Back
in June, 1995, I would of been a strapping almost one year old
exploring my home down in London, Ontario, Canada. While I was
discovering all I could on this continent, Josh Tiessen was born
thousands of miles away, in Russia. How ever slim the chances may of
seemed at that time, just over eighteen years later, both of us still
only teenagers, we managed to meet up with each other at The Josh
Tiessen Studio Gallery, in Stoney Creek, Ontario. We had the chance
to talk about the adventure his life has been so far, and the one
mine has been over the past ten months or so. Before we managed to
sit down for an interview, Josh (such a polite guy...) asked how I
had heard of him. Well, that in itself is a pretty funny story.
This
may sound like a really high-aiming dream, but it's one I've sort of
always had. I've always wanted to have the title of “Top
20 Under 20”. You may of heard
of the title before, (maybe a top under 30 or 40), but it's a pretty
simple one to understand if you haven't. Pretty much, you've excelled
in relation to others your age in a variety of possible fields, be it
science, charity, the arts, or business, among many other options. I
was bored one fine evening, and quite frankly decided to look at “my
competition”, or what I was up against. It was Josh's write up that
caught my eye right away, and it was for a pretty random reason that
I was drawn to it. His bow tie. He had a massive bow tie on, and I
thought it was absolutely amazing. It reminded me of Bill Nye the
Science Guy for some reason. I figured I may as well look into this
guy, after all, one of my dreams was always to go into art history
when I'm older. His work I saw on his website was amazing, I decided
I would try to meet him. An email was sent, an email received, and I
was invited down.
Nice sign, Josh! Photo by Victoria Alexander
When I arrived at the
gallery in Stoney Creek, I faced an odd problem. I had no idea how to
get into the place. I did what I thought was the best idea, and
called the phone number at the end of his emails to see what I should
do. I was surprised when it wasn't him who answered, but his dad. I'd
never had to deal with the parents of people I've interviewed, but
then again, I'd never interviewed someone my age. The phone was
passed to Josh, and laughing, he went to the window and pointed my
way in. What a way to first meet. After meeting Mrs Tiessen and
looking at some amazing art done by Josh, I sat down in a very comfy
armchair, and, well, you know the story of what he first asked me,
how I knew him. But my first question for him was completely
different. I was really curious about him being born in Russia, and
asked if his family was of Russian descent. Nope. His parents were
professors there, while at the same time doing some humanitarian type
work based out of the city Krasnodar, if I heard him right, by the
Black Sea.
Josh stayed in Russia
until the age of six, back when I was strapping seven year old, but
while I was making my way through life at Bonaventure Public School,
it was in Russia that a certain Russian nanny started noticing
something in the young Josh, he was enraptured in art. She held up
stuffed animals and would teach the young artist lessons on
perspective and dimensions, with his parents smiling to the side, I
would take the nanny's lessons with a bit of a smile too, Josh was
only a young boy after all. By this time in my life, I had already
won a Tim Hortons art contest for colouring really, really well in
the lines. I won ten dollars, so take that Josh.
Josh then left Russia
to settle down about two hours from where I was, but again, what are
the chances we would meet? Around the age of ten, I moved to the
country-esque community of Ingersoll, Ontario, the place I would call
home until university. Josh on the other hand joined a youth club,
sort of like an after school program. While doodling on a name tag,
he was noticed by a local artist by the name of Valarie Jones,
who felt that Josh may of had some special talents. She asked the
Tiessen family if there would be any interest in her mentoring Josh
for a bit after school, once a week, so she could pass on some of her
knowledge to the young artist. They agreed, and since Josh was
home-schooled, there was some freedom in his schedule. It worked out
perfectly. She would never touch his work, only teach some side
lessons or give one or two words of advice along the way. During this
time, he was introduced to acrylic paint and canvas, the medium he
would stick to for the rest of his career.
Josh Tiessen and his art, by Victoria Alexander
So, as I said, I've
always had a huge interest in art history. I'm a big fan of some of
the artists who rose to prominence in the French Revolution such as
Jacques-Louis David and Eugène Delacroix, and I've been blessed
enough to see some of both of their works in person at the Louvre, in
Paris. But this is about Josh, so I thought it best to ask who some
of his inspirations were. I was happy to hear Canadian painter Robert
Bateman was up there on his list, because I knew that those two have
had the chance to work together. When Josh would visit his
grandfather, he would flick through a book of Bateman paintings that
was kept on the coffee table there. With these in mind, Josh himself
would work on nature paintings. Then, some started telling him that
his work even reminded them of Bateman's. Well, as Josh told me, it
could of just been family and friends saying that to make him feel
good. Regardless, he took their advice and sent an email to Bateman,
with some of his work attached. Not only did he received a reply, he
also received an invitation. The famed painter invited Josh, only 15
at the time, to British Colombia for a week to study under him. It
was what Josh called “an amazing experience”, and I bet it was!
He had his work critiqued, and some pointers or advice given. One of
them being that Josh should be upping his price for his work. Well,
when someone like Bateman tells you that, you should probably listen.
Now, I've had many
crazy job aspirations over the years, but I think Josh had me beat.
He had two, a painter, or a NBA player. After his first art exhibit
though, he realized maybe art was the route for him, and “looking
back at [my] chances at the NBA, for a short, white kid, well, they
were next to zero.” His first show, arranged by Valarie but
prepared by Josh, was a success. It was at the Joseph Brant Memorial
Hospital in Burlington, and the first painting sold was surprisingly
to a nurse, someone he didn't even know. That, Josh told me, made it
seem all the better.
I mean, I feel that
the hospital show would be amazing. But sometime afterwards, Josh
heard of an online contest for young artists. You were to submit an
image of a piece of art online, and try to earn as much votes as
possible. The top-voted pieces would be judged, and the three winners
after judging would be put on display at the National Art Gallery of
Canada. Josh, highly surprised, told me that he had been one of the
paintings displayed, one of the greatest experiences he's had. CBC
picked up on this, and reported about the winners. But another media
source would help propel Josh's career, without really knowing it.
That was the Huffington Post, with their article “10 Art Prodigies
You Should Know” published July 27th, 2012. Josh, and
some of his work, was listed in the article, but Josh had never
referred to himself by the title “prodigy”. For those that may
not know a prodigy, under one definition, is “a person, especially
a young one, endowed with exceptional abilities”, which could be
anywhere from music to math, or, of course, in art.
The Tiessen family
received a phone call from a professor researching prodigies who said
she was based down in Ohio State University. She called to say she
believed Josh was in fact an art prodigy, and wanted to come down to
do some tests to find out for sure. After checking out her
credentials, they invited her up and, as Josh told me, he's not
really sure how, but in her time here she deduced that he was in fact
a prodigy in art. But not just that, it was also deduced that he
brother, a year younger than Josh, who excelled in music, was a music
prodigy. He felt sort of weird having the title, but it did help
spread his name as an artist, so it had it's benefits. Now him and
his brother, Zac, are part of a study of 24 prodigies to track down
just where some of these skills may have come from.
Josh and I chatting in the studio gallery (Mr Tiessen in background!)
Photo by Victoria Alexander
Josh and I
only had a short time together, but I had to ask one massive question
before I left. See, I can't sit still for more than five minutes
unless I have music playing (right now it's Young Forever by Jay Z
feat. Mr Hudson), and I had to know, does Josh listen to music while
painting? I would hope so! He paints about 8-10 hours a day, I would
need at least something. He laughed and said of course he does, he
loves it. Before he thought it would be a distraction, but now it
helps block out all the little outside noises of a house, which I
fully understand. But then, he one-upped me. He also occasionally
listens to books, debates or lectures. Now that's dedication. It
ranges from lectures to electronic pop, fair enough I guess.
Next week,
Josh will be down in Arizona for his first ever international art
show, the the Tempe Center of Arts are part of the International
Guild of Realism, in which he's their youngest member. That's pretty
impressive in my books. It was great driving down and meeting Josh,
and even cooler when he brought up the fact that he read my
interviews before me coming, made me glad to hear.
Ever
polite, as we were leaving, Josh apologized for realizing he wasn't
wearing any socks (it's your house man, no worries), and laughed
about what his mom called his duck feet. I know it may be random to
add that last part, but I mean, those NBA teams may want to know
about that before scouting the only known male art prodigy in North
America, Josh Tiessen.
Josh and I in front of "Glimmer of Hope"
Photo by Victoria Alexander
If you would be interested in seeing some of Josh's work... check out his website: http://www.joshtiessen.com/!
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