Titling his exhibit of work People Art seemed absolutely appropriate to artist and musician Scott Bell.
The show, which is on now at the Pembina Hills Gallery in Morden, features Bell’s paintings, drawings, and gig posters as well as a small sampling of his ceramic work, all very much along a common theme.
“Most of my artwork is focused or centred on capturing people,” Bell said. “The figure drawing and portraiture is a huge part of my work, and I think anyone who checks out the show will see that is quite evident.”
He noted the pieces that make up the show have been done both recently and further back in time.
“It’s a bit of a retrospective. I would say the oldest art work in the show is about 20 years old, but the majority of the show, I would say the work’s been done in the last five years.”
Bell is well known in the area for a number of roles including not only as an artist and Winkler art teacher but also as a musician and president of the Back Forty Festival.
He says visual art is likely his first and foremost passion.
“It’s something I do every day, and it’s a necessary part of my daily life. For me, it’s relaxing, it’s fulfilling,” Bell said. “I do a lot of drawing. I draw every day, but I also paint, so I usually have a fairly large scale painting project on the go while I’m working on smaller drawings.
“I also love doing gig posters for friends and musical acts that I’m involved with, so I do some digital art work in that regard,” he added. “I also do some ceramic work with the students I teach, so I’m getting a little more into ceramics and enjoying that now as well.”
He gave credit to one of his teachers for really inspiring him to pursue art.
“I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember … but in high school I had an excellent art teacher, Marcel Dubreuil, who just really opened up the world for me in terms of art, and he was a great mentor to me,” said Bell. “I think most people who were privileged enough to either have him as a teacher or spend time with him benefited from it.
“He encouraged me to pursue art in university, and I then eventually considered teaching art. I studied art intensely in university, and I’ve kind of made it my life at this point, teaching art in school but also out in the community when the opportunity is provided.”
Having the chance to see a collection of his work through the years on display is a good opportunity for reflection, Bell noted.
“It allows me to kind of take stock of what I’ve done, but it also encourages me to keep going … there’s more things I want to do,” he said. “I don’t know if you ever look at your work with a hundred per cent satisfaction.
“I think it’s okay to be motivated to keep working at it,” he said, adding “to keep learning and working and refining and expanding what you do is important.”
Bell then added a thought on what he hopes people who come to see the exhibit will take from it.
“It’s largely positive works. It’s all based on the human figure … and I hope people visually enjoy it,” he said. “If it makes them feel something or it touches on a memory or they can draw comparisons to their own life or own creative work, then that’s nice. If a connection or positive feeling can come from it, that would be wonderful.”
As for what lies ahead, Bell said he “just want to keep doing what I’m doing … I’ve got more paintings on the go right now, so I’ll see those through to completion.”
His daughter got him set up with an Instagram account where people can see the many results of his artistic efforts.
“It’s been my goal to post a new piece of art every day, so I think I’m at 667 days in a row now, and I want to keep that going.”
