Paul Court: Art & Music

Meet Paul Court, visual artist and musician! Paul is very active in the Orillia art and music scene, and is SO supportive of other artists.

Read ON to discover Paul's art and his thoughts on creating art & music ....

You are a visual artist and a musician – do these two forms of expression ever overlap/inspire the other in your creative journey? If so, how?

The most surprising thing to me since I began working “seriously” on visual art is that I have lost my need to express myself in words and music. I can’t seem to do both at once. I tend to be rather obsessive, diving in deeply. but I recently gave up my studio space, and immediately started writing songs again. There is definitely an overlap in subject matter - I make art with musical references, and I write songs about making art.

As a visual artist, you primarily create collage-based works – describe your process and what draws you to working with paper?

Ha! What “draws” me is the fact that I can’t “draw” to save my life, so I mostly work with existing images. I also paint with acrylics - colour field abstracts and geometric designs.
I spend much of my time collecting material from books and magazines. My first passion is colour, so I’m looking for complementary combinations. shape comes next, ie. how to mix the images to suggest some form of movement. The result I’m looking for is to challenge the viewer to provide her own context for that which I have removed or obscured.

It’s somewhat the same with songs - I tend to eschew details in favour of a more universal “story” which the listener can interpret as his own.

What creative projects are you currently working on?  

As I said, I am presently working on music and writing songs, while I slowly  carve out a studio space in my tiny home. I’ve made a few collaged cards at my dining table. You’ve heard me say it: “I like to work small”.

Where may people find your work, in person and online?

Our pal Molly Farquharson opened Hibernation Arts at exactly the right moment, as I vacated my space in the Orillia Arts District. she was good enough to hang several of my larger pieces, including some black-and-white collages. She also sells my art cards.

visual art: pcourtart
songwriting: Facebook: thesongwritersshadow

Next live gig: opening for the entirely wonderful Tragedy Ann at The Brownstone Cafe, October 18.

Some of Paul's collage work available at Hibernation Arts, 7 Peter St. S. in downtown Orillia