December 7, 2006, I felt like I officially came home to Canada, due to the  Portrait Society of Canada’s Portrait Arts Festival, "The Miracle of the Portrait."  Their biennial 4-day event (initiated in 2001) opened with a rousing version of "Oh Canada,"  which took me by surprise and delight.  Standing up for our anthem, I felt happy to be Canadian, as well as an artist—alert, open to, and appreciative of how the next few days would unfold.  

A dozen individuals (judges, board members, sponsors, and gallery officials) formed a row on the stage at the Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), while the very industrious and talented chairwoman, Veronica Tsyglan, gave introductions and explanations.  Right away, slides were shown from the annual portraiture competition.  There’d been 150 submissions this year, and 15 "top finalists" chosen. 

The quality of the artwork presented was exceptional—and more traditional in technique than contemporary.  I took a deep breath as my own slides appeared—whimsical, expressionistic, and primitive compared to the majority.  Regardless, I didn’t feel as out of place or awkward as I thought I might.  The audience demonstrated appreciation and respect for every piece shared.  

A ballot was in attendees’ welcome packages, and there’d be a one-vote-per attendee first-place "people’s choice" winner (Andrew Atroshenko for "Julie").  Simultaneoulsy, Steven Rosati would be announced as the judges’ top choice at the conference’s closing gala (with a portrait of his son, "Looking Ahead").

The competition’s finalists, as determined by the judges, were:

James Ian McDougall (Ontario, Canada)
Andrew Atroshenko (Russian Federation)
Wei Min Tang (Republic of China)
Edward J. Reed (Virginia, USA)
Donna Surprenant (Ontario, Canada)
Marina Dieul (Quebec, Canada)
Guangbo Tang (Ontario, Canada)
Raphael Tchetyshov (Ontario, Canada)
Melody Kozmeniuk  (Saskatchewan, Canada)
Sam Hester (Alberta Canada)
Dongmin Lai (British Columbia, Canada)
Steven Rosati (Quebec, Canada)
Yetvart Garbis Yaghdjian (Ontario, Canada)
Judith Elasser (Ontario, Canada)
Hans Holtkamp (Saskatchewan, Canada)

Being a "newer Canadian" I was struck by how many other "newer Canadians" were at the festival—as well as among the finalists. 95 people had registered to attend the festival, which was open to art lovers and promoters as well as artists, locally and internationally.  The first Portrait Arts Festival (in 2002) had just 30 attendees, so numbers were climbing slowly but surely.  Tsylgan explained to me that since portrait artists are a small highly skilled group, organizers were very happy with participation statistics. 

The master artists presenting included two from Canada (Andrew Benyei and Juan Martinez), two from the US (Koo Schadler and Dan Everett Thompson), one from Switzerland (Gwenneth Barth) and one from China (Yuqi Wang).  They demonstrated portraiture techniques in clay, oil, egg tempera, pastel, and charcoal, respectively.  This met the society’s mandate to cover as many media as possible, while helping to improve members’ skills and knowledge.

Foreign involvement is vital to the Portrait Society of Canada’s activities and membership.  Tsyglan describes Canada as a "young country" in terms of numbers of artists professionally involved with portraiture.  Therefore, professional development/peer support can’t have borders or boundaries.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the conference, for me, was the ambiance:  the camaraderie, mentorship, community feeling, and lightheartedness.  Portrait painters have an obvious love of people, and are good at connecting with them—offer plenty of direct eye-contact, focus, and attention.  It was very exciting to be surrounded by so many peers eager to share similar vocational desires and frustrations.  

I was very relieved to not be alone in complaining about the lack of time left to actually make art—the "business" of art seeming to take over (especially when your brain isn’t wired that way).  Andrew Benyai, in fact, listed four types of artists:

    1.  Those with technical skills but no creativity.
    2.  Those with creativity but no technical skills.
    3.  Those with both.
    4.  ??  Those with "business skills"…

No matter a portrait artist’s type, all speakers concurred that portraiture is "hot," as proven by recent art auction sales.  John Ryerson, Director of the Varley Art Gallery,  and Bill Pickering, Chair of the Varley McKay Art Foundation (sponsor of the "best in show" prize) talked of their organizations’ commitment to find, support, expose, and recognize portrait artists.  

Eva Major-Marothy, Senior Curator of the Portrait Gallery of Canada, explained its background and mission, describing how it emerged from the Library and Archives of Canada and future relocation options.  She also mentioned a $20,000 acquisitions budget and her specific interest in acquiring artists’ self portraits or portraits of other artists (in any media, including computer art and video).  She pointed out how commission work usually has "3rd party restrictions," suggesting that work might be a lot more creative without these.

Unfortunately, a lot less enthusiasm was evinced for depictions of animalkind as "portraiture" (by both galleries represented at the festival).  I found this surprising in view of the value Canadians attach to the great outdoors and its wildlife—as well as their pets.  Other artist participants agreed, so I wasn’t discouraged with respect to my own animal art-making aspirations.

I’m usually a restless conference participant, but at the Portrait Society’s festival, I didn’t need to check my watch once.  Time just flew by, with so much to see, learn, and process—a great motivator for starting up in my studio first thing Monday morning.  Having recently moved back to Toronto after a four-year absence, I’d been procrastinating.  Now, I couldn’t wait!