-Story by Deborah Pearce and Photographs by Lia Crowe.
The first time my husband said he wanted to rent the big hall in SidneyB次元官网网址檚 Mary Winspear Centre and put on a show of his paintings plus 30 pieces of his studentsB次元官网网址� work, I thought he was nuts.
That huge space? The one that holds the Sidney Fine Arts Show, with hundreds of artists producing 400 works? The one that costs $5,000 to rent for four days?
Yep, that one. And nuts or not, that show, back in 2016, came off beautifully. Students pitched in to hang paintings and do the myriad jobs behind the scenes, as well as put on demonstrations of the Nicholas Pearce painting technique, using a single, huge brush and limited palette of four acrylic colours plus white.
The feeling of community was amazing. So was our collective exhaustion. I swore it would take me seven years to recover B次元官网网址� the amount of time to replace every cell in my body.
Fast forward three years. The scene: NicholasB次元官网网址檚 North Saanich studio. This time he was proposing another show with his students, same venue as the first, to run March 29-31, 2019. It would be called About Face, and it would be entirely portraits.
B次元官网网址淲ould visitors be interested in portraits of people they donB次元官网网址檛 know?B次元官网网址� I protested.
B次元官网网址淗ow many people go to see the Mona Lisa?B次元官网网址� he countered.
As it turns out, Lawson A.W. Hunter, chair of the Ottawa Art Gallery, backs him up. B次元官网网址淲hatB次元官网网址檚 in a portrait?B次元官网网址� Hunter asked in a recent Globe and Mail article, arguing for a Canadian National Portrait Gallery. B次元官网网址淭he quick answer: a story B次元官网网址here is no substitute for a face-to-face encounter with a portrait. IsnB次元官网网址檛 the sustained popularity of the B次元官网网址榮elfieB次元官网网址� a testament to our intuitive desire to put faces to our shared experiences?B次元官网网址�
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| Lia Crowe photograph |
Over the past couple of years, more and more of NicholasB次元官网网址檚 students have taken on the challenge of doing just that. IB次元官网网址檝e marvelled at the paintings theyB次元官网网址檝e produced, and the stories behind the paintings.
For example, thereB次元官网网址檚 the story of a son who hadnB次元官网网址檛 liked having his picture taken and died in a car crash at 17. The only recent photo of him was small and blurred. His mother used that image to paint a portrait.
At the end of the class, she said to Nick, B次元官网网址淭hank you for helping me bring him home.B次元官网网址�
Or, the retired counsellor who captured all seven of her grandchildren B次元官网网址� and then went on to do portraits of her husband and herself.
IB次元官网网址檓 not an artist B次元官网网址� just a fly on the kitchen wall. IB次元官网网址檓 the one making coffee and cooking lunches for NickB次元官网网址檚 classes in his studio, right around the corner.
And what I see and hear in every class is courage.
Portraiture is tough. As New York teacher Marvin Mattelson tells his students, B次元官网网址淧ortrait painting isnB次元官网网址檛 brain surgery; itB次元官网网址檚 much more difficult.B次元官网网址�
UK artist David Cobley goes further. B次元官网网址淧ainting someoneB次元官网网址檚 portrait is, of course, an impossible task. What an absurd idea to try and distil a human being, the most complex organism on the planet, into flicks, washes and blobs of paint on a two-dimensional surface.B次元官网网址�
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| Lia Crowe photograph |
So why try?
Nicholas has several theories. B次元官网网址淎rtists are adventurers, especially those willing to take on the single, one-and-a-half-inch brush, and a limited palette of four colours,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淧ainting a portrait is arguably the biggest challenge any artist will undertake.B次元官网网址�
A second reason to do portraits is the need for connection through art, common to many artists.
His third theory?
B次元官网网址淲hen we paint a portrait of someone we care about, itB次元官网网址檚 an act of love.B次元官网网址�
Nicholas says his goal is to capture the personB次元官网网址檚 essence B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渢heir sparkB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� as well as their likeness. One of his favourite instructions to students is to let go of any aim to create perfection through photorealism.
B次元官网网址淚ndicate, donB次元官网网址檛 illustrate,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淎s the Impressionists discovered, absolute definition of anything can take the magic out of a painting, creating a technical exercise. Give just enough detail to imply rather than to state.B次元官网网址�
Nicholas says a portrait is working when it morphs from an image of a personB次元官网网址檚 features to a sense of the personB次元官网网址檚 being: B次元官网网址淵ou donB次元官网网址檛 see an eye; you see a soul shining out through an eye.B次元官网网址�
Most of the 150 works in About Face will be from NicholasB次元官网网址檚 portrait classes, the rest done in a new one-day workshop called painting with pencil.
For that class, students build an image using a 3B pencil and NicholasB次元官网网址檚 scribble technique.
B次元官网网址淵ou start with a light hand and build the whole image at once rather than moving from one detail to another. If a line is in the wrong place, you learn how to incorporate it into the rest of the tone scribble.B次元官网网址�
Throughout the show, Nicholas and his students will demonstrate both techniques. Draws will be held for the portrait intensive and painting with pencil classes.
Each portrait, or group of portraits, will come with a story so the viewer can learn who the subject is and why the work was created. Visitors will be able to sign up for classes with Nicholas B次元官网网址� or commission a portrait, done by Nick or one of his students.
Everyone is invited to the official opening, being held partway through the show to accommodate some of the portrait subjects who have offered to speak at the event. Green Party leader Elizabeth May and agriculture minister Lana Popham are both scheduled to say a few words, with their portraits beside them.
Admission: Free
Location:
Mary Winspear Centre, Bodine Hall
2243 Beacon Ave W, Sidney
Show dates and times:
Friday, March 29, 10 am to 9 pm
Saturday, March 30, 10 am to 7 pm (opening ceremony, 7 to 9 pm)
Sunday, March 31, 10 am to 4 pm
More information:
778.426.0150
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| Lia Crowe photograph |
From Pearl Magazine
