THE ACHE FOR CHANGE
Dental hygienist couldn’t resist the pull of art
“Art was probably a lifelong passion for me, but squashed in high school by my guidance counsellor, who said ‘You’re never going to make any money as an artist.’ I was in Deep River, which is where the scientists who work at the nuclear plant in Chalk River live. Everybody was science-based there, so when somebody excels in arts, they think ‘Huh, how do we get this person into a science field where they can straighten themselves out?’ So the guidance counsellor says ‘We need to get you into a science field that is somewhat artistic,’ so I became a dental hygienist. I did that for about seven years. And then I woke up and said, ‘What’s going on here?’
“But it was one of my patients who told me she was taking art classes. Every time she came in, I’d ask her more questions about her art. I realized I cared more about her art than her teeth, and that’s when I thought, ‘I should explore this art thing.’ I needed to do something different.
“I work a lot in encaustic painting, a more-than-2,000-year-old method of painting. It started out as a waterproofing method for boats and other water vessels using wax. And the Greeks discovered that if they added some pigments, some colour, to the wax itself, then they could make designs on the boats and make them look really attractive. And to stabilize the wax, they added this tree sap, which is called damar resin, which, when it hardens, prevents the wax from melting in the sun. The Italians started using it as fresco paint, and it became known as the outdoor paint.
“I like history in objects. I like things that tell a story. Things that are a little worn, things that have paper peeling off them. I like that sense of history. There’s a little decay in all my stuff; it’s really attractive to me. And in encaustic, the base of the paint is clear, so you can see through it. By adding pigment, you can adjust the lightfastness of the paint, and what I like is starting with a background of something that had some history, and by adding wax you can see through little glimpses, almost like little windows into what’s going on in the back. And to me, that mystery creates an interesting sense of decay and of history, within a painting that can be very new.
“One of my passions is making samples for different outlets. I work for a publishing company and a licensing company, so a sample for them would be me making something that I think the commercial world would want to buy and hang above their couch — that kind of thing. So it’s generally more decor than it is fine art.
“So I will make a sample for them, usually something small — 6”x6” or 6”x8” — and if they like it and can photograph it, that’s what they’ll do; photograph it, enlarge it and print it.
“But sampling for a company like Cirque du Soleil was different in that they’re show-specific. They wanted me to develop something for the Michael Jackson ONE show. They had asked for a handmade souvenir to be sold in the gift shop, and I was trying to think of all kinds of things, and this is where I honestly believe that the spirit of Michael Jackson visited me.
“I was driving down the highway
and, just like watching a YouTube video, I actually watched this fedora, which has become one of their best-selling items since the inception of the show. I watched the construction of it, I knew the materials, I knew everything — so much so that I actually turned the car around and went searching for the parts.
“When it was done, I showed it to Cirque. There were 15 artists that were competing, and once they saw the hat, they just loved it. It had a little camera on it, and exploding pixels all over it. A mixed-media piece. They tried to get me to do other renditions — do it in white, do it in pink — but none of the others took off. Just the one that was shown to me in that little video in my head.
“They asked me, ‘How many can you make? Do you have a factory?’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m just one person.’ So I actually set limits for how often they can order, and the quantities, and they have been ordering that hat consistently since the inception, which I think is six or seven years now. I think I’ve made close to 2,000 hats now, each one by hand.”
After today, Spotlight is going on a summer hiatus. Fear not; it will return in the fall.