Noella Cotnam and one of her creations, a larger-than-life painting of a raccoon when they found themselves watching each other. Cotnam likes to paint large: large canvases, large brushes, and images that make a large impact. Tinkess Photo

OTTAWA – If you have had even a passing interest in the arts scene in the Cornwall area over the past 40 years or so, then the name Noella Cotnam will ring a bell. You could know her as an artist, a sign maker, a mural maker, a sculptor, or a musician, because she has exhibited incredible skill in all these areas. I caught up with her at the Ottawa Seed Growers Farm Show and had a chance to speak with her about her career, the things she loves, and how she ended up on such an interesting path.

“I guess I’ve for 43 years been making signs,” said Cotnam. And I’ve always been painting animals. I was invited to be part of the Klein house gallery in Cornwall when it first opened to have a show. And I said, I’ll do it, but I want my two other friends that we paint murals with, one from Niagara Falls, one from Ormestown,  and they both paint as well, but three totally different styles.

“And then I thought, oh my God, what am I going to paint? But I thought, well, I paint animals all the time. So, I thought, I’m going to paint animals, and I’m going to get big, four-foot by five-foot canvases, a huge animal paintings and small ones. And I painted them all black. Then I started laying them all out, I had my references and did everything and then I started painting. Went in the house, came back out, started painting. Went back in, came back out, and I was going to paint the backgrounds, but I realized they really look great as a series, right with this very dark background. This is what I’m familiar with, as animals, any kind of animal, but I can paint landscapes. I can paint anything. It’s just, it’s just fun.”

Cotnam first started painting as a child because she noticed that her brother, who is now an architect, would draw animals and would get some attention for it. She decided she could do that and would bring it to school and receive a bit of praise from the teacher. “I bring him into class, the teacher put it up next to the door, and after maybe five or six of them said, Okay, that’s enough. But I knew, I thought I found something that I could do. I didn’t know then,  but what I know now is I have ADHD.

“But I had, I found something that was just for me, but I’ve always all through art, thought, I’m going to be an artist. I always knew I was an artist, but I never imagined I’d make a living at it.”

Not one to go hunting for inspiration, Cotnam does admit that she has a system she uses to design and add pictures and paint. “Sometimes I just have to walk around it for a week, and it’s like, I just start painting. And once I start going, there’s like, this tipping point where you get to a point, and oh, yeah, there it is.

“And then, and then it’s done. You stand back and think, yeah, that’s it. I paint very fast. You got a lot of confidence. But sometimes, sometimes it’s like, something’s wrong. You just have to walk away. But I still get amazed when I finished the painting, and it’s like, oh my God…it’s a great feeling.

It is, for Cotnam, very much an escape. “It’s that shot of adrenaline sometimes you need, you know, there’s shitty things going on all around us. And now I’ve got my little escape, because for the ADHD, I can sit and hyper focus. I do carvings too, and I’ve can carve for eight hours and, you know, I didn’t have lunch. But it’s, it’s a wonderful gift. I appreciate it.”

To learn more about Noella Cotnam and the many artistic creations she has to offer, you can email her at noellacotnam@gmail.com or at farmsigns.com, or signit.com.

 

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