Posted by: Lucianne Poole
Bhat Boy leans towards his canvas and, with lightning speed, he paints in a lush tulip, quivering with life. Fifteen students watch him intently. Some attempt to do the same with varying degrees of success. Others paint animals or abstracts.
Bhat Boy is unfazed. He lets his students paint whatever they want, sometimes while he blasts (or sings) show tunes. The son of a “cleaning lady” and a spy, the Ontario College of Art and Design graduate believes in nurturing Ottawa’s artist community. The Ottawa-based artist founded the city’s popular art festival, Art in the Park in 1993, for example. He started teaching in 1997. Bhat Boy (not his real name) teaches acrylic painting at the Firehall and the Glebe Community Centre. He also leads painting workshops for Grade 7 and 8 students.
Bhat Boy is so popular and talented as a teacher that his classes fill up quickly, mostly with former students. In fact, some of his students have been taking his class for years.
Louise Rachlis first signed up for Bhat Boy’s acrylic painting class twenty years ago, after she met him while he was painting a mural for a funeral home, Hulse, Playfair and McGarry. (Bhat Boy’s Ottawa commissions range from the Ottawa Public Library to OC Transpo Headquarters).
Before she retired, Rachlis took several afternoons off work as an Ottawa Citizen journalist to take Bhat Boy’s day class.
“I almost quit the first day!” she recalls. Bhat Boy held up her palette – which Rachlis admits was messy — and told the class it was “disgusting” and to always keep a tidy palette.
These days, Bhat Boy is much gentler with his criticism, and his wild sense of humour keeps his students laughing. In fact, the class is a tea party, of sorts. Bhat pours tea for his students, while they, particularly Rachlis – an excellent baker – often share home-baked treats.
Fun aside, Bhat Boy, who often shows his own work at the Happy Goat coffee shop in the Glebe, takes an unstructured but wide-ranging approach to teaching. For example, he won’t tell you how to hold a paint brush, but he will show you how to prepare a canvas and mix colours like a pro. He treats his students like professional artists, and tells them how to prepare for and participate in an exhibition.
Most classes end with a group exhibition at the Life of Pie. In fact, Bhat Boy’s next class show opens June 15, 2024 at the local bakery and café at 1134 Bank Street. It will feature spring paintings of his students from the Firehall and the Glebe Community Centre. Expect some tulips.
Lucianne Poole is a local writer and artist, who started painting (while laughing) at Bhat Boy’s class almost two years ago. Follow her on Facebook at Lucianne Poole Artist and see her work on www.luciannepoole.ca
Featured in the June 2024 OSCAR.