Leo Labelle started on his art career early.
“I used to paint the walls and floors, and I caused my parents some grief,” he says with a smirk.
But then, Labelle has always been a rule breaker. And he still is to this day.
“I don’t believe in rules,” he says. “To me, it’s a bunch of nonsense… there’s no one set way of doing anything.”
He did take art courses at one point, correspondence classes through the Minneapolis School of Art.
But he promptly threw away the rules they were trying to instill and carried on with his own style.
And the result is a house overflowing with artwork, as Labelle has devoted his life to creating images on canvas and sculpting.
“This is my love,” he says. “This is what I live for. It consumes me.”
Labelle’s inspiration comes from his subconscious, mainly through images and ideas from dreaming.
He’s spent the last few weeks poring over his many years of works, finding the right pieces for his upcoming show.
He’ll be showing his work next month at the Mt. Woodside Gallery
He’s decided to include some of his brightly-coloured sculptures — “I’m known for being colourful” — and is learning how to frame his own paintings to properly show them.
Although he’s shown his work all around the world, it’s been about 10 years since he last had a show.
“Am I excited? No, not really. I’m tired. It’s a lot of work putting a show together,” he says.
An artist’s reception will be held this Saturday, October 1 at 7 p.m.
