Local Artist

Dear Blog Readers,

Michael wrote this article about a local artist he met in town. *Warning* before you read: It is a long one...



A Morning or Two with Dave Stephens.

After several hours over coffee the past few weeks David Stephens and I have become good friends. David is someone I met while on my journeys back and forth from taking Catherine to school, Brookland Elementary. David has a daughter the same age as Catherine. He and I went for “The Great Canadian (yes even in Cape Breton) experience” which we all know is a medium double double and good conversation. I have learned many things about Dave over the last few weeks. I have discovered a man of great depth and insight. He has the wisdom of a sage and the life experiences that have endowed him with his unique understanding of his “journey” in life. David is truly Nova Scotian and a proud Cape Bretoner, although he is anything but typical. He has lived on and off the island throughout his life and has lived in places; such as, Labrador City, Labrador; Dawson Creek, BC; and Halifax, NS. In all he has moved off the island and back five times which is not uncommon for a Cape Bretoner; however, as you will learn David is anything but common.

First of all you must know that Dave is an artist. Not so much in profession, but in existence. He sees and experiences things through an eye for exposing the truth within. “To tell the truth…from day one when I was aware of being an artist…I knew it would have to be the one most important purpose.” Dave reflects. He possesses a creative spirit that can do nothing but express itself through the medium of painting and sculpture. He also has a not-so-usual canvas that he likes to use, the automobile! Yes, David Stephens creates “Art Cars.” Of late he has done two full cars and car doors(separately) as well which you can experience for yourself at http://davidpstephens.tripod.com/. One that you will experience is called the Seaflower, a sea-scaped 1984 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. This particular one he drove to and from Houston, Texas for an Art Car exhibition. In all of his works you will experience the underlying themes of the world where the land meets the sea. In a way the sea is his muse, a source of inspiration and shaping force in his artistic expression. However, David delves into many different thematic issues as you will discover as you experience his artwork.

Nevertheless, there is no simple way to understand when, where, what, why, or even how David creates a piece of art. It is not so cut and dried when it comes to the creative process. “My life and my career are one….where often times people divide their life from their work and put life on hold to earn the money. Many artists do not divide up their life like this, but it is more about being and living.” Dave stated as I querried about his goals for his ‘artistic career.’ Art is merely the overflow of the fullness of life. Money-making is not the bottom line for Dave, yet, he has quite a following. Something I discovered about him is that he is not going to do things in order to ‘make a buck.’ He has had the opportunity to mass-produce his work, but has decided not to because it then takes away from the message and the unique nature of his work. I truly appreciate his desire to make and sell authentic pieces of art.

Dave has had a series of people influence his life in very positive and negative ways. Both have shaped his outlook, his artistic expression, his life. Among those are people; such as, his parents, his first art instructor, Jean Jock, and colleague, Lorne Reid. You can read more detail on his bio in his ‘Artist Statement’ on the web site (http://davidpstephens.tripod.com/artistinfo.html). However, even though these people and other things have shaped his lifework, Dave credits humanity as a whole as the major influencing factor in his life. “Humanity encourages and discourages…adversity, love, nurturing, all these things have influenced me. It is the broad answer. This is where my interests are…in discovering things about humanity and expressing it.” Yes it is because of this broad perspective that Dave Stephens can see the bigger picture of life and keep his head up amidst great personal loss and tragedy. He has to believe that good overcomes evil…that even in darkness there is light. Dave refuses to ever give up and falls back upon his artwork through the struggles of life.

When it comes to living, Dave has not led a sheltered existence. He came upon opposition to his artistic leanings early on. In grade six, his school principal was convinced that one must follow the ‘family trade’ in a sort of Western caste mentality; therefore, Dave was (in the mind of this principal) destined to follow his family in the lumber trade and had no business ‘wasting his time’ with art. Later in high school he had similar discouragement from the school administration in terms of his artistic work and direction, so much so, that he was asked to leave the school. Adversity as Dave stated earlier has been the crucible in which his life has been forged. Beyond this he has faced personal loss on a grande scale. His good friend, and business partner died in the prime of his life from Cancer. Fellow artist Lorne Reid had been a good friend and was an inspiration for the direction Dave's art took from 1992 to the present. These two, Dave and Lorne had met in the early seventies in boot camp for the military. It was not until eleven years later that the two would meet up again by chance in Reid's pizza parlor, Sonny's Pizza, in Cheticamp (Cape Breton) Nova Scotia. It was in Cheticamp that Dave and Lorne worked together. Dave is quoted as saying, "Utilizing our shared interests in art as a medium for exploration, Lorne and I began the process of visiting our childhood years. After previously struggling to seek new directions, we began anew, from a child-centred perspective, with simplified, easy flowing forms, filled with pure unmodulated colours. The Stephens-Reid team later worked with friend, fellow artist and mentor, Chris Huntington to begin the Nova Scotia Folk Art Festival and Picnic which began as an intimate gathering and has become 'a world-class festival now held annually on the first Sunday in August in the seaport of Lunenburg' The loss of Lorne and several other colleagues/friends has had its impact on Dave, the man/artist which has influenced his work greatly as well. Nevertheless, his resolve is to look for the light in all things. Dave also has discovered that the truth to this journey is found inside oneself. The answers we seek are not so far away as we might believe, but as close as our own heart and soul. "I am in the search for my true self…in the search for this it is really simplistic…the answer is either inside of you or very close to you. You will not find it by packing up tomorrow and moving to Ft. McMurray…it is your life…inside of you, inside of me." This wisdom is something that Dave strives to live by and shares with the world. In many ways it is a divine message that Dave has to share and believes that the spiritual aspects of life are very important. It is that very spirit within us that we share in common as human beings that pours forth onto the canvas in Dave Stephens studio.

-Michael Hutton