It's hard to call Geoff Brasier one of Prince George's newest artists, since he is a senior citizen, but his debut exhibition happens Thursday night and the Community Arts Council calls the occasion well worth the wait.
Brasier's show is entitled At the Ocean's Edge. He will be on hand at the opening reception at 7 p.m. to discuss the motivating forces in his paintings, and these pieces in particular. He might also explain a little about his slow bloom as a professional painter.
It started in his youth in Whitehorse, when he sold his first two paintings and that made him cocky, he said. He went on to produce "a collection of garbage I ended up giving away to friends and family," he said, but he refused to curtail his creative side.
He did change course a bit, however. He took up photography as his main artistic outlet, and eventually he joined the North Central Seniors Association and their camera club. There he was discovered all over again by fellow club member and Community Arts Council (CAC) board president Elaine Kerr. Kerr referred him to submit for an upcoming CAC fundraiser.
"The first thing he did with us was submit three charming pieces to our six-by-six art auction - scenes of pebbles on a beach," said CAC project co-ordinator Lisa Redpath referring to the event featuring works a maximum of six inches by six inches. "His work is really phenomenal and the audience took notice. All three pieces were snapped up. There was actually some fighting over them."
Redpath knew she had a hot new talent in their midst, so she approached Brasier about having an art exhibition all to himself in the CAC's feature gallery at Studio 2880. She had an availability this summer or in 2015.
"I told them I'm 71, I may not be here next year, so I went for this summer," he said. "I consider myself a surprise candidate for a professional exhibition, so I had to get to work. I pulled out all the artwork I already had, got some photographs together, and painted some others. I say that I'm not an artist, I am just persistent and do the best I can with what humble skills I've got."
"I think he's really enjoying the well deserved attention he's getting for his work, all of a sudden. He's never really been publicly recognized before for that," said Redpath. "In curating the feature gallery we look for the talent and the professionalism, but we also look for the extraordinary. We try to do a broadbased approach for that gallery, some traditional and some on the fringe. We want to stretch the imagination and push the definitions, and keep up with all the demographics we represent."
If that means showcasing a young artist at the age of 71, he's happy to help, said Brasier.
"I spent a long time being a virgin, but now that I'm going I don't want to quit," he said. He is already in talks with Groop Gallery, the city's premier private art house, to take the next step in his painting career work-in-progress.
The public is invited to attend the free opening reception on Thursday to unveil the dozen-or-so works of acrylic paintings and colour-enhanced photographs inspired by Haida Gwaii where his son lives. All these works are inspired by photos he has taken there over the years.
