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Bruce Perry: Portrait of an Artist ism at the Ontario C o l l e g e o f A r t as w e l l as anatomy at the University o f Toronto M e d i c a l Science Faculty eventually helped to establish h i m as an a w a r d - w i n n i n g sculptor o f bronze and terra cotta in the international market. Yet. there was still another artist l y i n g in wait. Finally, in 1995, after years o f subconscious training, his need to work with c o l o u r and his ability to "see" led h i m to painting with oils. "I was Above: John, oil on canvas. Left bottom: visual arts by Joanne F. Villeneuve works from photos, videos, and notes, he usually takes his canvasses out with h i m and sketches w i l l i n g individuals. " M y paintings are a l l intuitive. W h e n I create intuitively, I work in a frenzy, very fast. I paint like I sculpt. I add, subtract. I throw it on and scrape it off. I ' m not fussy. I'm more like an abstract expressionist, except that when it comes out, it doesn't look like it's gone through that process." Perry paints with oils " a l l p r i m a , " a technique in w h i c h the paint is kept wet. H e is very conscious o f keeping his colours clear and to do so he uses more than 100 brushes, cotton swabs, make-up wedges, the palm of his hand, whatever it takes to capture the j o y s , the sorrows, the spirit o f his subject. He is not interested in paid c o m m i s sions or static, unrevealing poses. "I want something else. What I ' m trying to do is to get some real light, colour, contrast, and tension in the work. That's my criteria and i f it continued on page 20 In this w o r l d o f constant changes, it is said that most o f us w i l l change careers at least half a dozen times in our lives. A n d most o f us w i l l be dissatisfied with the jobs we do find. B r u c e Perry has had one career thus far and he is most happy to go to work every day. After obtaining his Master o f A r c h i tecture degree in 1974, Perry focussed on creative, smaller projects and travelled a great deal, studying art and architecture. But in his heart of hearts, he was an artist--in the traditional sense o f the w o r d -- l o n g ing to emerge. " I ' v e been very fortunate," he says. " A s an architect, I was a design architect. That's a very creative end o f architecture. I can't see myself not being an artist. T h e name is architect, but I was an artist in that different form o f expression." T h e n , in 1982, Perry became another kind o f artist; he tried his hand at sculpture. Studying figurative real- drawing people when I was ten years o l d and I always had to see." Y o u either see or y o u don't. I can remember, almost to the month, when I was able to see when 1 was around ten...I can remember the day when I actually saw how a tree w o r k e d . It's like a structural understanding o f how something w o r k s . Y o u get it and y o u are it. That's the fascination and the essence." Since taking up painting. Perry has concentrated on human subjects. It is people and what their faces reveal w h i c h have captivated h i m . " M y purpose is to see who I am by looking at the people I live with. These painted people are unique and separate individuals, but in the process o f creation I see myself in their faces." He has set up a studio in East V a n couver; the neighbouring c o m m u n i ty centre and streets are where he finds his subjects. A l t h o u g h he Soline, oil on Right, canvas. bottom: D o m i n i c , oil on canvas.