Page 8 Planet of the Arts

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Robert Weldon is Saskatchewan’ s premier
painter and poet. This 20th Century
Renaissance man has a prodigious following
among the cognoscenti of Europe — even
among the sheltered and conservative
Eastern bloc nations — but is virtually
unknown in his native country. After three
years under psychiatric care in a mental
institution and an extended stay in Europe,
he now lives in virtual isolation in the central
British Columbia interior. This interviewer

found the artist editing a large sheaf of letters

and journals destined for inclusion in his
soon-to-be-published memoirs. A large,

florid man, balding, with years of struggle

and a subsequent breakdown written in the
set of his shoulders, the occasional flicker of
pained remembrance in his eyes. The walls
of his Cold-war style bungalow displayed
some of the artist's favourite paintings, and
his small, inexpensive stereo unobtrusively

filled the room with the sounds of early Pink

Floyd. Robert Weldon, playing the gracious
host, broke the ice with espresso and Oreos
as we began.

GO How does it feel to be back in Canada
after your success in Europe?

RW _  Ambivalent. | miss the critical
appreciation of the European community,
but I needed a break. It was like being the
princess in the tower — pampered and
imprisoned at the same time.

GO_ How imprisoned?

RW _ Once! was picked up in Europe, it
wasn’t long before I became a sort of precious
commodity, and my work began to reflect
that. I was accepted, and anything I did was
accepted. At first, I guess, I was applauded
for taking risks, but in that atmosphere there
were no risks, only guarantees. The classic
“bird in a gilded cage” situation. There was
this one night in Stuttgart when I was asked
to speak at a major opening at the Kunsthalle,
not because I was in any way connected with
the work, but because they needed an “art
star” to give the evening cachet. I found
myself flashing back to my radical youth in
Regina, when my every act was the result of
my adversary position toward authority, and
I realized I was in the grips of a new, but not
too different establishment. I left.

GO And?

GO Icame here. This area (the desert/
scrubland of the Merritt/Clearwater region
— ed.) reminds me of some of the places
around my hometown.

GO There’s a rumour that you arrived in
Regina ina stolen car.

RW You dink. Where’d you hear that ?
Yeah, that’s true. My high school English
teacher, whose name I won't divulge, stole

my girlfriend. So I stole his car. I drove
from Shaunavon to Regina in three hours,
and nearly totalled the car in the process.
Still hating my English teacher, I joined a
gang of Beatnik poets. We wrote incredibly
irresponsible poetry.

GO _ Sounds like a tough bunch.

RW _ Yeah, we were bad.

GO __ Button-making anarchists?

GO Somewhere in there, you became a
good friend of Picasso.

RW It’s not quite that simple. He and I
met arguing, but I discovered a common
ground in playfulness. We’d match each
other joke for joke, while his wife pressed
the day’s business into his hands. He coached
me in my first attempts at painting, and
allowed me to bring out the things that
weren’t coming out in my poetry. He would
identify stumbling blocks that prevented me
from making the kind of pictures I needed to
make. Picasso had an amazingly simple and
precise insight into the creative needs of the
individual psyche; he taught me the freedom
to find my own method. I owe him my
creative strength.

Well, the money, Picasso, funeral parlours,

George Washington. . . [kicked over the candy
machine, gave Bill a dose of good ol’ high
octane and threw squeegees through several

windows. . all of them
them take me away.99

... then I guess Bill had

RW _ The buttons! (pause) Well, the buttons
were a way of disseminating a kind of poetic/
political language. We wrote poetry for
three years — that was until ’65, until we
gradually came to the realization that we
were our own audience. The buttons took
our words to the streets, which suited our
anti-establishment, populist intent.

GO_ If I may quote,“George Washington
has wooden teeth, how about you?”

RW Jesus Christ! I hate quotes — okay?
That one’s obviously self-explanatory. My
favourite button.

GO And the most popular.
RW Yes it was.

GO About that time, didn’t you break with
your group in Regina?

RW Yes, well, it was a little after that, and
I ended up in Paris. I simply began to see
myself as someone whose horizons went far
beyond Regina, and even North America,
and the place for an artist then, as it seemed
to me, was Paris.

GO That was a very short-lived friendship,
though, wasn’t it?

RW Yes, it was. When he died, I was
orphaned, literally. At the time, I had become
dependent on him not just for creative
guidance but for all kinds of spiritual
sustenance. My immediate reaction was to
head for home.

GO Home?

RW_ Well, Canada — Saskatchewan — I
was looking for someone or something to
replace my adopted family in Europe. But
when I got to Regina I found that the people
I'd been involved with. . .just weren’t there
any more. They were running funeral
parlours, decorating interiors, that sort of
thing. So I left.

GO Left for where?
RW The funny farm.
GO _ The institution — in Medicine Hat.

RW Right. that was exciting.

" x

GO You were forcibly committed, is that
right?

RW Forcibly, yes, but not entirely without
justification. It’s a strange story.

GO Whois Bill?

RW _  You’ve done your homework! He’s
the guy who committed me. I'd left Regina,
not really sure where I was going or what I
was doing, still running from myself —
though ! didn’t know it at the time — and
drove till I ended up at a gas station in
Medicine Hat, Alberta, which is where I met
Bill. [had money problems, as well as others.
Our friend Bill filled up my tank and
squeegeed my windshield, then asked me to
pay him. That’s when I went berserk.

GO Because you couldn’t pay?

RW _ Well, the money, Picasso, funeral
parlours, George Washington . . . | kicked
over the candy machine, gave Bill a dose of
good ol’ high octane, and threw squeegees
through several windows. . .all of them. . .
then I guess Bill had them take me away.
My memory of that day is a bit patchy.

GO_ For such a traumatic event, you treat it
very light-heartedly.
RW [have to. You would too.

GO Maybe so. And this was three years of
your life.

RW Three fucking long years. Years of
banging my head against a padded wall.
Years of berserk highs and bottomless
Thorazine stupors. At some point, I don’t
know exactly why, the doctors there declared
me cured and discharged me onto the streets
of Medicine Hat.

.GO_ That was in ’76.

RW Right. I was badly bent — just spent
about four months drifting around like a
ghost, physically and mentally wrecked. I
ended up working as a cook on an oil patch
near Swan Hills, and as soon as I got enough
money together I was back in Europe. I
knew some people in Paris who helped me,
and I started painting again, somewhat
feverishly.

GO _ A lot of your early work was directly
influenced by your stay in the hospital. . . ?

RW All of it. That’s how I kept sane.

GO _ Your most famous paintings to date,
for example, “What Saturday Town Is”,
“Duke and Sister,” and “Acrobat Café
Redress,” came from this period.

RW The intensity of my experience in the
hospital contributed directly to the strength
of those paintings, but they’re not necessarily
my best. The work I’m doing now feels in
many ways to be more resolved.

GO What are you doing now?

RW All will be revealed in my upcoming
exhibitions. I'll give you a hint though: I’ve
completely revamped the suite of images
called “Arrangement for Bone Flute and
Laughter.”

GO_ Ill look forward to that. Thank you
Robert.

RW You bet. @

Postscript: Robert Weldon’ s show appears
this July at the National Gallery in Ottawa.

Planet of the Ants

Page 8

Oates

Robert Weldon is Saskatchewan's premier
painter and poet, This 20th Century
Renaissance man has a prodigious following
‘among the cognoscenti of Europe

‘among the sheltered and conservative
Eastern bloc nations — bua is virtally

unknown in his naive country. After three
sears under psyehiatrie care in a mental
institution and an extended stay in Europe

‘he now lives in virtual isolation in the central
British Columbia interior. This imerviewer
found the artist editing a large sheaf of leters
‘and journals destined for inclusion in his
soon-to-be-published memoirs. A large,
florid man. balding, with years of struggle
‘and a subsequent breakdown writen in the
set of his shoulders, the occasional flicker of
pained remembrance in his eyes. The walls

“of his Cold-war style bungalow displayed
some of the artist's favourite paintings, and
his small, inexpensive stereo unobtrusively
filled the room withthe sounds of early Pink
Floyd. Robert Weldon, playing the gracious
host, broke the ice with espresso and Oreos
‘as we began.

feel to be back in Canada
after your success in Europe?

RW
appreciation of the European community.
but I needed a break. It was like being the
Fincess in the tower — pampered and
mprisoned at the same time.

[Ambivalent. I miss the eritical

GO How imprisoned?
RW _ Once I was picked up in Europe, it
‘wasn't long before became a sort of precious
commodity. and my work began to reflect
that. Iwas accepted, and a

accepted. At first, I guess, I was 3

bird in a gilded cas
this one ni
tospeak at

the work,
star” to give the evening cachet. I found
‘myself flashing back to my radical youth in

Regin: he result of
‘my adversary position toward authority, and.
realized I was inthe grips of a new, but not
{oo different establishment, [left

GO And?

GO Leame here, This area (the deserd

scrubland of the MerrituClearwater region
ed.) reminds me of some of the places
around my hometown,

Ther
na ina stolen e

‘a rumour that you arrived in

RW

ah, that’s true, My hi
teacher, whose name I won't div

my girlfriend. So I stole his ear. I drove
from Shaunavon to Regina in three hours,
and nearly totalled the car
Suillh English teacher,
‘ang of Beatnik poets. We wrote incredibly
irresponsible poet

GO Sounds like a tough bunch,

RW Yes

we were bad,

Butor

GO Somewhere in there, you became a
of Picasso.

round in playfulness. We'd match each
Other joke for joke, while his wife pressed
s business into his hands. He coached
‘me in my first attempts at painting, and
allowed me to bring out the things that
ning oul in my poetry. He wou
ling blocks that prevented me
d of pictures I needed to
‘make. Picasso had an amazingly simple andl
precise insight into the creative needs ofthe
individual psyche; he taught me the freedom
to find my own method. [owe him my

identify stun

ee

Well, the money, Picasso, funeral parlours,

George Washington . .

. [kicked over the candy

machine, gave Bill a dose of good ol’ high
octane and threw squeegees through several

windows . . all of them
them take me away 33

... then I gues

s Bill had

RW The buttons! (pause) Well, the buttons

‘were a way of disseminating a kind of poetic

political language. We wrote poetry for
years — that was until "65, until we

ly came tothe realization that we

‘our own audience. The buttons took

‘our words to the strets, which suited our

tablishment, populist intent.

GO IFT may quote,"George Washi
hhas wooden teeth, how about you”

RW Jesus Christ! hate quotes — okay?
That one's obviously self-explanatory. My
favourite button,

GO And the most popular.
RW. Yes it was.
GO About that time, didn’t you break with

RW Yes, well, it was a litle after that, and
Tended up in Pars. 1 simply began to see
‘myself as someone whose horizons went far

and the place for an artist then, as it seem
tome, was Paris.

GO. That was'a very short-lived friendship,
though, wasn’t it?

RW _ Yes, it was. When he died. I was
‘orphaned, literally. Atthe time, Thad become
dependent on him not just for creative

dance I kinds of spiritu
sustenance. My immediate reaction was to
hhead for home

GO Ho

RW. Well, Canada — Saskatchewan —I
‘was looking for someone or something t0
replace my adopted family in Europe. But
when T got to Regina I found thatthe people
Td been involved with, . just weren't there
1y more. They were running funeral

parlours, decorating interiors, that sort of
thing, So Left

GO. Lett for where?
RW. ‘The funny farm

GO. The institution — in Medicine Hat
RW Right that was excit

You were forcibly committed, is that

RW _Forcibly, yes, but not entirely without
justification, Isa strange story
GO Whois Bil?

RW
the

You've done your homework! He's

not really sure where I wa

didn't know it at the time —

drove till ended up ata gas station in
Medicine Hat, Alberta, which is where I met
Bill. [had money problems, as well as others
‘Our friend Bill filled up my tank and

squce

pay him, That's when I went bers

GO Because you couldn't pay?
RW. Well, the money, Picasso, funeral
parlours, George Washington... Ukicked

fver the candy machine, gave Bill a dose of
‘good ol” high octane, and threw squeeze
through several windows. . all of ther
then I guess Bill had them take me away.
My memory ofthat day i abit patchy

GO Forsucha
very light-hearted

RW _Thave to, You would too
GO Maybe so. And this was three years of
your life

RW _ Three fucking long years. Years of

‘banging my head against a padded wall
Years of berserk highs and bottomless
Thorazine stupors. At some point, I don’t
know exactly why, the doctors there declared
‘me cured and discharged me onto the streets
of Medicine Hat

GO. That was in 76.

RW Ri

just spent
xi like a

ost, physically and mentally wrecked. 1
‘ended up working as a cook on an oil patch
near Swan Hills, and as soon as I got enough
‘money together | was back in Europe. 1
knew some people in Paris who helped me,
and I started painting again, somewhat
feverishly

GO A lotof your early work was directly
influenced by your stay in the hospital...”

RW All of it, That's how I kept sane,
GO Your most famous paintings to date,
for example, “What Saturday Town Is

‘Duke and Sister.” and“Aerobat Café
Redress,” came from this period

RW. The intensity of my ex
hospital contributed directly to the strength.

of those paintings, but they're not necessarily
‘my best. The work I'm doing.

‘many ways to be more resolved.

GO What are you doi

RW. All will be revealed in
exhibitions, I'l give you ahi
completely revamped the suite of images
called “Arrangement for Bone Flute and
Laughter

GO [look forward to that, Thank you
Robert
RW Youbet.

Postscript: Robert Weldon’s show appears
this July atthe National Gallery in Ottawa.