Merry Christmas from the Birthplace of BC Gallery 2011

Al Colton's painting of the Willoughby Hall raised over $3,000 at the Heritage Matters Concert

Last year, Brenda and Kurt Alberts’ Heritage Matters Concert raised over $16,000 toward the restoration of the Willoughby Hall. Concert headliner, Cole Armour, was recently featured on Ellen DeGeneres.
Tony and Gwen McCamley’s Athenry Development on 208 Street has commenced construction and includes the Willoughby Hall restoration by Marcon. The funds raised by the Heritage Matters Concert together with contributions by the Baker Family, Langley Heritage Society and Willoughby Hall Society will enhance the restoration work as a tribute to Roy and Shirley Baker, long-time Willoughby volunteers. Restoration work begins in New Year completing Spring 2012.
HERITAGE MATTERS!

Kurt Alberts, Jack Froese (Mayor Elect), Brenda Alberts

The civic election today produced a new mayor for the Township of Langley. Jack Froese was selected by Township voters to lead the municipal council for the next three years. Congratulations to Jack and the members of Council that won re-election, Charlie Fox, Kim Richter, Bob Long, Bev Dornan, Grant Ward and Steve Ferguson as well as new-comers Michelle Sparrow and David Davis.
See election results in Langley Advance.

Construction on the new IGA store starts this Friday November 18, 2011

The Lee Family are putting their shovels into the ground on Friday (Nov 18) at 2 pm to celebrate the official start of Marcon’s construction of their new Fort IGA store. The entire community will cheer the start of work on the return of our only grocery store after its loss to fire last January. Thank you Lee Family for hanging in there! We miss you! Go Marcon Go!

Builder, Marco Paolella with Robert, Charlie, Eddie and Peter Lee

A photo of a painting by former Canucks goalie Richard Brodeur, entitled "Face Off", courtesy of the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery.

Richard Brodeur made his first set of hockey memories nearly 30 years ago.
It was 1982 and the diminutive goalie from Quebec led the Vancouver Canucks to the Stanley Cup final for the first time. They were swept by the New York Islanders but his exploits that spring are a key reason “King Richard” remains one of the top-10 Canucks in the club’s 40-year history.
Brodeur’s nine-year NHL career ended after the 1987-88 season.
But for the past decade and a half, the native of Longueil has been producing a new series of hockey showpieces — this time on canvas.
Brodeur has turned the secret he kept from teammates during his playing days into a successful career as a painter in the B.C. Lower Mainland, where he holds regular shows and does commissioned work.
While he does abstracts and snapshots of iconic Canadian landscapes, it’s the hockey paintings of the 58-year-old grandfather which are his hottest sellers. Brodeur’s 20-piece “My Childhood Hockey Memories” began with a request from his son to illustrate the stories he told them when they were young. He followed that up with another 14-piece hockey series this year, which includes current Canucks.
“It not only brings me back to where I grew up,” said Brodeur, who shows his work through the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery in the Vancouver suburb of Fort Langley. “But wherever I go in Canada, people say it reminds them of where they come from.”
Brodeur always sketched, a gift he inherited from his father, a machinist who would draw with the kids when he got home from work. But it was when he left Quebec for Cornwall to play junior hockey that he met a high school teacher who introduced him to painting. It stayed with him throughout his NHL career.
“It was my getaway from the game,” Brodeur said. “After a game, I’d paint until two or three in the morning.
“It relaxed me. Instead of staring at the wall and thinking of the game, I stared at a canvas.”
Brodeur, who runs an event management company that’s “the real money maker,” said when he played in the NHL he always had a sketch book with him on road trips. But in that “macho era” it wasn’t something he openly let his teammates know about himself.
“I didn’t tell them I was an artist because I didn’t think I was an artist. I just did it because I liked it.”

Click here to see this article in the Toronto Star

RICHARD BRODEUR. Rivalry Forever. Acrylic 18x20

Richard Brodeur – A secret passion for paint

by Gary Ahuja – Langley Times

Painting and hockey were always two of Richard Brodeur’s passions.
But while he played hockey for a living during the 1970s and 1980s, his painting remained a secret.
“I loved painting, but as a professional athlete, you don’t really come out and say you are an artist/painter, that wouldn’t go over too well in the dressing room,” he admitted.
“I kept that pretty private.”
Brodeur’s pro career began in the World Hockey Association with the Quebec Nordiques and he played in his home province until the league merged with the NHL in 1979. With his rights belonging to the New York Islanders, who had selected the goaltender in the 1972 NHL amateur draft, he played in the Islanders organization for a season before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.
In 1982, he earned a place in Canucks lore, earning the name King Richard as he lead the underdog team to the Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to the New York Islanders.
Many times, Brodeur would come home after a game and paint until three or four in the morning.
“It was a pressure reliever, a way to get away from the game,” he said.
His last NHL season was split between the Canucks and Hartford Whalers in 1987-88. He retired the following year, having played 333 games, and all but eight with Vancouver.
Following his playing days, Brodeur got into business, and he now runs his own event management company, based out of North Vancouver.
Art remains a passion.
“The weekends, that is my hobby, that is my getaway, my relief from the pressure of business,” he said. “This is something I will cherish forever.”
He spends about 20 hours a week, usually on the weekends, on his paintings, although he said he would love to do this full-time, putting in 60 hours a week exclusively on his art.
When Brodeur was on the ice, all he could control was giving his best effort and hoping the results were positive.
But as an artist, he said, there is no control.
“You just put (your piece) on the wall and have to be proud of what you do.
“As an artist, your reward is that someone liked it and bought it. It puts a smile on my face when I see a little red dot on it, because it means it was sold and someone liked it.”
While selling a piece is exciting and the end goal, Brodeur does it for more than that.
“But first of all, you do it because it is a passion and you want to do it,” he said. “Am I going to be a millionaire doing paintings? No, I don’t think so, but I will be happy doing it and that is the only that matters, to bring joy to people.”

For the past 15 years, Brodeur has done art shows both in Quebec and B.C.
His latest show, Art on Ice, opens this weekend at the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery in Fort Langley and runs until April 29.
On Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m., Brodeur will be at the gallery.
The show features oil, acrylic and watercolour paintings of Brodeur’s childhood memories of growing up with pond hockey, street hockey and backyard hockey in his hometown of Longueuil, Que.
Brodeur says his childhood memories are the same as thousands of other hockey-loving kids from across the country.
“When people look at (the pieces), they are happy and it brings back memories from when they grew up,” he said.
Some of the kids in the photos have Rocket Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur jerseys on, while others have current stars such as Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
“I always add a personal touch, something that is close to me,” Brodeur said.
“To me, (these works) are very Canadiana,” said Brenda Alberts, the owner of the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery.
“They are very bright and the kids are happy.”
Brodeur has also produced pieces of fishing villages in Haida Gwaii, lakes and orchards of the Okanagan, and ports and coves of Nova Scotia.

RICHARD BRODEUR. Face Off. Acrylic 20×24

RICHARD BRODEUR. Lui in Net. Acrylic 16×20

Richard Brodeur with Brenda & Kurt Alberts, Gallery Owners & Langley Chiefs Fans

Read Gary Ahuja’s full article in the Langley Times – Click below .. .
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/langleytimes/entertainment/119287629.html.