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January 1999
The Vancouver Courier: CitySCOPE
Vancouver, BC
Documentary Filmmaker Explores an Artist's Obsession
by Brenda Jones
James
Picard's all-consuming obsession with canvas makes him an interesting
subject for Chris Hooper's first documentary film. The film examines creativity's
source.
Neither of the right handed men subscribe to the theory that lefties are more creative due to opposite-side brain functioning. Hooper has known Picard for five months andhas eight hours of footage to edit after spending hundreds of hours talking to the painter and his fans. However, he still doesn't know where Picard's creativity comes from. He intends to have the answer by the time he finishes the film.
A mutual friend introduced the pair at a showing of Picard's work. Hooper thouhgt the art was interesting.
"He's never short on words, which is really important when making a film on someone," Hooper said. "James is a perfect example of 'you're only noticed when you do well outside of Canada."
Hooper, who spent a decade drumming for the Grapes of Wrath, knows all about that particular syndrome. While the band did well in Canada with three gold and two platinum albums, it never made a dent in the U.S. market.
Picard, who lives in the Hastings - Sunrise area, is better known in the U.S. and Europe than in Vancouver. He won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the International Art Competition in New York in 1987. He has captured other awards in Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Montreal. He teaches drawing, painting and sculpture in New York and for the Vancouver School Board's continuing education department.
Picard is frustrated about his obscurity in Canada. "When you study the history of a culture, you look at science and art," he said. "People basically ignore that in Canada. I'm in everyone's backyard and no one knows I exist."
"It's difficult to survive as an artist here because (the government) doesn't back artists. I feel the lure of other places (like Europe) where people appreciate what I do."
The film, titled James Picard: Off The Canvas, features interviews with the artist, his friends and fans. All comment on his dedication, that he spends every minute painting or drawing. Often after he starts a painting, he doesn't sleep and barely eats until it's finished. As a child, he was an insomniac who stayed up all night painting under his bedcovers by flashlight.
"It overrides everything I do," said the 35-year-old, who has done thousands of pieces. "I feel like a sponge taking in images. I'm always creating."
"I feel I'll never get done what I need to do. It's kind of a piss-off."
Picard says he's sacrificed everything, including a normal life for art. But not holding down a nine-to-five job is fine with him because he believes he has a higher purpose in life - creating masterpieces.
Several years ago he read biographies of Francis Bacon, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. He was comforted learning they shared his way of thinking and were equally driven.
Picard says his two children help ground him. They make him slow down and take time to at least eat properly. On the other hand, their imaginations help fuel his own.
People who know Picard will buy him a drink in a bar in exchange for a portrait on a coaster or napkin. Many Picard collectors have these framed in their homes. Friends put pen and paper beside his place-setting at dinner parties because he gets squirrely when he hasn't drawn in a few hours.
Picard's paintings cover the walls of his house and are leaned three or four deepagainst pieces of furniture. He's working on a female nude in his kitchen, and has a larger work in his backyard shed. Picard was initially nervous about being filmed. He says it was strange seeing footage of himself, but as the project got rolling he and Hooper became friends. For Christmas, he gave the filmmaker a portrait he'd done of him.
Part of Picard's talent might come from his intuition, which is sharp. Near the e nd of our interview the conversation turned to birthdays. Picard's was Jan. 25 and Hooper's is March 25. Picard asked what month I was born. I answered, "December, so I'm a Sag..."
Then he interrupted. "Fourth," he said. "Your birthday is December fourth."
Lucky guess? Piracy says the number came to him instinctively. Hooper was seated nearby and wasn't surprised. That sort of thing is normal for Picard, he said.
A six-minute preview of James Picard: Off the Canvas will show at the Blinding Light Cinema, 30 Powell Street, several times between 7 and 11pm Feb. 15. Picard's art will also be on display.
Photo: East Vancouver artist James Picard (left) is the subject of Chris Hooper's first documentary film