Behind the Scenes - Painting 21 little Walterdale bridges

I moved to Edmonton to go to music school, where I learned about jazz and chord charts, drinking beers and chasing boys mostly (Maybe a few girls, I wasn’t all that choosy back then winky face). I fell in love with Whyte Ave immediately and was lucky enough to live in the Bonnie Doon area in those days. In my thirties, I found myself back in the Old Strathcona area living in a high rise, building up my music career, and head over heels for this magnificent view from all the west-facing windows. It’s glorious, it really is.

When I decided to offer my artworks for sale I knew it would be something to do with Edmonton. While I played around, painting dinosaurs, food challenges, werewolves, exploring all kinds of fun and wacky techniques and subjects, always in the back of my mind I knew that when I was ready to get all grown-up about this thing, it would be a love letter to the home and life that I had built here. I would daydream about it while gazing out the window at this glorious view.

Even after I figured out that it was an image of the bridge that I could see forming in my head, I had to figure out how to express this absurd idea. It took practice and experimentation to get to this point, to abstract the image until it was simple shapes and limited colors. I tried reds, I tried pinks, I used teals, and of course, purples.

I let my imagination run wild and tell all kinds of stories about sunsets in bright bursts of colors. The creative process was in full force, and I was obsessed for many months throwing paint around, greeting each new painting like a new friend as they came to gloopy, globby life.

It wasn’t just a new series of paintings. It was an art journey.

Each one was unique and as they went up on my wall the entire room glowed with joy.

As the shapes got even more simplified and abstract, the more I enjoyed them. I didn’t need it to look like a photograph of the bridge, I wanted it to feel like watching the sunset with your feet up, sipping a tasty treat of a beverage… mmm can’t you feel your shoulders relax just thinking about it? Me too.
I love the rays of sunlight peaking through the bridge, and I love the different shapes in the clouds, and I love that every time of day is represented. So many different sunsets to enjoy! So many different faces and shapes to see in the clouds! It reminds me of being a kid and laying on the grass, pointing out the animals that I thought I could see in the clouds.

Try it - let your eyes go loose while looking at these paintings, relax to the point that your imagination forgets that you’re all grown up and plays along, finding shapes and faces and cute animals, but it’s not limited to the clouds, you can find interest in the brushstrokes. Heck, you can turn it upside down and see if it looks like something completely different! Let me know what you see if you try it, cause I want to know!

The journey was a long one, but here I am with my little bridge paintings, the weird wacky idea in my head expressed, the story in my heart told, and the song on my lips sang. I feel like I accomplished the goal, I made it to the end of the journey, I conquered the hill I came to climb. It’s finished. I am Art Champ.