canadian artist
Carole Spandau
oil on canvas
I paint my city, Montreal, and its people with great love and devotion. For
me, Montreal is the celebrity, the Grande Dame. She is full of stories drama,
intrique, pathos , mystery and I honor her every mood with my paint on canvas
and lively brush strokes. I find her stories challenging and intriguing at every
turn. The everyday folks, the shoppers, the tourists, the children happily
playing a game of hockey, these are
among my favourite characters who
dwell and populate my cityscapes.
Our classic landmarks, both past and
present often bring back memories
among my collectors of a bygone era as I bring the past and present into
focus through my work.
Because I have been painting Montreal for almost over 40 years, many of
the original shops and owners are now long gone. I feel privileged to have
been able to capture some important bits of my citiy’s history. The changing
face of this dynamic city, with the turning of the seasons has given me a lifetime of subject matter with new discoveries to be made at every corner. The colors and flavors of the city are depicted
in my paintings of cafes, resto bars, mom and pop variety stores, specialty shops and famous bakeries and of course
the many yummy eateries. I have painted so many wonderful and familiar places, some are gone, but never forgotten,
like cherished old friends, they live on in my paintings, such as the many demolished landmark restaurants and movie
theatres. And nothing is more romantic than the cobblestoned roads winding their way through Old Montreal where the
magical caleche rides, and colorful crowds dot my urban cityscenes.
My signature pieces, the places which move my
heart, and hold the most significance and personal
meaning, include streets with their magnificent winding
staircases, and the old neighborhoods with their famous
restaurants, bakeries and shops. I love to revisit these
places, and I try to paint them from a fresh perspective
always changing the mood, the season and of course
the characters that populate my paintings.
I specialize in building portraits of the vanishing
Montreal architecture of the early 20th century. These
buildings now house our ‘Depanneurs’ or corner stores
usually situated on a corner property with apartments on
the upper level. I especially love painting the signage
on these old buildings. I am always amazed that every
time I tour the city there is always a new building or
neighborhood to explore and research and ultimately
paint.
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