BIOGRAPHY
Emerging artist, Jody Billingsley was born in St. John New Brunswick, Canada, on May 5th, 1975. Soon after, his family moved to Kitimat, British Columbia - A small town in the Skeena Valley region. Throughout his childhood, Jody displayed a love for art and a natural talent that flourished through his teens. As an adolescent, he even created a small business painting store windows during the holiday seasons. A self taught artist, Jody wanted to pursue art at the Emily Carr Institute of Art in Vancouver. Jody'™s parents, however, encouraged him to go to university instead. While attending Simon Fraser University, Jody continued practising his art with political illustrations. One of his illustrations was featured in The PEAK, the university's school newspaper. Thinking his art was more of a private hobby than something to share with the world, Jody found another passion, teaching. In 2001, he began his teaching career in Vancouver. In the spring of 2002, Jody was recruited by the New York Board of Education. From 2002 to 2004, Jody taught first grade in Bronx New York. He quickly turned his talent for drawing into a teaching tool, and successfully found a career that enabled him to use his artistic talent. After two years, Jody moved back to Vancouver to continue his career as an educator.
In the winter of 2005, Vancouver'™s West End Community Centre, put out an all call for artists to submit work that best represented the feel of the West End. The selected artist would be featured on the front cover of the Centre's recreation guide, and gain exposure throughout the city. Jody submitted a pencil crayon and ink illustration entitled, Seawall Selections, and was chosen for the front cover. Immediately, there was public interest and Jody began creating a series of pencil crayon illustrations depicting scenes from around the city. Jody mainly focused on Vancouver's seawall, but branched out to other subjects as he moved to his current medium of acrylics and ink on canvas.
Jody'™s whimsical pieces are colourful, bright, and possess a childlike wonder. His goal is to create universal memories that embody a heightened sense of happiness and present the feeling of an authentic animated narrative. His bright vibrant colours evoke an innocent space where anything is possible. Whether with pencil crayon or acrylics, Jody uses ink to capture various textures and bold movements. With his vivid sense of colour and sharp observing eye, this self-taught artist perceives and captures the unique and beautiful stories unfolding at every moment, around every corner. His is a world of intense colour, vivid characters, swirling spaces, and uncontained energy that moves beyond the limits of the canvas.
Although Jody's current work is in acrylics and ink, he has also done considerable work in watercolour and drawing. His work has been showcased at the Roundhouse Gallery through the charity Out of the Rain, on the cover of The West End Community Centre'™s 2005 Summer Recreation Guide, was featured in the West End Community Centre's Art In the City in 2006 and 2007, in the front window of Kimprints in the Westend and Gastown. Jody has donated paintings to help raise money for his elementary school and for Outreach Africa. Jody has also been chosen for the advertising of the West End Community Centre's Art in the City Show happening in May, 2008. Jody is elated to be participating in the Project Hope Exhibition and Gallery in Montreal in spring, 2008.
