Artist proves it’s never too late to make one’s mark

When Hadley Dobish a pupil at St Paul Academy contemplated her last project of high school it didn t take her long to hone in on the idea of shining a light on an unsung artist her great uncle Don Grandbois Grandbois a great-grandfather in his s had studied art back in the s first as an undergraduate at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and then as a graduate pupil at the University of North Dakota But after college he struggled with self-esteem and meanwhile economic realities set in The thing that happened after grad school I had two kids and I came back to Minneapolis and I had to go to work doing something he disclosed He d eventually have three kids and a marriage that didn t last It was pretty grim there for a while he commented I started paint contracting and trying to make a living Later he d do woodworking and boat building as well as various other jobs Painting came back into the picture about years ago when he agreed to help a friend of his build a house on the Bayou in Lafayette Louisiana Together they restored an airstream trailer and for a time Grandbois lived in the trailer on his friend s property painting the house and staying through the winter Grandbois went dancing a lot during that period to zydeco music and spent time on his friend s porch looking at Bayou Creek I just set up particular big canvases and started working on that porch he announced When he was ready to come back to Minneapolis he loaded up his work and began to show it when he could People were interested in the art he revealed Around that time he connected with Bert Taylor who owns Vistabule a teardrop trailer business Grandbois arranged to have a space in Taylor s shop initially to build canoes but later used the space for painting Grandbois has also worked for the business and has shown his art there in the past though the upcoming exhibition will be larger and more extensive than past showings It s much bigger because all of a sudden people want to volunteer and bring in their paintings he explained That is specific friends and admirers who own his paintings are lending their works for the show and won t be for sale but Grandbois additionally has works from his studio and will additionally have prints for sale Dobish is attending Fordham University in New York next year and hopes to review art history Curating an art exhibition seemed a good launching pad to her college experience At her school the soon-to-be graduates spend the month of May on their senior project Basically it s an opportunity for the students to kind of get involved with their society and explore and pursue an area of interest whether that be something that they want to pursue after graduation or after college or whatever it may be Dobish commented I ve inevitably been super interested in art history creating art myself museum studies curation kind of everything that is in that area Dobish noted her great uncle s use of colors are the main thing that draws her to his work I ve consistently enjoyed the movement of the pieces she explained He s very much one to paint over his own work And I just think there s constantly just so multiple layers to it and you can really look at it for such a long time and keep noticing new things They re all very eye-catching In addition Dobish feels nostalgic looking at the artworks I ve grown up seeing them and being around them she commented They kind of just remind me of family and him as a person she explained It s just very nice When I visited Grandbois and Dobish at the Vistabule space I saw art hung all around the warehouse space with the Vistabule teardrop trailers parked in the central area Grandbois recounted me he doesn t have a message behind these works it s more about expression and spontaneity He loves abstract expressionist paintings and cites Joan Mitchell as an influence You can see that free-form use of paint and brush stroke in a multitude of of his works while others take a more contained almost geometric approach There are impressionist influences as well and one or two sculptural works in the mix Several of the selected works by Don Grandbois Credit Sheila Regan Dobish and Grandbois plan to hang the art in a common area just outside the business located next to CanCan Wonderland in and BlackStack Brewing in Saint Paul With added lights and a planned reception the event is meant as a celebration of the artists lifelong pursuit of art I haven t given up yet he advised me For Dobish her goal is to create something both she and her great uncle can look back on and feel proud I just demanded to be kind of above all the celebration of his life s work and where he s at now she revealed Between Doubt and Desire The Art of Don Grandbois takes place Friday May from p m - p m and runs through Sunday May at Prior Ave N St Paul More information here The post Artist proves it s never too late to make one s mark appeared first on MinnPost