David Bizzo is a highly regarded artist from Port Moody who has had a rather exciting year.
On Feb. 1, he got a 300 sq. ft. studio at 2709 Esplanade St. - a city-owned building with seven other art spaces - and aptly named it A3, after the marking on the key.
In the former clay studio that he rents for $400 a month, Bizzo immediately started on a dozen new abstract works, two of which had to be submitted by April into a group show in his home province of New Brunswick.
The curator of Off the Grid, Terry Graff, had invited Bizzo to take part along with 17 other New Brunswick-born artists - some emerging, others (like Bizzo) veterans. Their works hung at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery beside a few of the province's abstract expressionist pioneers: Jack Humphrey, Lawren P. Harris, Fritz Brandtner, Claude Roussel, Joseph Kashetsky and Romeo Savoie.
The summer display - in which Bizzo showed two acrylic paintings: The New Spirit and the Poets, and Between the Red and the Golden Mean - attracted thousands of art lovers to the capital of Fredericton. As well, many visitors also stopped by the Parr Street home Bizzo shares with his wife in St. Andrews, N. B., where they opened a small gallery in the summer.
Bizzo said he enjoyed the experience and welcomed the change. After a decade of running the Burrard Inlet Artists Association in Port Moody, a non-profit group in which he managed other artist studios and hosted exhibits, Bizzo decided to go his own way and concentrate on his fine art. "It was time," he said. "I wanted to put the focus back on my work."
Since mid-September, when the Beaverbrook show ended, Bizzo has been busy in his A3 Studio on a number of pieces, painting commissions and creating his signature musical instrument symbols on t-shirts (sold exclusively at Long & McQuade on Terminal Avenue in Vancouver). Among his commissions is a series of paintings of Tofino for a British couple who married in the island community three years ago.
Now, until Christmas, Bizzo is opening his studio to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. He has a new selection of prints, paintings and collectible hand-painted t-shirts for sale. "I also want people to see what a working studio is like," he said, "because it's important to see the creative process in the City of the Arts."
Studio A3 is located at the back of the Esplanade Art Studios at Rocky Point Park. It is also open by appointment by calling 778-227-8480 or emailing [email protected].
