Hey guys, how you doing? I'm Dennis. I'm here with Jason Lucas today. Jason, thanks for helping us out here today.
Thanks for coming by. Thanks for having me. It's really good to be here. This is super exciting stuff. It's our first episode, hopefully of many.
What we're going to do is we're going to get together with people from in and around town and we're going to discuss community events.
We're going to discuss things that we like about Thomson, things that we don't like about Thomson, what we want to see better happen.
And Jason has honored us today by being our first guest. Alright. So we're going to get right down to it.
Jason, a lot of people know you. You're an artist around town. Your stuff is literally all over the place on the walls.
I guess the first question is, how old were you when you first decided that, hey, I'm good at this stuff?
Well, actually, I was probably in grade two. I was selling drawings of Spider-Man, Ninja Turtles and stuff on the playground. I was just a kid for like a quarter, a dollar, two bucks.
I used to do them for free and then my mom said, you know what, we can't be giving away our drawings for free. So I've been selling art since I was in grade two.
And then I guess growing up through elementary school, the teachers would always say, oh, you have so much talent and you're doing so well.
You're going to be a famous artist and all this. So growing up, I always thought, oh, I'm going to be a famous artist because everybody was telling me that.
I didn't really know what that entailed, but until this day, it hasn't really changed. I still want to be that famous artist.
That's actually super awesome, man. The idea of starting off so young, especially doing the stuff that, you know, every kid likes.
I mean, what kid isn't going to spend a quarter on a picture of Spider-Man or Superman or whatnot. That's pretty cool. I like that.
So with that being said, and you've been doing this for so long, when did it finally hit you that, hey, I could do this as a full-time job and, you know, support myself?
I don't think I really realized that it would become a full-time career until after college.
When I finished high school, I was kind of just bumming around for a bit and then we decided, or my sister was moving out to Vancouver, so I ended up moving out to Vancouver with her and I fell upon kind of art school almost by accident.
I went and I loved it and then after that, I had odd jobs as, you know, a cook and I was washing cars and stuff and I had sold art a lot up until then, but I'd always had to have that part-time job.
So I guess it would be after art school, I figured, you know what, I can't, not that I can keep doing these jobs, but I knew I wanted to at least try and take the risk and see if I could do it before.
You wanted to do more, right? You wanted to do more of it.
Definitely. So it was a conscious decision to go, you know what, I quit my job and I dedicated 100% of my time to my art and I've been doing art full-time since then.
So touching back to that, and I didn't know this either, so you actually went to art school.
Yes.
You didn't just, you know, make paintings and do drawings and just this idea, well, I can keep doing this. So there's actually the education behind that.
Definitely.
And have you felt that that's helped you out a lot?
Definitely.
Awesome.
Yes, training, education, it's all, of course, super important, right? I just really appreciate you say that, but knowledge is one thing, but applied knowledge is the key, right?
So I knew that there were certain elements that made successful art or successful compositions in art and music or whatever, but that's all gained through training.
So the art school helped, art history helped because it opened my mind up to all the different movements in art and kind of got me out of my little box to appreciate everything else.
And that gave me a better sense of where I fit in in the art world so I can move forward as more professionals.
So moving along, I got another one here for you.
This is a good one because we've all got, doesn't matter what you do in life, there's always that one person that inspires you and encourages you to move forward in whatever it is that you love doing.
So being your artwork, is there that one person, are we looking at multiple people, like who really gave you that push and said, you know what, Jason, you can do this, if you want to do it, do it, and I'm behind you 150%, just pick it up and run.
Well, I don't think I have to go into too much length or detail on how, of course, my parents and my girlfriend have supported me to sit here all night and talk about that, right?
So with that said, I think there's two people who really stand out in the forefront for me.
And that first would be Marcia Carroll.
She used to own Precambrian Art Center or the Art Gallery, Frameshop.
Like I said, she was the one who first sold my artwork for me and as I grew up, she guided me into kind of the market that I needed to be in and gave me the advice on how to do business.
And then I've always sold with her and she's always treated me the same.
No matter what I was going through, she always treated me kind of, you know, as somebody she cared about and I cared about my future and where I was going.
And no matter what I was going through, she's just really supportive and always gave me really good advice in the business side, but also in the just the regular side of life and having a balance of work and family and friends.
She's really good for telling stories and making you think and laugh and adding humor and time to your life.
I really admire her for that and I thank her so much for that.
And then second on more of a professional level would have to be Teresa Burroughs.
I don't know if you've seen her work, but she's an amazing painter, awesome beadwork, well-rounded artists altogether, but the same thing.
I grew up next door to her out at the lake, so she's always known me.
She's always let me know when the art shows were coming up or any sort of grants.
Ever since I was, you know, just a teenager until this day, she still sends me, you know, emails or hey, go check this out.
She's always, no matter what happened to me, she's always treated me the same, never any different.
Just like a human being, those two people stand out the most.
That's awesome. You know, obviously you're going to touch base with family.
Families, you know, you can't do anything in life without family and friends.
It's really awesome that you had that balance where you had someone to actually show you the business side of it, you know, selling your product.
And that's really important, especially when you're developing into the, you know, sustaining your career, you know, painting the bills, so to speak.
And then to have that person that you had as a neighbor, we have known on a real personal level that's, you know, encouraged you and said, hey, you know what, giving you the heads up on things going on.
That's awesome. I could imagine it would be tough to have that talent and not have that backbone support.
You know, things would be a lot different. You might have taken a completely different life path, right?
And who knows where you would have been. It could be somewhere positive, it could be somewhere negative.
But you know what? I'm absolutely happy that you've had those people encouraging your life and, you know, it brought you here and it kept you here.
Yeah, definitely.
I'm going to throw something at you and anybody who's seen any of your paintings is going to know exactly what I'm talking about.
I see a lot of reference to the Northern Lights.
Now, I understand we live in Thompson, Northern Lights is kind of a big thing here.
Now, my question to you is, is this something that you do because you're good at it?
Or is there, you know, some other kind of meaning?
I mean, what, why do we see it referenced on so much of your artwork?
Well, to be honest, when I first started out, I kind of fell into Northern Lights by accident.
I was painting, doing odd jobs, doing helmets and stuff.
And then the back, my wall had a sheet on it, a black sheet.
And I was airbrushing this helmet and cleaned out my airbrush on the wall.
I was working with greens.
And on the black, it looked like Northern Lights. I was like, hey, man, that looks like Northern Lights.
So I lined up a bunch of canvas and I've been painting Northern Lights ever since.
Because of course, tourists love them.
Like they sell pretty much instantly. Everybody loves the Northern Lights.
So when I first started happening, it was like an awesome business thing that fell into my lap.
I've seen something that worth, it was awesome, it was working, it was selling.
So I just hopped on board right away because I had to pay bills.
I was a starving artist and it was something that worked, right?
I had to give people what they wanted to see.
And to this day, I kind of fell in love with that application.
So I pushed myself to make my Northern Lights even better, a little bit more fun, dramatic,
more expressive. And now it's really about just making those kind of therapeutic paintings.
When you look at them, you can see the lights.
You almost get that kind of breath of fresh air.
When you see the Northern Lights, often they kind of stop you dead in your tracks and you're like,
it's the one thing that can actually captivate you and give you just a moment of peace when you're looking at it.
And then they're gone and it's over.
But you always remember them, right?
Exactly.
Yeah, and I think that's what I really kind of, I fell into them by accident,
but I fell more in love with them the more I worked on them.
Now it's just my thing.
That makes perfect sense.
It's really exciting too because the way that you do the artwork
and from what my take on it would be is the foreground is amazing.
Whatever you put on the foreground, I see that you put so much into it
and it's great to see something where you're looking at a painting like, wow, this is amazing.
And then you're, oh wow, that's even more amazing to have those two pieces of the artwork come together.
It's kind of been your thing.
Everybody who knows Jason Lucas painting knows that you're going to have some form of that Northern Lights in there.
Now, do you think that's, do you like that recognition?
So that you're proud of that, that you feel that that's an accomplishment
that when somebody sees a painting, they see the Northern Lights in there
and nine times that it kind of, like, that's a Jason Lucas painting?
Yeah, I think so.
I think there's times where, yeah, they definitely can tell that it's kind of bright
and interprets as a Jason Lucas painting.
And sometimes I'll see, it's funny you say that, because sometimes I'll see something
and I'll think, oh, there's one of my paintings because they kind of pop up everywhere now.
And then I'll look and we'll be like, something totally different, right?
Or just be a photo of Northern Lights.
So, but yeah, it's kind of neat how it's kind of become my thing.
I think what's interesting is being able to evolve as an artist.
I see the airbrush work and the Northern Lights in my work
and lately you kind of see different subject matters coming in with still the Northern Lights
in the background, so slowly introducing new subject matters
and having the paintings evolve and change over time is really exciting to look forward to
because there's just so much possibilities of painting with the Northern Lights
and the colors and stuff, really trying to let go of any sort of rules and have fun with it.
Well, that's good.
And you know what?
We are in the North Northern Lights is, like you said, tourists eat this stuff.
And when you're walking down the street, you see the Northern Lights.
There's not a person I know that will not stop and look at it.
And to have that implicated into your paintings is a brilliant idea.
Just a couple more questions for you.
This one, I see you around town helping out with a lot of different organizations.
You do a lot of community work, I see you with a lot of youth.
And there's an emphasis on Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.
It really doesn't seem to matter.
I see you out there a lot.
Do you, at this point in your life, see yourself as a role model
for the next generation of artists that are coming up?
And if so, if you were to offer that one piece of advice, as corny as it might sound,
like this worked for me or this didn't work for you,
so I want you to do this or not to do this,
what would you say would be your gem that you would pass on to the next generation of upcoming artists?
That's a good question.
I think I have become a role model and I'm totally happy with that.
I think everybody is kind of a role model in their own sense, in their own way.
In Thompson, I think it's really kind of easy to be a volunteer
because there's so many great movements and organizations and people out there that need help.
So for somebody like myself, I find it a really great opportunity to network
but also just to make friends and actually go out and enjoy some of the events that are going on.
Often it can mean getting in the door all weekend, you know what I mean?
Just because you're healthy, that's just one of the perks.
But when you go out and take part of those things and really kind of understand
and see that there are some really awesome things going on
and you mentioned the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal things that are going on.
Thompson is so much a multicultural place
and I feel happy to be able to help out the Aboriginal Arts Center as a volunteer.
Our last fundraiser was a multicultural event so we had all sorts of artists,
all different types of food being served in different backgrounds, different performers.
So it's really about building relationships with everybody and that's important
because we're all kind of the same, you know? I'm an Aboriginal artist
but a lot of my art doesn't necessarily have like a lot of traditional Aboriginal content.
I was raised in the European family so I see myself very much as a Canadian
and I'm proud to be Aboriginal but I'm very Canadian.
To be Thompson, a Thompsonite means kind of just to put all those kind of walls
and limits, discriminations aside and totally.
And we're all kind of just going through it all together
and we can recognize the demographic of the region as Aboriginal
and they face, you know, different social challenges and obstacles
and we all kind of have an understanding and a respect for that
so it's really easy to get out and be involved in this part, this special region, you know?
So coming back to the question and my advice I guess for the youth or upcoming artists,
whether you're a visual artist or a performing artist or maybe you're not even in the arts
but you're coming up and life, there's so much negativity through social media and television
and it's really easy to get off track and to get stressed out
so my advice would just be first and foremost is to take care of yourself.
Drink two glasses of water every morning, get your exercise,
take care of yourself so that you can take care of your family because your family comes next
and then your passions and your hobbies can come after that
and once you have those in line then conquer those moments that bring you anxiety and fear
put yourself in those situations that make you scared
stay in those spots that make you want to leave or run away
because those are the special moments in your life that are really making you feel alive
and these are the special critical moments where you can actually overcome some walls
break down some barriers and kind of progress
because it's really easy to be, you know, I don't want to do that, that's going to suck
it's really easy to be like, oh I don't want to be here, this is not for me
but to stand there and to face your fears and anxieties and to make it through it
will make you such more of a stronger person
you will help out your family when they need you, so that's what I'm telling you
that's awesome and that really, it sounds like advice that you would give to anybody
regardless of what they're doing
totally
I'm going to throw something at you right now
we live in Thompson, it's cold
what keeps you in Thompson, what keeps you staying here year after year
there's got to be something that has that draw, because let's face it
you could do your artwork anywhere in Canada
tourism is everywhere, tourists will go all over the place
but there has to be something in Thompson that's keeping you grounded here
what would you say that is?
it would definitely be the country and the landscape
and the people of course, like you guys would be great and great friends and family of course
but I think I've traveled all over and I've done shows all over
it's good to get away, but we do keep coming back to Thompson
there's something about the country and being so close to such a primitive spot
there's some places here you can get to pretty fast
you'll almost be guaranteed you might be the first person to ever step foot there
you might have neighbors or friends that can come over and they'll slap down a fresh piece of loose meat right on your kitchen table
or a frozen fish fresh out of the ice, you know what I mean
there's little things like that that kind of set Thompson apart
it's kind of a gem
and I think sometimes we can take it for granted because it gets cold and all that sort of stuff
but when we have great people and great imagination and awesome attitude
and Thompson is definitely a place to go out and be a part of for sure
that's a really good answer
I'm going to put you on the spot
this is going to be a double header
this is a double header
what is the one thing that you love the most about Thompson?
and on the flip side of that, I want to hear the thing that you dislike the most about Thompson
now keeping in mind, completely honest, you're not going to hurt anyone's feelings
I really want to know, you know, what do you love but what do you hate about Thompson attitude?
I love the fact that you can just meet people kind of instantly in Thompson
from any sort of background
and right when you think you're having a really bad day
you're just having a bad day
you'll see something or someone will remind you of how good you actually have it
or somebody will come up and tell you a story or introduce themselves to you
and share their experience with you
and then you actually realize that you're surrounded by, you know, some really beautiful people
so definitely that's what I love about Thompson
what I really hate about Thompson
I like how you built that up, you know, I really hate about Thompson
I don't know if it's about Thompson
but for me right now I'm having a really hard time with social media
and a lot of the negative things that I'm seeing online
I think it seems like it's Thompson because we live here
we kind of follow our pages and our social networks and stuff
I think it's important to realize that the issues that Thompson does have
kind of extend kind of everywhere
with that said, it would be social media
and people venting their feelings and emotions online
which is kind of, it's normal
I'm guilty of it, like we're all guilty of it
I've been guilty of it in the past and I've kind of learned the hard way
that when you're having those kind of feelings of hate or resentment or anything like that
that it's important not to boast that online
or any sort of social media right away
because everything online is just kind of set in stone eventually
you've got to realize that you're going to leave a legacy
no matter what you do here in Thompson or anywhere you go
so how you're acting online is everybody gets to see it
and it's kind of very, it rubs off on people
I can see it being tough too because it really hurts the interpretation
you can say something negative about the community you live in
you can go on Facebook and say, you know what, the city doesn't do this, the city doesn't do that
you could be thinking it's constructive criticism
but really what four different people can read that same post
and get four different opinions on what you're saying
and we do live in a small community, you know, we are a city
but it does have that small town feel to it
I absolutely agree with you that in a sense there could be consequences to the stuff
and the stuff that you post, once you see it, that's it, you can't erase it
everyone's got a cell phone now, everyone's got smartphones, everything, you know
everyone sees everything, especially when it comes to social media
and it is definitely a bigger issue but I absolutely agree
even for myself, that would definitely be one of the things that I think would be
a very negative attraction for Thompson as to seeing a lot of stuff where
we don't realize when we're doing that we're actually, there are actually people
behind those feelings that you're kind of pinpointing and backing into a corner
these people have, they have feelings, they have families and they're working
really hard to do the best they can, you know
so you can't clear all the friggin' roads, tons of friggin' snow overnight
like it's not gonna happen but you can best believe that they're out there trying their best
they can only do so much, these guys are busing their butts, they have families
they were put in a hard day's work, it's not anything you need to complain about
we're used to driving on snowy roads, big deal, they get cleared when they get cleared
you can sit and whine about it or you can go out and have some fun on the roads
but you know what I mean, it's all, there's people behind those
people with feelings and it's another form of bullying
it doesn't stop after high school, adults are bullying and it's totally unacceptable
Thompson's an awesome place to kind of lead by example for other Canadian
centers to kind of look at Thompson and go look at this place
while Jason has been great sitting down here chatting with you in your studio
I like to talk a little about Thompson, we've talked a little about your past and your art
and what you're doing for a living
I hope you'll be able to sit down with you next, some other time when we do this
this is a project that's, we're gonna try to go a little further with it
we wanna talk to other people and we wanna hit a lot of the community things
we wanna go for the positive and negative
focus on Thompson and the people in Thompson
so once again, I really appreciate it, it's been a lot of fun
we don't have a name yet for actually this project that we're working on
so if anybody who sees this, you kind of want to throw me an email
Dennis Foley at live.ca, give me some feedback if you got a name for it
or you know what, just tell us what you think about everything we've done here today
so until I see you guys again, thank you and have a good night
you know what, even just tell us what you think about everything we've done here today
and if you guys like it, you know, I hope that I do like it, this is kind of a labor of love
I hope we don't completely suck
I think, um, hot cuts
what?
nice, and then we'll roll credits
