we became friends. The seven of us. Um, there are seven cottages in this, uh, um, this little artist village. Seven edges. And, um, we became friends. We went, uh. We, you know, go for dinner sometimes and, um, and just, just, uh, just, you know, became became good friends. And we had over during the pandemic, we did a number of zoom calls just just to see how things were going and, uh, just make sure everybody was, was still good and, and, um, and at some point, we started talking about the seven of us going back to, um, to County Kerry for, for another residency, a third one. And, uh, it was a lot of, uh, stick handling. Um, because that's not how they do this. You send your application, they choose you, and then they say you're going at this time. Uh, but we we made a good case that maybe the seven of us could go together.

Speaker 1 So what do you mean by stick handling?

Speaker 2 They accept it. Well, we had to. Because they. Because they didn't, um. They didn't allow group applications. So we had to, you know, say, well, you know, we understand. But here's the advantages of doing of having the group of us do a residency together. And uh, and, uh, so, you know, it was just convincing and cajoling and saying, please, please, please.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 2 And finally they they said yes. And, uh, a few of them weren't able to make it. One was doing a master's degree and it was exam time. Another one had some illness issues. And the third one, I don't remember what, but so but four of us went in, uh, in at the end of October twenty fifteen, twenty twenty five and had a marvelous time. So, So that was the third one. And I did some work in watercolor at that in that session in that two week period. So it's uh, so, so my, the, the, the idea of going of traveling for art is, is is amazing because first of all, you don't have the day to day activities that, that, you know, you think, oh, gee, have to, um, water the plants and do dishes and do this and do that. So when you're in, uh, when, when you're traveling for art, you just, um, that's that's the point. That's the purpose of, uh, of the trip. So, so it really pushes you to, to to do to do what you're supposed to be doing, even though nobody's watching and nobody cares whether the whether you do anything or not. Uh, but, uh. But but you care.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Forces you to be you being. Yeah. To just be responsible and just.

Speaker 2 A little bit more.

Speaker 1 Focused. Yeah. This is why you're here, and you're going to. You're going to do this, and that's that's it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And it's, uh. And it's a learning. An amazing learning experience. Learning from doing art, sometimes in a totally different way or but also discovering, you know, the work of other artists that you may not be familiar with, and discovering places and discovering all sorts of things. So it's it's brilliant.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And how they may be able to be of an influence to you as well.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 And how was it, uh, taking up watercolor again? Because you said you you tried it and you realized it wasn't for you. So you you took it to Ireland and was it?

Speaker 2 Well, it was it was fun. It was a lot of fun. Um, I work a lot on my paintings. I work a lot with, uh, painting knife or also known as a palette knife. And, um, and so I thought, I'm going to do watercolor on paper, and I'm not going to do anything with paintbrush. I'm going to do it all with, um, um, palette knife, painting knife. And it was pretty cool because it was totally different from what I had ever learned about watercolor. Um, a number of people, when I told them what I did, they would look at me as if I were, um, didn't know anything about anything and sort of telling me, well, no, you don't you don't do watercolor with palette knife. And my reply was always, well, I don't know. I don't know those rules, so I'm doing what I like.

Speaker 1 Yeah. These are your rules.

Speaker 2 It was.

Speaker 1 Fun.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. And, uh, and and it was a lot of fun and and created some really interesting stuff. And, um, I'm still working on that. Uh, but it's it's it's interesting.

Speaker 1 You work with sculpture as well as painting. I saw you were contributing paintings and sculptures to a local market. How do you find you are able to express yourself creatively in both mediums successfully. Is there a medium that achieves this more than the other, or are they different enough that they cannot be compared?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I think, uh, I think they are totally different. Um, I, um, they're totally different. And yet they are. Um, there are similarities. Um, I still work, um, trying to simplify the process. Um, I still work letting things happen in when I do sculpture. Um, so, um, so it's it's it's really keeping keeping an open mind. Um, they're different, of course, because, um, you know, you build up the sculpture and, uh, and you have to, um, you know, 3D piece, um, and, um, and, you know, my, my paintings being very simple. Um, I work a little bit more, um, I'll say complicated, not complicated, but with a little bit more movement. Just like I described earlier, my mixed media pieces that tend to have a little bit more movement to them. My sculptures are similar to that. Um, I but I still let things happen and, uh, just just go with it. Um.

Speaker 1 Would you say it's just like a different kind of.

Speaker 2 And for years I was working.

Speaker 1 Sorry. I was just I was just going to say for years. Oh. Go ahead.

Speaker 2 No, no. Okay. Um, for years, I was working in clay, um, in, uh, in a Toronto artist's studio. She, uh, she is a wonderful, um, uh, clay artist and a beautiful painter also. And, um, and she would have, uh, weekends at her studio, so probably five or six weekends a year. And, um. And you worked in clay? Um, which was. Which was pretty cool. Um, but in time, I decided I wanted to do something else. Um, and, uh, and Clay, of course, you need, other than using very specific kinds of clay, but mostly you need to fire them in a kiln. And, uh, I don't have a kiln. So it was really finding somebody else to do the firing, and just, uh, I wanted to be able to control my whole process. So I, um, I joined, um, a studio, a sculpture studio in Toronto. Um, and, uh, I started working with a product called Winter Stone, which is, um, it's a it's a modified cement. So you get it in bags and powder and you add water, and then you build your sculpture, or you do a mold, then you create a. So there's different, different processes. But for me the part that I liked was to build up the sculpture. So you put a you created a metal a metal frame and then build it, built the sculpture on top of that. Um, unfortunately, uh, it was great because, um, um, I could learn from all the other artists who worked in that studio and, um, um, but unfortunately, the studio closed, um, I guess about a little bit more than a year ago. And, um, so I need to, um, I need I still need to equip my, my studio with, Um, what is, you know, the equipment that I need to be able to safely work. Uh, because it's powder, um, and because sometimes you might use a rasp and file pieces. Um, you need to have proper ventilation. So I'm looking at getting a what is called an air scrubber. So really, really heavy duty filters. And, uh, so that's, uh, a friend. A friend has one of those, and it's it's amazing. So that's what, uh, that's one of my projects for this year.

Speaker 1 Yeah, it sounds like a lot, uh, a lot that needs to go into just making your studio ready to be able to manage all of those sort of materials.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes.

Speaker 1 Yeah. I was going to say is do do you see it as different energies like that. When you're when you're working with these different mediums that like, how do you find you're able to communicate with the or be able to just, I don't know, be creative in those different energies? Like how I don't know. How would you describe being able to do that?

Speaker 2 Well, sometimes part of it is that you're really working much more with your hands when you do sculpture. Um, there are tools. Um, but really, uh, you build the sculpture, um, you've got you've got your hands in, in the material and, uh, which is not really what you would normally do in, uh, in, in oil paint. Certainly not, uh, not what I do. Um, even though I, you know, I work with brushes, I work with, um, um, knives and, uh, and sometimes I, I get paint on my hands, but it's not. It's not the same. It's, uh, sculpture is really part of the process is get in there and get physical with it. Uh, while the painting is a little bit more, at times meditative. Um, and so, yeah.

Speaker 1 Your work is inspired by landscape, but they go beyond that to invoke atmosphere, inspiration of memory, and some sometimes transplanting you to an imagined place. You have also been compared to Rothko. Where do you see yourself artistically in the map of art history? Do you agree with the critics, or do you see your art as sitting somewhere else?

Speaker 2 Well, um, I have to say, I love, um, the work of Mark Rothko. Um, and it is it is an inspiration to to to look at some of his work. Um, but there's, there are a few other artists who I think have an influence on me. Um, I'll say I'll say Turner more in in in his later years, um, his, his later paintings are much more, um, much more abstract. Just, uh, um, just a lot of, uh, of brushstrokes and movement and, uh, while the, the early, the early work had little villages and, and people, uh, you saw a lot less of that in, in his later years. So, so I am influenced by, by people, um, and by by the work that, uh, that they, they've created. Um, I'm not sure where I fit in there. Um, I'm working in, uh, simple pallet. Working in almost color field. Probably takes me back, um, from to the days before I was born, but, uh, but I don't know. Um, I try not to. I try not to put myself into any of those, um, categories.

Speaker 1 Categories. Here. You cut. You're cutting out. Sorry. Could you could you repeat that again? You said you you don't want to put yourself where. I can't hear you.

Speaker 2 I don't want to necessarily compare myself to, uh, to any of these, um, these amazing artists, I, I take, um, I, I stand on their shoulders, I guess is the, uh, the expression perhaps, um, I've learned from them, and I do what I do, and I try not to, uh, not to duplicate what they've done, so I try, um, I mean, it's a compliment to some for somebody to say, to compare my work to Rothko's, but I'm, uh, I'm not sure. I think I have a a little bit of, uh, a little bit more work to do.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I, I, I wasn't sure when I read that. I was like, I don't quite see it, but. Okay. I mean, that's, that's what the, the critics say, right. And you, you either agree you don't agree or like somewhere in between. Right. Because people see see what they want, right?

Speaker 2 Yes yes yes. Yeah. I, uh. I mean, there's so many. There are so many wonderful artists that that I love whose work I love. Um, one of my, one of my passions other than painting, um, is, um, is art books. And I probably have a few hundred, um, and, uh, just, I just love them, so I they're all artists whose work I admire. Some of them, some of them maybe not so much, but they're still important. Uh, still important to, uh, learn from them than to, uh, than to just say I'm sorry, um, than to just say I will only look at the ones whose work I love.

Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I, I like studying the art books as well, because there's so much that we can learn from from the the artists from, from before and what, what they can, what they can teach us.

Speaker 2 Mhm. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I find it interesting when people say that they are self-taught. My background is accounting and I've taken classes with various artists. But some people sometimes you see on somebody's resume that they are self-taught. We are never self. No. You learn from from from the people who were here before you and uh, and I, I think, uh, I think we all learn from, from, uh, from these wonderful artists.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. I see that I, I don't understand that either. Yeah. Because you can't really teach yourself. But, I mean, it's just it's just, I guess, Semantics, right? People are just not really understanding that that's what they're saying. They're thinking that they taught themselves using other people, obviously, but they're I don't know that maybe that's too many words for them to, to be able to say all of that. Yeah. I, I discovered your family is artistic in other ways. Can you share with our audience how your family participates creatively in other fields? Do you collaborate or find your influence or you influence each other in in any way?

Speaker 2 Um, I'm probably not that much influence. Uh, first of all, I live in Toronto, and, uh, and my my my relatives, um, my, I have two brothers, and, uh, they live one in Montreal area, one in the Quebec City area. So it's, uh, so it's a little bit, um, um. Um, we're a little bit far away from each other. Um, my my family, um, my grandfather, my maternal grandfather was, um, a musician. He was a composer. He was, um, he had, um, um, he played the the big pipe organs and, um, he composed he was an educator in music, but that was his focus.

Speaker 1 Um.

Speaker 2 My mother and her siblings or two of her siblings studied music. Um, and again, the three of them would compose and play. And, um, I remember my grandmother in her house had two grand pianos. So it was, uh, it was, you know, it was interesting, but, uh, you always heard. amazing music. Um. And my. But my mother played music. She composed also. But she also did, um, uh, painting and drawing and, uh, um, mixed media work. Never really professionally. Um, just, uh, just for the sheer enjoyment of it. And now I have two of my brothers. Um. Uh, one the one in Quebec City teaches, has a music school where he teaches. He and his wife teach music in, um, in a suburb of Quebec City. And, uh, my other brother who lives in Montreal, he's he's more into technology, but then he plays the drum and, uh, and just just enjoys that. And then I have two grand nieces who sing and play music. And, uh, uh, I have one who's recorded a couple of albums and plays in concert. And so. So they all, um, there's, there's a significant amount of art in the family. And, um, and when I said, you know, maybe the influence is not as great, the influence is always there. Um, you know, I grew up with, with, uh, with my mother creating work. So. So it was.

Speaker 1 Yeah. We're we are complex creatures, right? We've got so many fabrics to to to our identity. Right?

Speaker 2 Yes, yes. And, uh, and we're complex, and yet we just should just go with it. Yeah.

Speaker 1 How have you found working with a number of galleries especially Propeller Gallery in Toronto, has benefited your creative practice? Are you working with ones internationally as well?

Speaker 2 Um, so no, I don't have any international gallery. Um, though I did show in New York City, um, many, many, many years ago, um, was a group show, so it wasn't, you know, it wasn't, uh, wasn't just me. Um, propeller has been an interesting influence, uh, for me, um, I joined probably ten years ago. Rough guess. And but I've been following and I've had friends with propeller for a number of years. Propeller has been in, in, uh, in Toronto as an artist run centre for thirty years. So it's, uh, so it's really has a strong history. And I've had friends forever who were part of propeller. And I've occasionally shown. Um, and where I think it has benefited my practice is that when you're involved in an artist run centre, you do see everybody's work. You are in some ways a partner in this venture, which is propeller, with artists who create work, um, in so many different ways. And so you go to openings, you go to artist talks, you have shows at the gallery, you do artist talks. And um, and so it's, uh, so it's that influence that everybody has on each other, which is, which is quite amazing. Um, you know, it's very easy if you're working in a studio to sort of get lost in your studio and, uh, and stop, stop, uh, stop seeing other people's work and start stop seeing other people. So, um, so it has had a great influence. Uh.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Because I was thinking being in the studio all the time, I thought artists, you know, I just it's almost like a single mindedness, like you're just. You're very separate. But it sounds like with propeller, what you've noticed, it's it's thirty years and you, you know, you've become like a family kind of. Right? Yeah.

Speaker 2 That's correct. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, that's really good.

Speaker 2 And you know, you discover some people leave uh, for whatever other reason, for whatever reasons they have. And, uh, but we constantly renew the membership. We have one member who's been, um, with propeller probably most of its life. So thirty years. And, uh, and every year we have just brand new people showing up and, uh, and you get to meet them, you get to look at their practice, you get to, um, look at the work and, uh, and, and, um, chat conversations, um, about art or about the weather, but but it's still that relationship that you build. So.

Speaker 1 Yeah, because it can it can be sort of, sort of an intimate thing or it can be very sort of transactional, like, I guess it can go both ways. Right.

Speaker 2 So yes. Yes. Yeah. And you know, try to I try to, you know, you obviously the, the transactional part, you have to. Yeah. Um, you know, it's business. You don't have to, but it's, otherwise, you know, it serves no purpose. But the, the the higher level is, is, is quite interesting and, and uh, and adds so much, uh, to someone's art practice if you're open for it and uh, hopefully people are. So yeah.

Speaker 1 How did you reach this atmospheric style creatively that you are currently exploring? Was it from experimentation over years of practice, or did you arrive there from exposure to other creatives, or was it your interpretation of your travels that centered you?

Speaker 2 Well, yes yes yes yes, all of it. Um, the, um, uh, when I started, um, when I started painting, um. I did, you know, I did life, life drawing and life painting and still life and sometimes outdoor painting. Plein air painting. Um, you know, a house or that kind of stuff. But I always read whatever I would do. I always, um, tended to simplify the work. My work. Um, I tried to, um, I, you know, I remember one still life, um, that we did, um, I was taking classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Um, and, um, and it was, um, a pile of bricks and a few other things, but, uh, um, um, and so what I ended up doing, instead of trying to do the whole still life, I was. I simplified it. I took one brick and painted the corner of that brick. And so I've always had a tendency to simplify. Um. Uh, I've. I, um, I think the influence of, of seeing work by artists who did work in a very simple way, um, helped helped me focus or understand that that's what I really enjoyed. Um, and I've taken classes with artists who painted in in similar style. Similarly, when I say similar, um, they painted their own way and but I took some of what they were teaching that I, that I really, that really connected with me and, um, you know, just, uh, just it evolved, uh, sometimes just organically. Um, and, uh, and and it's a, it's a, it's a back and forth, uh, process. Of course it's sometimes I do, um, uh, I put out a little bit more details. Sometimes I just ignore all the details and, uh, and, uh, and do you know how I, how I want to do it? So. So, yeah.

Speaker 1 Do you see that there's any maybe metaphorical, um, meaning to to why you simplify, like you're, you're just you see the world as so, so stimulating that you want to simplify it or. I don't know, just a guess.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah, probably. Um, I yeah, the world is is is complicated, is messy.

Speaker 1 Um.

Speaker 2 And, uh, and sometimes simplifying, giving, simplifying my paintings is my way of reacting to, to a lot of the craziness that we see today. So it's, uh, and, and, you know, there was there are times when I'll do, um, I'll be inspired by some of the things that happen in the world, um, in, in a direct way. And sometimes it's in, um, uh, in reaction to, to what's going on. So trying to counter, um, the stresses of the world to, to, um, into, into my paintings.

Speaker 1 Mhm. How would you say being from Quebec, Canada has impacted your work? Or do you see your work continuing to be shaped by your home, or are your travels more of a focal point? What would you say has created a synergy between what could be interpreted interpreted as conflicting environmental influences?

Speaker 2 Mm. Um, I've always struggled with this idea of coming from, from Quebec and, uh, and, and the work that I do, um, there's been, um, um, the Quebec, there was this movement called Automatist.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 Who were artists who painted, um, I guess automatically, which was the term automatist And, um, and I always enjoyed their work and, um, and that may very well, you know, as I, as I was growing up and seeing the work that they did, um, um, it it it can certainly it would certainly have had an influence. Um, and uh, and you know, certainly the travel has, has, um, allowed me to discover, um, either discover artists or, um, or see the work of the ones that, um, um, that I found interesting. Um, there's a, there's a French painter whose name is Pierre Soulages. Um, um, and I've seen his work. I've. I've gone to his, His museum, quote unquote, in the south of France twice. And the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has two of his paintings. And whenever I go there, um, that's my first. The first place to go is to see this. So see these paintings. And so, you know, I, I didn't really know him until we in, in France, we thought we were traveling around and decided to go discover this man and, and and then, you know, this little back and forth, uh, he's his work is extremely simplified and, yes, yet very complex. So, so so the my travel, the my my, um, uh, where I came from, Um, and, uh, so again, uh, standing on the shoulders of, uh, of those who, um, who came before me and, uh, and just keep on learning from all of them.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Sort of like you, you have the sort of structure or the, um, just the what you grew up with, what you knew as, as you were sort of developing from, from your hometown kind of thing. And then you just kind of layer on your influences, um, sort of around you as you, as you develop, uh, as you as an adult kind of thing. Right? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yes. Yeah.

Speaker 1 We have actually reached the, uh, the end of your questions for our interview. Jack, um, thank you so much for sharing your creative practice. It was a pleasure speaking with you on how you work and all your sort of creative endeavours. If there is anything you would like to add, now is the time.

Speaker 2 No, I think I certainly enjoyed our conversation. It was uh, um, it's always it's always interesting. It always challenges me to really define properly define what my thought process is. And, uh, and, um, I, uh, I enjoyed this very much. Um, I'm not sure if there's much that I can add to it other than, um, I think it was a quote from, um, uh, Kurt Vonnegut, the American writer. Um, and I won't try to do the quote fully, but it's he said in one Speech, I guess, or in one book. Um. Do art, um, paint, draw, sing, dance. Uh. Play music. And don't try necessarily to make it beautiful. Make it. Do it for yourself. If people like it, it's great. If people don't like it, that's great. And, um. And, uh. Yeah, that's, uh, perhaps, uh, one of the most interesting quotes that, uh, that I, that I found, uh, recently. So.

Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly. Just do art just because. Right.

Speaker 2 That's correct. Yes. Yes.

Speaker 1 Yes. Because it just just well, talking about art, just it's it's just a great thing. I just I don't know why there isn't more people talking about art. It just doesn't. I don't get it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Well, when, uh, when I was taking classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario, um, we were, um, the classes ended, I don't know, maybe around nine thirty or ten in the evening. And, uh, and a lot of the, the, the students and the, the instructors would gather, uh, on Queen Street at the Beverley. Yeah. Um, uh, it ages me a little bit. Um, and we'd go there and just have, um, have a beer and, uh, spend time chatting about. And that's what we did. We chatted about art and, uh, and and not as much now. So even sometimes you go to gallery openings and people don't talk about art. They talk about, uh, I don't know, whatever whatever else they talk about, but but they almost, uh, they don't look at the art. They, they just take room and and, uh, and and make noise.

Speaker 1 Well, you know what? You're.

Speaker 2 I don't mean that that that radically, uh, you know, uh. Yeah. Well, we tend not to as much.

Speaker 1 Well, no, I think maybe you're just going to the wrong galleries because it just depends right where which galleries you're going to because they they are still talking about the art on in some of them that. Yeah. It's just there are some that the people that are going, are just going for some, some other reason and we don't know what that is. But but you know what you're saying. Sorry. What you were saying about the. Yeah. Eating the food. That's what they're there for and impressing their date or whatever.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 But what you're saying about the Beverly and OCD or or whatever you want to call it, they're still doing it. I, I was, uh, a student there many years ago. Well, maybe not that many, but many to me. And they they are still going at the Beverly, you know. So it's still it's still a trend. I mean, if it was many years ago for you and it feels like a lot for me, it's still happening. Like it, I don't know, it must have been. I have a friend who. She was just going there to talk with one of the teachers. It's not. I don't think he's a teacher there anymore. Maybe he is. Paul Dallas. Do you know that name?

Speaker 2 No, no.

Speaker 1 Okay, well, I think she was going to. And, uh, Gary Taxali, they were, uh, I think she hangs out with them, and, uh, she she was going to the Beverly still, and I was like, I can't believe they're still going.

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's I mean, I get together with, uh, um, friends. Um. Who that I've known on and off for over the, over the years. And, um, and, you know, we go for lunch, we go for coffee and, and and we do still talk about art. So it's so it's not it's not fully off topic, but uh, but, uh, but there's still, there's still room for more.

Speaker 1 Yes. There always is room for more. Of course. Well, I look forward to chatting with you in the future and seeing where your creative creativity takes you.

Speaker 2 Yeah, well, I have a I have a propeller show coming in June, so we'll see how that goes.

Speaker 1 Oh, that'll be good. Yeah, it's the summer shows that are always a little bit easier to get to, right.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah yeah. Okay.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Particularly a day like today.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Oh yeah. Negative twenty three. It's like what? That's just too cold. What, are we in the Yukon? Yeah, well. Yeah, right. It's just Canada. Anywhere. It's going to be cold.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 All right. Thanks. Thanks again.

Speaker 2 Well. Thank you. Um, it was a pleasure chatting with you. Discover discovering your work and, um, and, uh, and, you know, just, um, just.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, it's always.

Speaker 2 And discovering and meeting your cat online.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah? Which one? There's three of them. Yeah, yeah, there's three.

Speaker 2 The one. Um, the, um, you. I think you wrote that, uh, she was, uh, um, a cat.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah. Yes, we we got we, um, adopted her during Covid. We, we have two from family members who just have too many cats or their cat gave had kittens. And then we have two two rescues, one one a tuxedo and then one a Doberman. Yeah, yeah. Big, big.

Speaker 2 We have we have two.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Two cats. Oh, nice.

Speaker 2 And one. One is a fourteen year old.

Speaker 1 Oh, nice.

Speaker 2 And one is a six year old. Mostly white, but, you know, just various color splotches. And, uh. And we got both of them. We used to go to our vet, uh, was called, uh, Bichat Hospital, and, uh, they still called Paco Hospital, but they used to have, uh, an adoption center, and, uh, and we got we were getting these little kittens about, you know, smaller than, uh, than a hand. And, uh. So unfortunately, they don't do that anymore.

Speaker 1 So no, they're supposed to be eight weeks old before you can adopt them. Yeah. Makes more sense that way. And then they're they're better able to handle the world, you know, when they're bigger than a grapefruit? Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yep.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yes.

Speaker 1 Animals are great. They really. They really help. Yeah. They're definitely helpful when you're painting, though, right?

Speaker 2 Uh, yeah. Actually, um, that that cat, um, the white one, she, uh. When we adopted her, she climbed up my back. I was I was painting and climbed up my back, sat on my shoulder. And then proceeded to jump in my paint tray.

Speaker 1 Oh, no.

Speaker 2 So she was a green cat for weeks and weeks.

Speaker 1 Yeah, because with the oil paint, that could be toxic, right? Oh, no.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 Well, she survived it.

Speaker 2 So she did. She did. It didn't. It didn't affect her. She's quite she's quite rowdy and she's adventurous. All right. Well, it was a pleasure. And, um, and I'm sure at some point we're probably going to meet in person at a random art show or.

Speaker 1 Yeah, well, definitely in June, if not before. Right. So. All right. Okay. Thanks. Thanks again. Okay. Take.

Speaker 2 Well, have a wonderful day. And, uh, thank you for, uh, for for doing this.

Speaker 1 No problem. Take care.

Speaker 2 Oh, I meant to ask. I went I, you know, you sent me the link to, um, to your podcast.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 2 And I couldn't get it.

Speaker 1 Oh, no. Oh, it must have been a just a bad link, because actually it's on twelve different platforms, so, like, you can go on Spotify, you can go on Google, you can go.

Speaker 2 So I can just go onto one of the apps.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Well you just have to type in creatively thinking with Carolyn B and then it should come up. Okay. Awesome. Okay. Thanks so much Jack.

Speaker 3 All right.

Speaker 1 Okay. Thank you. Okay, bye. Join me next time as I go down another rabbit hole with another creative professional on their insights, their inspirations, and their ingenuity.