An artist in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley is creating colourful, whimsical pieces using a unique technique with wood.
Will Cooper been mastering his craft for the past decade.
“It started back in 2013, I was working as an electrician and my wife bought me a scroll saw,” he says.
His Maritime-inspired art can be found on display at his gallery in Lower Canard, N.S. The mosaic pieces feature boats, whales, lighthouses and plenty of wildlife.
“I like to keep things kind of fun innocent, childlike, I like bright colours, I like simple, smooth curving lines,” he says.
Cooper has his process down to a science.
He says his pieces start with an idea, which often comes to him while on a walk, and then he starts sketching on sheets of plywood.
“Then I cut along all the lines to get a bunch of little puzzle-like pieces,” he says.
After that comes the most time-consuming part of his process: sanding.
“I spend a long time sanding the edges of the pieces to get nice, smooth lines,” Cooper says.
Finally, he picks up a paintbrush.
“I put lots of coats of acrylics on to get really vibrant colours,” says Cooper. “I varnish the pieces, three coats of varnish, and then I glue them on to a black-stained backboard and put them in a maple frame.”
He says he has seen other artists do a similar sort of work — but nothing quite the same.
“I’ve got my own unique way of doing what I do,” he adds.
Cooper estimates it takes him about 80 hours to create each piece — and he loves every minute.
“One thing that a lot of people tell me, that I really like, because it’s what I’m going for with my art is that it makes them happy, it makes them joyful to look at my art,” he says. “That’s about the greatest compliment I think you can get as an artist — for me, anyway.”
