{"id":844250,"date":"2026-08-03T11:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/844250\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:20:10","slug":"i-feel-like-i-am-returning-home-leonard-paul-steps-back-from-50-year-painting-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/844250\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I feel like I am returning home’: Leonard Paul steps back from 50-year painting career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Leonard Paul was driving home, snapping landscape photos to paint later \u2014 just as he had for 50 years.<\/p>\n

But before he reached his destination, he decided his career was over.<\/p>\n

\u201cA capricious action, I suppose,\u201d he said in a CBC interview after announcing on Tuesday he was retiring from the fine arts. \u201cThat’s what I did year after year: \u2018I gotta paint it,’ and I’d end up doing it.<\/p>\n

“[But] when we drove away, I just said in my mind, ‘No, I’m not going to paint it. It’s over.'”<\/p>\n

The 72-year-old artist was born and raised in Halifax and is a member of Pictou Landing First Nation.<\/p>\n

In the 1970s, Paul enrolled at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), but left early to launch his painting career. He earned a bachelor of arts from Acadia University in the 1990s, then finally completed his NSCAD degree in printmaking and painting earlier this year \u2014 just months before stepping back.<\/p>\n

\"ALeonard Paul at his career retrospective show The Best of Two Worlds in March 2026. (CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no regrets because I have accomplished the epitome, I think, for me \u2026 the best I could do in watercolouring. And I’m happy with that,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

Paul recently showcased his work at NSCAD\u2019s Treaty Space Gallery in a retrospective titled The Best of Two Worlds, which featured watercolours, oil paintings, and metal engravings reflecting his varied body of work.<\/p>\n

WATCH | Mi’kmaw artist’s exhibition revisits 50-year journey :\"\"<\/p>\n

Mi’kmaw artist’s exhibition revisits 50-year journey<\/p>\n

Leonard Paul’s exhibition, The Best of Two Worlds, translates his imagination and creativity onto canvas through the lens of two-eyed seeing. The CBC’s Alex Guye has the story.<\/p>\n

Paul announced his retirement on Facebook, writing: \u201cI feel like I am returning home to the place where I began. I will have more time for my family and childhood friends now. I am so happy stepping into my new direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he got a kick out of the response online, which was filled with warmth, humour, and support, including one comment predicting his retirement would last only three months.<\/p>\n

While he insists his retirement from painting will stick, Paul isn’t leaving the art world entirely. He plans to transition into teaching the next generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I lined up in the hallway to graduate \u2026 I didn’t see anyone around me from Mi\u2019kmaw First Nations,\u201d Paul said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there’s a lot of artists out there \u2026 I don’t know where they go between junior high and post-secondary, but I don’t see them coming through the doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoping to bridge that gap, Paul plans to make video tutorials to sell to schools and individuals. \u201cI’ll be happy to make some inroads and help introduce and teach art to these kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While his life as a painter may be in the rearview mirror, he still plans to experiment with new mediums.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to tackle drawings with pen and ink,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m not going to disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE TOP STORIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-844250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}