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Incredibly, Edward Goss first picked
up a paintbrush in September of 2002. Within 2 months he was getting
noticed, and in under a year he had regular patrons in the United States
and Europe. Don’t ask him to explain. “I don’t understand
it. I haven’t even had time to think about it!” Now he is
possessed by the passion, working in his studio every day, often for
15 hours.
And don’t ask Edward to explain his creations. “Sometimes
people ask me to explain them. They can take me three weeks
to do. How can I explain three weeks of my life?” Edward
tells people that he doesn’t like over explanations because
they diminish the impact of the work. Chuckling, he acknowledges
that Canadians are famous for not littering but he has gone
in another...direction. His art is, well, “full of everything,
you name it”, acrylic, oil, layers of newspaper, house
paint, tape, photographs, and “God knows what else…I
have one with a quarter painted into it, I can’t get it
out, it’s kinda funny”. Recently he left a few large
pieces outside to dry and Miles the dog had other ideas about
the yard. |
| “I
went outside and saw that he had dug up dirt and it was all
over the art. I almost had a heart attack. So, those came
with dog hair and New Mexico dirt...they had a lot of texture.”
Where does he find the inspiration for what happens in his
studio? “I don’t know, man, it just comes and
I don’t question it. I go with the flow, you know.”
“I use my hands. I’ve
got to do it. I go crazy if I don’t do it. I get it
all over me.”
Edward is entirely self-taught. While
he has “doodled” all along, he was extremely shy
about showing them to anyone. Edward grew up in Toronto, Canada,
left home at 17, and worked in construction. Later, he put
himself through night school and earned a degree in horticulture.
Shortly before he picked up the paint brush, he began doodling
on everything, “I knew something was about to happen”.
But, Edward wasn’t thinking of art when he next found
himself in Sante Fe, New Mexico, a place renown for galleries,
artists, and creative expression. What possessed him to buy
that fateful paintbrush in September of 2002? “I felt
like I needed to paint something. In Sante Fe, you can see
art every day, it’s all over and I just found it easy.
It just happened. I can’t explain it. Beautiful things
happen at the time and place when they’re supposed to,
you know?” It does turn out that the sun in Sante Fe
is good for drying his works, which are getting bigger and
can take weeks to dry. “Now, I’m working on a
piece 60 by 100 inches. I love the challenge of big canvas.”
Edward is a lover of jazz music, which he loves
to play on his vintage record player. He collects first edition
vintage jazz albums. The stray cats that he feeds are named
after his favorite musicians. If you call him he won’t
hear you because the music is on full volume.
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