MEET MEGHAN BUSTARD

LB & Reebok present: Meghan Bustard

Shapes, colour and pattern, these are the tools Meghan Bustard uses to tell her stories. We challenged her to create a piece that tells the story of her surroundings using a pair of Reebok sneakers.

Get to know her and the project below.

How would you describe what you do?

I’m an abstract painter! Primarily, my work asks the question how does it feel to be here?’ wherever here’ is: the sea, a trail in the mountains, a cafe, a vibrant street corner, etc. My paintings are an exploration of that. A disentangling, a distilling down, which seeks to translate the essence of being in a place, via a visual language; layers of translucent and opaque shapes, lines, marks, all interacting to tell a story and convey a feeling.

Tell us about your creative process.

It always starts out and about somewhere; often in nature. I like to sit in a place and really get a feel for its subtleties. I’ll bring a sketchbook and some drawing tools/paints and take visual notes: colours, marks, etc. Sometimes I’ll grab reference photos of a certain colour I really love and want to incorporate or something. Then I take all those things into my studio and start painting. I like to work on a number of canvases at once so that I can really flush an idea out, take chances, and not get too precious about any one painting. I take the paintings to an almost finished stage over a number of days or weeks, and then I like to flip them around or put them away and come back with fresh eyes a few days later before making my finishing marks. Those last few marks can take hours of sitting with a piece and deciding what it needs.

What is the inspiration behind this piece?

The inspiration for these shoes came from the vibrancy of spring as it unfolds in my neighbourhood. There’s something so jubilant about this season to me, like we’ve all made it through winter, but the business of summer hasn’t set in yet, it’s some sort of little gift.

Can you tell us about the creation process?

I started by creating a colour scheme some were colours I pulled directly from my neighbourhood; plants, flowers, storefront facades, takeout dinner, and others I chose because they helped convey this feeling of jubilant contentment that I wanted to explore. From there I started mapping out which key colours would go where. I always do this at the beginning of paintings. I call them my anchoring shapes, they provide the jumping-off points for all my supporting marks. I wanted to work with the silhouettes in the stitching on the shoes, so many of the shapes follow that lead, but I let some marks break out beyond that as things unfolded. I like to let my work remain intuitive, and always think of it as a conversation unfolding between myself and the painting, so these were no exception.

How does this piece represent you?

One of the fun things about this project was that I had less space than I usually would with a large canvas, so it really forced me to distill down what marks, shapes, colours, etc. were essential and which weren’t in conveying what I wanted to, and maintaining congruence with my work. In this way, I guess it really tells the necessities of my visual communication, which is truly a great practice.

What is bringing you joy right now?

Flowering trees! The part of Vancouver I live in is absolutely packed with blossoming cherry trees, apple trees, magnolias, etc. They line all the streets. Everything has been in full bloom here, laden with petals, in seeming defiance to winter’s grays, and they absolutely take your breath away. They’re finding their way into almost all my work right now :)

Keep up with Meghan here and here.