Here’s a story that is near and dear to House Crazy Sarah’s Canadian heart.
There is a former Vancouver Canucks goalie who paints whimsical scenes of Canadian kids playing hockey in quaint neighborhoods and country villages.
Richard Brodeur is a 68-year-old retired NHL player who now spends his time lovingly depicting his childhood memories on canvas.
Born and raised in Quebec, Brodeur spent many a winter’s day (and night) playing street hockey, or hockey on homemade rinks. He ended up spending 17 years making a living on the ice playing for the Quebec Nordiques, the New York Islanders, the Hartford Whalers and of course, the Vancouver Canucks.
He began sketching in high school so after retiring from goal tending at the age of 37, it was a natural fit to return to his passion.
Painting did not become his fulltime gig, however, for a few more years as he tried his hand as a brewery sales agent and a Vancouver hotel manager. But the urge to paint full-time grew stronger as Brodeur got older.
His dynamic images of young kids scuttling around rinks in towns and rural villages are joyful and melancholic.
“I was four years old, and my dad used to do a backyard rink, and that’s where we started playing,” Brodeur told CBC news.
House Crazy Sarah can relate; her dad used to build a skating rink in the winter on their property in a small village in rural Canada.
What House Crazy Sarah also loves about these paintings are the charming houses and buildings!
Brodeur’s colorful, animated scenes are just so nostalgic and… happy.
And who couldn’t use a little happy right now?
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/richard.brodeur.37
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/richard-brodeur-canucks-goaltender-painting-kelowna-
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