His Story of Art: Pat LePoidevin
Getting to know some fantastic creative gents!
Welcome to the new Monday series His Story of Art. This will be an ongoing addition to the blog, and is designed to compliment Not Just Ladies Who Lunch, both meant to introduce you to some arts professionals. Their jobs will vary from freelance graphic designers to music composers, auction house specialists to painters. If you would like to be featured, please do send me a note! I am open to suggestions as this piece evolves. Here goes week three:
Meet Pat!
Pat and I were in the same class at Mount Allison University. We had limited interactions but he was always about: at art openings, at shows, his giant shoes frequented the entry way to my apartment building. He’s always got a smile on his face and he’s one kind chap. We are also both from places called Princeton (he BC, me Ontario). Besides having big feet, he’s a talented musician. One of my first memories of Pat is seeing him practice bag pipes on the quad when we lived in halls at MTA. Check out his website here, like him on facebook here, or listen to some of his tunes on Band Camp here. Keep reading to find out just how cool he is:
I grew up in the small mountain town of British Columbia, spending my childhood religiously watching Patrick Roy on television and eating hot pockets. I left town to go to school at Mt. Allison University in the quaint town of Sackville, NB, where I grew up and learned how to be a responsibly citizen in a community. I currently live in Toronto and work at the Australian Boot Company, selling blundstones to hipsters and yuppie moms.
1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A school bus driver, through and through. Every birthday and Christmas, I got little toy school busses that I would drive around the house. When I was younger, I would sit in the passenger seat of our 4-door ’91 Camry, and “let in all the passengers” before letting my parents drive me anywhere. It was a thing. They had to wait, sometimes up to 5 minutes… for me to let all the passengers into the car. During a hot summer in 1995, my family was going out of town on a short weekend vacation. The car was parked in our tight, small garage. The family got into the car, ready for a weekend out of town. My father forgot to wait for the passengers to get in. The front door fell off as he backed up out of the garage. We all went back inside.
2. What was the last thing you googled?
I’m not sure if it counts as googling but I’m pretty addicted to those World Cup Google Doodles. (here is a link that’ll take you to their archive)
3. If you could collaborate on anything with anyone, what would it be and why?
Elon Musk… Because he would be able to get us both to Mars and back.
4. What was the best piece of advise you were ever given?
“Yeah.. You should just buy a Toyota Tercel.” – So many people… And I did, and only regretted selling it.
5. What can’t you live without?
Coffee.
6. What is your favourite piece of art?
This changes all the time. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but my mother, Susan Delatour (above), has been making some beautiful pieces lately. They remind me a lot of my childhood, as she is bringing her ceramic work back to a previous aesthetic and form, but also transforming to keep up with current trends. Looking at photographs of her recent work is like looking into the past 25 years of my life.
Also cheesy, but in a different way, is Valeriya Volkova’s Pizza eating Pizza (above), which is another favourite of mine right now.
