Known for military-themed paintings, Doug Bradford is shifting focus to local landscapes in a new show at The Art Hub at Spring<\/p>\n
Admirers of the work of Sault artist Doug Bradford will have plenty of his paintings to view over the next three weeks.<\/p>\n
The Doug Bradford Art Exhibit and Sale will be held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, July 29 and Wednesday, Aug. 5 at The Art Hub at Spring located at 504 Queen St. E.<\/p>\n
Admission is free.<\/p>\n
Other viewings of Bradford\u2019s art show and sale can be arranged through Stone\u2019s Office Supply.<\/p>\n
Widely-known for his many paintings with war and military themes, Bradford\u2019s latest show, which he unofficially calls Celebrating the Sault and Surroundings, depicts the natural beauty of the Sault and Algoma District.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of landscapes of northern Ontario in this show, of areas like St. Joe’s Island, Bar River and other places in Laird Township, all around this area,\u201d Bradford told SooToday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe show has some portraits too. There\u2019s a section with a Farmer Bob theme and I painted Bob\u2019s portrait,\u201d Bradford said.<\/p>\n
Farmer Bob was the nickname of Robert Cuerrier, the now-deceased owner of Mockingbird Hill Farm on Landslide Road.<\/p>\n
Both Cuerrier and his old-world farm, which included historic buildings, animals and a corn maze, were popular with locals and tourists for many years.<\/p>\n
A prolific painter, Bradford has 76 paintings in his show.<\/p>\n
Some of the paintings date from the early 1970s, while the most recent is a portrait of a horse completed a week ago.<\/p>\n
Bradford has another 600 paintings in his home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re in boxes, in the closet and under the bed,\u201d Bradford laughed.<\/p>\n
Why aren\u2019t they hanging on people\u2019s walls or on display in art galleries?<\/p>\n
The answer lies in Bradford\u2019s perfectionist nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re good paintings but they\u2019re not quite what I wanted. Somebody else might say \u2018oh, that’s perfect,\u2019 but there might be something in that painting that\u00a0I didn’t like. If I sold that painting, that \u2018something\u2019 in that painting would keep bugging me.\u201d<\/p>\n
All of his works are watercolour paintings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the freshness of it,\u201d Bradford said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is instant with watercolours. You get a nice fresh look to it. With oil and acrylic paintings you add a little at a time, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s wrong, but with watercolours I try to get it in one brush stroke. I try to get that feeling of it being immediate.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also enjoys teaching watercolour painting classes in his home near the end of every month during the winter season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a group of people who come in and paint. They get ideas off me and I get ideas off them. We have a great time,\u201d Bradford said.<\/p>\n
His classes have regulars but have recently attracted new faces, including young Sault College football players.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were these five big guys at the table. One guy showed his mother a picture of a painting he did on his phone. He got it matted and framed right away,\u201d Bradford smiled.<\/p>\n
His current show is his first one-man show in many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy paintings are usually part of a family project. My daughter Cindy and my brother Ken are great painters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entire Bradford clan – a Metis family – is creative.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 30 or 40 of us who are artistic,\u201d Doug said.<\/p>\n
Three generations of the Bradford family have come together and held family art shows in the past, such as one held at the Ermatinger Clergue Old Stone House in September 2021.<\/a><\/p>\n Doug’s work as a painter of military themes has earned him national and international recognition.<\/p>\n He has 17 paintings on permanent display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa and others on display in the Netherlands, Japan, the U.S. and the Canadian High Commission in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n