“Jug Band” by Anita Colman, whose work is on display at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre in Victoria through March 3. (photo from Anita Colman)
The distinctive, colourful characters that artist Anita Colman creates out of driftwood and various objects she discovers around Victoria are currently on display in hallway showcases at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre in Victoria through March 3.
Her “wood friends,” as she dubs them, constitute a wide assortment of critters – from avians to insects, canines to felines. There are birds nested on a woman’s head, a jug band and a dog with a beanie. There is also a unicyclist and a schoolboy riding a pogo stick.
Colman grew up in Montreal and studied fine arts at Concordia University. After graduation, with what she jokes were “no applicable skills,” she worked building fences, painting houses and selling produce at an outdoor market.
“Then, in 1980, a friend and I went on an epic road trip from Montreal to the San Francisco Bay and I ended up staying,” she told the Independent.
With a penchant for cartooning, Colman, while getting settled in the United States, freelanced for several greeting card companies, including American Greetings, Marcel Schurman Fine Papers, Andrews McMeel and Hallmark Cards, among others.
One day, Hallmark contacted her to say that they wanted her to work in-house at their headquarters in Kansas City.
“As a single parent at the time, a steady income with a health plan was an offer I couldn’t refuse,” she said. “I’ll never forget the day we landed at the Kansas City International Airport in August. As soon as we exited the airport, we were hit with a blast of hot, humid air. It was an inferno. All I could think was, ‘What have I done?’”
At Hallmark, she was part of Shoebox, an alternative humour studio, where she illustrated not only myriad cards but books and calendars, and designed logos and fonts. Her artwork also was applied to stickers, school supplies, mugs, T-shirts, and dog and cat bowls.
The company, Colman recollected, had a farm where artists would go for what she called “creative renewal.”
“The barn had a fully equipped woodshop and welding area. That’s where I learned woodworking. We built crazy birdhouses and robots that moved and lit up,” she said.
“There was also a small woodshop for artists at headquarters. It was located beside the model shop, where carpenters built displays for shows, etc. I learned a lot from them. Any free time I had was spent in the woodshop.”
As a humour artist, Colman said she was continually developing different characters and critters. Now she does the same with wood.
“The elements of design are the same – line, form, texture, colour. Driftwood already has texture and shape that can look like a nose, ears or tail.”
Accompanying Colman on her hunts for items to turn into art is her rescue dog Bean.
“He’s my sidekick,” she said. “He comes along when I walk the beach looking for good wood or browse ReStore, Value Village and hardware stores with an eye out for objects I can incorporate in my pieces. Bean’s always on the lookout for treats and makes out pretty good.”
The whimsical wooden creations have become an increasingly familiar sight in the capital city. Last fall, they were exhibited at the library in Victoria’s Commonwealth Place. In January, Colman was featured in a CTV News Vancouver Island report by Adam Sawatsky, which showed her, along with Bean, scouring a Victoria beach for things that could be incorporated into her work.
“Some people like shopping for shoes, I like shopping for junk,” she said.
Bean, too, is a recipient of Colman’s artistic flair. In the CTV report, he was seen clad in a denim vest with flames and a dragon embroidered into the back; his hair was molded into a mohawk to make him look “like a tough little dude.”
Colman’s display at the recreation centre is part of a Family Arts Exhibition organized by the District of Saanich. One of the images the municipality’s website is using to promote the event is Colman’s woodwork of a cat ballerina. Other artists whose work will be shown are Tanya Bub, Randy Barron and Susan Wright.
In the midst of the exhibition, the recreation centre will host a Family Arts Festival on Feb. 17 (Family Day) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in what the municipality is billing as “a celebration of imagination, creativity and discovery.” Among the activities will be mini-quilt design, tin foil sculpture and LEGO robotics.
Colman’s finished products are not for sale. They can, however, be viewed on her website: anitacolmanart.weebly.com.
Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.