Local artist expands horizons with co-creation

Successful local artist Doris Pontieri took a risk, and a new artform blossomed

Inspirational action: using music to open new artistic direction

She had a career, a very good one. Successful artist Doris Pontieri took a long pause between painting in high school and picking up a brush again later in life, but she found her medium, dabbling in oil paint and moving into watercolour and other media.

The display of one donated painting for a fundraiser led to an introduction to two art agents, a first show in Chicago, followed by as many as seven shows a year, and selling upwards of 350 paintings in her first year – almost one a day.

Doris opened her own studio in Bolton, and slowed down to four shows a year: a more manageable pace and provider of sufficient income, so that she could enjoy her creative work to the full.

Dedicated artists constantly seek new avenues to inspire creativity, and Doris was no exception. She was a successful and happy artist, but wanted to explore more emotional creativity. She was approached by a Bolton, Ontario musician, Eric Mahar, about collaborating. Doris and Eric decided to see what happened if they tried working together. She listened to music as he was composing on his 12-string acoustic guitar, and immediately colours came to her mind, while Eric’s music changed in intensity as he heard the sounds of Doris’ palette knife creating on the canvas.

“He composed for 27 minutes and I finished the painting at exactly the same moment. It was astounding to me that I could be so intimate on an artistic level with someone I barely knew. We were both so exhausted and exhilarated at the same time, that we had trouble even talking about it afterwards.” Doris went home and wrote a three-page journal entry about her experience. “I realized that I had achieved the artistic euphoria that comes when you truly create. I hadn’t become even close to that before. This was emotional art.”

For Doris, a new art form was born, and she has since co-created 13 paintings with Eric and with pianists, violinists and a percussionist/drummer. Next she plans to work on a bigger scale, with two musicians this time, composing simultaneously. That’s a lot of creative energy in one place.

“When I show people the paintings and play the music for them, it all makes absolute sense.” The only ‘problem’ is that Doris almost can’t bear to part with the paintings, such is her emotional attachment to them. But she is planning to do a show, likely by the end of 2009.

Doris admits to being apprehensive before starting another collaboration. “I don’t know how this happens, and I don’t know what I am going to paint until the very moment the music starts. It’s very raw, very emotional, and I wonder if I can reach the same emotionally creative level with the musicians as I did the time before.”

To share this creative avenue with others, Doris has been invited to co-compose in front of an audience, at corporate events such as the World Presidents’ Organization. Doris and a musician perform the piece first, and encourage the audience to create their own art using pastels – which are easy to use. “It’s almost magical. The room starts quietly, and the excitement of the crowd begins to rise, filling the room with noise. By the end they are all saying “Ohmigod, can you believe this!?”

We were all artists as children. If I can, I want to help them get in touch with that part of themselves again.”