This Montreal artist turned a watercolour hobby into a new calling, post-retirement
John Bailey had a successful career in marketing packaged goods, but now that he's retired, he's found another calling.
"When people say 'it's beautiful,' they're making comments [like], 'I love your art,' I'm going really?" he said.
He began taking art classes at night while he worked, but since retiring in 2018, he has more time to pursue his hobby. It wasn't until the third wave of the pandemic in 2021, when many were feeling isolated that Bailey decided to share his watercolours on Facebook.
"My intent wasn't to sell my art, it was to post it," he said. "To my surprise, I was getting hundreds of likes and lots of good comments, and that sort of spurred me on to do it."
His work focuses on scenes from around the city.
"I started innocently with a statue nearby where I live, and to my surprise I got a request for a print almost immediately from someone who used to gather around that statue with her girlfriends."
With each piece he'd share, JBailey began hearing countless stories.
"I walked by Ms. Kim's depanneur regularly because I live near where she is. I took a picture of her watering the plants one morning, and again I did my ink and watercolour," he said. "I posted the scene of Ms. Kim, and to my surprise, not only was there an outpouring of, 'I love Ms. Kim, everyone knows Ms. Kim,' but then, 'Can I get a copy?"
With many neighbourhoods changing, Bailey is immortalizing memories for Montrealers through his art.
"The old abandoned factory down on St. Ambroise that has the little pink house on top, everyone talks about 'la maison rose.' I've sold quite a few copies but when I first posted it, again I thought, 'I don't think anyone is going to like this,' but there was a lot of likes, and a lot of attachment from the neighbourhood, they better not tear it down, they better not build condos," he said.
The reaction is what keeps him going.
"It made me think, 'Oh there's something here. What I'm doing here is more than just a nice drawing,'" he said.
He's even gotten a like from a former Habs GM.
"Marc Bergevin, he liked it," he said.
He sells his art to former Montrealers living elsewhere, but for those still in the city, he prefers to deliver the pieces himself.
"I've gotten a lot of joy in watching these people smile when they take it out of the envelope," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes
Donald Trump became the first former American president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Can Trump come to Canada now that he's a convicted felon?
A Canadian immigration lawyer says now that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, he is technically barred from crossing the border into Canada.
Montreal tech billionaire charged with several sex offences
Robert Miller was charged Thursday with several sexual assault charges after Montreal police reopened an investigation into the tech billionaire.
'All we need is a plug-in and a sink': B.C. helicopter charity delivers health care to remote Canada
Imagine your dentist arriving to help you via chopper. That is the aim of Helicopters Without Borders, a registered charity in B.C. specializing in bringing health care to remote communities, the sort of places you can only access quickly by air or water.
Aurora borealis returning to night skies across Canada this Friday: NOAA
If you missed the brilliant displays of the aurora borealis over North America on May 10, you may have another chance to see them on Friday night.
A pair enjoyed pricey meals and bolted when it was time to pay. Their dine and dash ended in jail
A Welsh couple who dined out on pricey meals and bolted when the bill came is now paying the price, behind bars.
Shell investigating a 'potential cybersecurity incident'
Oil and gas giant Shell says it is investigating a possible cybersecurity 'incident.'
Doug Ford suggests immigrants behind Jewish school shooting
Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested immigrants are to blame for the shooting of an empty Jewish school in Toronto over the weekend, despite police saying they have little information on the suspects.
NDP wants Liberals to scrap proposed election date change that could secure pensions for many MPs
The federal New Democrats want to amend the Liberal government's electoral reform legislation to scrap the proposal to push back the vote by a week and consequently secure pensions for dozens of MPs, CTV News has learned.