Though artist Richard Cole has shown his paintings many times at Canada House Gallery, this Saturday (Feb. 23) he’ll present his first book.
Cole will be in the gallery for the launch of The Boy Who Paints, a children’s book he created the illustrations for in collaboration with author K. Jane Watt.
“With a local writer, we worked on this book together that talks about a young artist’s life and throughout the book, as I was illustrating it, I would create paintings that would work well within the book,” said Cole. “These paintings will be on display at Canada House.
“I’ve got some very large canvases that are seven feet by five feet, and then I’ve got smaller works as well. For the smaller works I did something I haven’t done before – I was inspired by the book to put them together to create one canvas – I’ve done five different canvases that are not only different sizes, but different depths, and they all go together to create one image.”
While the show runs Feb. 23 to March 6, Cole will be in the gallery on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. for the launch and to sign books.
“For this particular show, with the book, it’ll be a nice combination of how the paintings work in this book,” he said. “The story of this young boy and his struggles as an artist.
“He paints what he sees – he lives in a suburban town and he sees houses, so he paints houses. And then he gets bored with houses, so he finds inspiration through colour, and then he’s inspired to create landscapes, and then we use my actual landscapes as the paintings he’s created.”
Seeing large paintings alongside the considerably smaller book will be an interesting experience, said Cole.
“It’ll be neat in the gallery to see this illustrated book and then the actual paintings,” he said. “The book is small and the first painting in the book is seven feet wide – the viewers will get a neat experience from seeing them side by side.”
Originally from Alberta and currently based in Fort Langley, B.C., Cole has been a professional artist for over 20 years, having graduated from ACAD in Calgary in 1991.
“I’ve pretty much made my living as an artist ever since – I started painting landscapes primarily about 10 years ago,” he said. “Before that I really focused on the figure, but then I stretched out into the landscape, and what drew me to it was I did a trip down the Oregon coast.
“I fell in love with the landscape and the mist and the layered greys of the sky, and very different weather than we get in the Prairies,” he explained. “I had just moved to B.C. and I was really struggling with the weather, how it’s rainy and grey and dark all the time, and I found that if I started painting the landscape, it was almost like therapy to help me understand where I live and appreciate it.”
Working with the layered greys of the sky has formed the foundation of his style and technique, he explained.
“So I had these variations of grey in the landscapes. I found the beauty of the landscape by the subtly of the palette and the softness of brush, to help create the visual effect of distance,” said Cole. “It really gave me a distinct style that became my own over the years, and I’ve kept that blurry, layered, soft-brush look as my own, and then I’ve taken that vehicle to lots of different subject matters.
“Wherever I’ve gone and no matter what inspires me, I’ve kept that in my toolbox as a great way to express myself with the painting.”
Whether working with the dreary West Coast or with Prairie fields of canola, the techniques are similar, he said, despite the palettes being so different.
“I like to do a lot of not so much about how something actually looks, but how it feels in the work,” said Cole. “Like how the wind will affect a field of grass, how it marks the grass or makes the grass move, I like to have the sense of movement. And the same with my cloud work and the skies and the light and movement – atmospheric is the word – how it makes you feel.”
Cole is looking forward to a return to Canada House, one of his favourite galleries.
“They’re a fantastic gallery. I’ve shown at a number of galleries all over, some in the States, some in Europe, and Canada House has got to be one of my absolute favourites,” he said. “The entire staff there has a real dedication and love for art, so they’re not pure sales, they truly love working with art. Barb (Pelham) shows me so much respect as an artist, it’s really appreciated.”
While many of the paintings are for sale, departing from his work is something he’s become accustomed to, as he sees making the connection with the viewer as a sign of success.
“I feel my work becomes successful if I make a painting that makes me feel a particular way – something sublime, quite guttural – and if I see a viewer responding to it in a similar way, then I think I’ve made quite an effective painting,” he said. “That’s the ultimate thing, if I’ve created something that affects someone, then I’ve communicated with them on a different level, so my job is done and the work is done.
“When the work is sold, sometimes it gives me inspiration. I like to see them go find their own homes.”
Having had a great experience with making this book, Cole now looks forward to making his own.
“I’m having so much fun with these books, it was a neat experience working with a writer,” he said. “The life of an artist can be quite a lot of solitude, a lot of time alone in my studio, and with this writer we found a lot of similarities with our practices. The process of working with her was really rewarding.”
For more information on Cole, visit his website at colestudio.ca
