Jane Street in Toronto’s west end is a long way from cottage country but that’s where you’ll find Roach Tackle with its colourful storefront exhorting passersby to “Think Cottage.”
The shop is the retail space and workshop for folk artist Kevin Roach, a self-taught painter and tinkerer who constructs the most delightful “assemblages” from found objects. Now, I know some of you sophisticates will recoil at the folksy nature of Kevin’s work — the paintings and painted furniture are country kitsch personified.
But it’s Kevin’s fantastical “assemblages” constructed from found parts that really excite my imagination; the longer I look at one of his creations, the more component parts I identify.
Roach, 45, is a self-taught artist who wears the “folk” mantle proudly. Twenty years ago he was a struggling writer working as a cook to pay his bills when he whittled some fish with the idea that selling them might allow him to cook less and write more. Today, Kevin still dabbles in short stories but the cooking is long behind him; his customers include big corporate clients like Coca Cola and private collectors like Barenaked Lady Ed Robertson, who has purchased a couple of assemblages including the large scale float plane below.
Look closely at the piece and you’ll see toboggan skies, a vacuum-head cockpit, snowboard wings, a ruler fusilage and only Kevin knows what else. The planes below are just as fanciful but made from a completely different array of spare parts. “The parts tell me what they want to become,” says the artist.
Kevin’s work covers all price points: the assemblages range from $45 – $800 and his paintings go from $5 greeting cards up to $2,000 for really large works. He also creates fanciful maps, which he’ll custom tailor and a range of furnishings like the key hooks ($15), toilet paper holders, lamp ($100) and high-chair cum “whine rack” ($150) below.
Remarkably, Kevin does not own a cottage, although he’s happy to personally install any of his pieces at your place in Muskoka, the Kawarthas or anywhere else with a deck, a dock and a cold bottle of beer. “I’m a vicarious cottager,” jokes the artist.
Happy Victoria Day!
Tell them you saw it on styleNorth!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Something I neglected to mention: Kevin is participating in the 2009 Bloor West Village Art Tour happening May 29 -31. 29 artists in 26 west end locations are exhibiting their work. For more info visit http://www.arttour.info