Meet the artist who's painting Brigus — house by house
If art can take us back in time, then what colour is your memory?
I found myself pondering this question on a leisurely trip to Brigus, on the western side of Conception Bay, on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula. It was a lazy summer afternoon when I unexpectedly stumbled upon David Connelly and his breathtaking artwork.
The invitation to step into the painter's world was tempting — a Welcome sign, propped up on the side of the historic town's main street, led me into his studio. where the artist was dreamily working on a canvas. Upon closer inspection, the half-finished painting looked no different from a high-resolution photograph.
I introduced myself and struck up a conversation.
David said, "I always wanted to make [my paintings] look like a photograph."
He beamed as he began narrating an incident that took place at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair — not long after he began pursuing painting professionally.
"Why would somebody be selling photos of houses?" said a passerby.
His solution to the illusion? "I ended up getting a sign made when I'm in the show now: 'David Connelly Paintings.'"
In addition to sheds, barns, and fishing stages, I asked what else he liked to paint.
"It was always the same kind of thing — the Brigus houses, the street scenes."
Restoring glory
One glance at his paintings was enough to see that he liked to capture rustic and antiquated subjects like houses. I asked why he chooses to paint them. He said he tries to transform a somewhat shabby house to its former glory.
"It's a beautiful old house, but it's been wrecked by the windows. So I will often restore the house to its original kind of look in my painting."
David's journey to becoming a painter par excellence began with a visit from St. Nick.
"What even got me started?" said David, with mischief in his voice. "I guess it was my mom, because Santa Claus always brought me paints at Christmas time."
Growing up in Brigus, art was always a part of his life. Summers were especially alluring as they brought the beauty of Brigus's scenic surroundings to life. Rain or shine, every waking moment for an adolescent David was a scene waiting to be painted. Even in moments of pain, he used to take refuge in art. Recalling a time he'd burned his foot, he recounted how he reached for his paintbrushes instead of medicine.
"It was in the summertime and the only relief I could get was to go over to a big stream in town and put my foot in there. So I took my paints and kept my burned foot in the river all afternoon and I painted just a natural landscape with the water and everything."
David was not always a professional artist. He worked as a social worker for years before retiring early at the age of 50. It was time for him to pursue his dream profession. Within a week of his retirement, he found himself redeeming his farewell present — a course at the Toronto School of Art.
David's feelings for his hometown came from a special place in his heart.
"I always loved [Brigus], even when I was a kid, walking around the place and saying how much we love it. We did that as a group of kids. We always thought it was the best place around, you know?"
To Debbie O'Flaherty, David plays a key role in advertising the town to visitors. In carrying some of his artwork at the local North Street Café that she operates, about 100 of his postcards and a handful of his originals are sold each year.
"He has history in his paintings," she said. Her customers are astounded by their quality, she said.
"People can't believe the reality of his work," she said. "They ask, 'are they photographs?' There's so much detail in his work. Most people are happy with his work and it does add a lot to the café. It gives it character as well."
David's next plan involves infusing colour to his childhood memories of Brigus.
"I have a lot of old photos of Brigus from when I was a kid, and I am planning on doing paintings of those. I will have to make up some of those colours because they're all black and white — that's something I have up my sleeve. Not just Brigus but Newfoundland, I suppose, because I'm always looking for old houses at risk of disappearing."
Although David now shuttles between residing in Arizona and Toronto, he visits Brigus every summer and immerses himself in his craft that captures the local landscapes and traditional architecture. His artwork has made him an unofficial ambassador of Newfoundland.
