We here in Ottawa are very fortunate that Roy, in 2015, had chosen to settle down in our fair city with his wife Theresa after a 32 year career as a teacher, counsellor and consultant teaching music, art and literature in the Alberta public school system and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta. After just arriving, luck would have it that a whim led him to audition for a role at the Ottawa Little Theatre and thus a rich relationship was formed involving acting, music and art. In addition, he made many great friends during that first play, who are still comrades and artistic colleagues today.
This multi-talented individual has since appeared in 4 OLT productions including the classic role of the father in A Christmas Story. He has also joined forces with some other alumni to produce songs and record an album.
For 3 weeks during Gaslight, we get to view and appreciate his visual talents which kicked off with a Vernissage prior to a fundraising preview
Roy has been creating art in a variety of media since early childhood. He states that he goes through phases including sculpting, painting, printing, drawing and photography. Some examples are present at his showing including Linoleum Block prints which is a medium creating a mirror image where a sculptured plate is formed and multiple prints can be made from the original “sculpture”.
He states that an image just appears in his imagination via a dream or an experience and he works fervently to have it recreated on canvas. If he is drawing a landscape, sometimes it may be from a photograph and other times it is from the memory and the impressions left on him.
His work tells a story. The piece entitled Nyhaven recounts a trip he took with a school group to Copenhagen during a Jazz Festival and a visit to the castle which was the basis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Street Dog Dreams (pictured above) is an artistic representation of an event that occurred while he and his wife were living in Southern Portugal. They were dining at their favourite local restaurant when their usual waiter loaned him a guitar to play. Roy was thrilled because, space being limited, he had only brought his ukulele and longed to play a guitar. This culminated in concerts for expats frequenting the establishment. The characters portrayed in the painting are actually actors that they met throughout the years (perhaps even at the OLT).
One thing that he truly enjoys is speaking with the lovers of his work (purchasers or just admirers). Sometimes they can have a completely different perception and interpretation of what he has created . This may even involve a story that they bring to the work that is completely disconnected with his own thought process while creating the art. The customer is always right and he will accommodate their selection of colours even if they are not within his preferred colour palate.
What’s next for Roy ? He will continue creating art and music as well as appearing in some locally produced TV movies and of course try to act in a play perhaps every 6 months. He will be auditioning for one of the roles in the OLT 2019-2020 season.
If you are interested to find our more about his work or purchase a piece, please contact him at his studio at home RoyVan90@hotmail.com
-Albert