#1, Downtown Series, "Going To Work, District 1881", acrylic on canvas, 30" x 48", 2024

Some backstory on the painting "Going To Work, District 1881" - the first in the Downtown Series

The Journey

During their creation all my paintings take me on a journey. Some journeys are shorter and more direct. Some journeys are extended, with more side trails, challenges, insights, & revelations along the way. This painting was definitely one of those - a long journey, one that tested my resolve. More than once, thinking I was on the edge of completion, I would find a side trail that needed exploring or the journey wouldn't be complete. There were moments along the way when I wondered whether I would ever reach the end.

When I work on a painting over a long period of time it becomes part of my daily life and my dreamscape in a different way than a painting that falls out of me quickly. One way of working is not better than the other - just different. In living with a piece so long - it takes on a bit of my history and experience, its trajectory shaped by the ebbs and flows of my life, the time away from the studio as much as the time in it. There were times where life took me from the studio - away from the journey. But I kept returning, focused on finishing what I started, thinking that if I let myself get sidetracked - maybe I wouldn't come back.

Sometimes it's not easy for me to call a painting finished. In a sense - they are never finished. I like the quote attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci, "Art is never finished, only abandoned." This was perhaps the hardest painting to abandon so far. It took me on such a long journey, that now having returned - I'm not the same person I was when I started. I feel...full. Satiated. Ready to harvest the energy generated from a long journey completed - with inspiration to start new journeys - perhaps a shorter one to start with.

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The Seed

I set out walking in downtown Chilliwack with my camera on a dramatic fall day to look for painting ideas for the "Downtown Series." It had been raining all day but in the late afternoon the sky suddenly opened, and clouds lit by the setting sun flooded warm light into the scene. The sidewalk and street were still wet and reflected the buildings, trees, and sky.

One of the first photos I took was along Yale Road near 5 corners and the new "District 1881" development under construction. As an artist who takes their inspiration from the natural world, and thus an urban scene being a departure, I was immediately drawn to the trees and framed my photo to figure them prominently in the composition. As I was setting up the shot on the edge of the sidewalk I was passed by a musician heading to work. I realized then that I now had the seed for a painting.

The idea of highlighting a musician, an artist, heading to work was immediately appealing. I wanted to give a shout out to artists and the important role they play in society - by accentuating the notion that indeed art = work. While working on this painting, and being both a visual artist and a musician, I often envisioned myself walking into the painting behind the guitar player with my cajon (box drum) in hand, set to provide percussion at the gig.

As this seed sprouted and the painting took shape in the studio, I thought about a lot of things, among them - art, music, culture, community - things that inform and enrich our lives in so many ways. This painting "Going to Work, District 1881" depicts that quiet time at the end of a 9-5 workday when many of the businesses have closed and the creative class comes alive to entertain those venturing out for food and drinks and good times with friends & family. The figure in the foreground, a working musician, is heading to a local establishment with a guitar to perform for patrons. To me the painting is ripe with anticipation of good times - music, laughter, love, conversation, connection - community.

Chilliwack is such a vibrant and blossoming community thanks to the efforts of so many people who have dedicated their time and energy to making it so. I've had the pleasure of meeting some of them and learning about others. In many ways - it's these change makers & creators (and we know who they are) who are the inspiration for this painting and I want to dedicate this piece to them. Keep it going people! Your efforts and dedication to positive change are a beacon of hope!

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The Roots

While working on this piece I also thought about my own trajectory as not only an artist, but also as a carpenter and a builder. When initially choosing a composition and being drawn to the nature/urban juxtaposition with trees being prominent and the image of a musician, an artist, heading to work - I underestimated how much I would be drawn in to depicting the urban landscape, the buildings. In working on this aspect of the painting I was taken back to the beginnings of my own artistic journey and those early experiences and choices which shaped my life's trajectory.

As a child and a young adult, creating art was just something I did, not much different from playing road hockey - I was doing it for the pure joy of it. It wasn't something I thought I would make a career out of. It was not until high school and the pressure of making decisions on potential career paths that choices started to come to the forefront.

I did well with both my art classes and drafting classes, with caring teachers in both subjects that encouraged my efforts. My parents advised that perhaps a career in architectural drafting would be a good choice for me. My drafting teacher, Mr Meugens, was a grizzled veteran of the teaching profession at the end of his career, and was known for his tough marking on assignments. Legend had it that he never gave out A+'s. But he did to me, which made me think that perhaps architectural drafting might be a good path to choose. In the end I didn't get high enough marks in the requisite math and physics needed to pursue that path. I even went back to high school after graduation to try and get the required math and physics, but my heart really wasn't into it. While back there I repeated the grade 12 art classes I'd already taken the year before. I should have known right then that my path was set, but it was only after a couple of years working full time after high school, at jobs that I couldn't see myself doing forever, that I decided to get more serious - to choose a path - and go to University to study art.

Having grown up with the legacy of at least three generations of carpenters before me - my father, grandfather, and great grandfather - the smell of freshly cut wood permeates my childhood memories, and the results of those woodworking projects that I watched my father & grandfather create - populated the backdrop. As an older teen I went on to work as a carpenter's helper, and later after art school to work in construction as a framer. Today, I enjoy wearing my carpenters tool belt and doing my own woodworking projects at my own pace - with the familiar smell of freshly cut wood in my nostrils.

So it was these life experiences that resurfaced when depicting the buildings of downtown Chilliwack in this painting. As I worked out the architectural perspectives I felt the urging of Mr Meugens to "get it right." As I depicted the built environment I felt the carpenter's hands of my father and grandfather on my shoulders urging me to honour the craftsmanship that went into the buildings in District 1881 and elsewhere. In doing so I also skirted the edge of an artistic tradition that first inspired me as a young painter - photorealist painting. Since those early influences, I've long prefered to stay away from photorealism, and intentionally steered this painting toward magic realism and the realm of memory and dream.

Gary Haggquist 2024