STEPHANIE MCLEAN ARTIST • CANADA Stephanie McLean affirms that “painting has saved my life”. She used to suffer from an anxiety disorder and would lose herself during hours of painting. Painting was once her therapy and has now become her soul’s driving force, along with her family. Stephanie paints in a style she calls “bold expressionism” and loves painting musicians! Email: steph_mclean@rogers.com
‘Random Acts of Violins’ Mixed media. Materials used: acrylic paint, matte gel, textiles, paper cutouts
Raoul (the subject in another painting of mine) urged me to capture the image of his violin resting in his open violin case. He was quite proud of his poster ‘Random Acts of Violins’. I painted his violin red to have it match the violin in the portrait I painted of him. I realized ‘Raoul’ Acrylic and matte gel on canvas. Meet Raoul. Not his real name. Raoul is a busker in the Toronto Beaches area who kindly allowed me to photograph and paint him. I made his violin red (with many different-coloured layers underneath) because I felt it added strength and confidence to his painted persona. Raoul is a gentle soul and his playing can tug on your heart strings. Red, also being the colour of love, helped make it obvious to me that this should be the colour of his instrument.
afterward that the red colour of the violin might be associated with the redness of blood, following those random acts of ‘violence/violins’.
The Red Book April 2021 • 175
