Eric Gaston Simard

BEHIND THE BRUSH

Eric Gaston Simard was born and raised in Woodstock, Ontario. As the son of a professional photographer, Eric was first exposed to the field of visual arts at a very young age. His ongoing photographic training as his father’s assistant allowed him to travel throughout Canada as he learned the craft.

Direct links can be drawn both figuratively as well as literally between Eric’s work and the Color Field painters of the 40s and 50s. Inspired initially by Jasper Johns and Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire 1967, his first solo attempts at visual self-expression came in high school where he experimented with different types of media. Upon graduation, Eric attended the visual arts program at Sault College in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. This experience was an exercise in self-discovery for Eric, and it led him back to two primary mediums, Encaustic (wax) and Acrylic Painting.

Having had little formal exposure to the ecaustic medium, Eric was unencumbered by the past process used and it allowed him to develop his own unique strongly textured style. His technique of applying multiple layers through pouring, gluing, and carving, gives his work a sense of movement that jumps out from the wall figuratively as well as literally....

Ivey Business School - EMBA '17
Western University - Management and Organizational Studies - BMOS '09
Sault College - Visual Arts

Artist Resume

Education

2016-2017 Masters of Business Administration EMBA (Ivey School of Business)

2013-2014 Project Management cert. (Western University)

2005-2009 Management and Organizational Studies, Western University

1991-2009 Photography, Studying with Nelson Simard HLM. MPA. SPA. APPO

1998-1999 Visual Arts, Sault College, Sault St-Mary Ontario



Affiliation

2014-2015 McIntosh Art Gallery - London, ON

2005 Rick Hanson Wheels in Motion_Area Chair for St. Thomas

2004 Rick Hanson Founder and Judge for Student Art Competition

Opening held at St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre Wheels in Motion (Area Chair for St. Thomas, ON.)



Exhibitions

Nov 18- Dec 24, 2020 Square Foot Show - The Art Exchange

Jan 26- Feb 15, 2016 TEXTURAL - The Art Exchange

Sept 18- Sept 20, 2015 Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

Sept 12- Sept 13, 2015 Halls Creek Festival of Creativity

Apr 26 - Jun 28, 2014 Visual Elements Juried Woodstock Public Art

Jun 2014 Group Show – IMAGINE – Artlab Western University

Oct 12 – Dec 7, 2013 Visual Elements Juried Woodstock Public Art

Nov 9, 13 – Nov 10, 13 Oxford Creates – Oxf. Creative Connection

Oct 12 – Dec 8, 13 Visual Elements Juried Woodstock Art Galle...