Long-time Jasper resident and artist, Claude Boocock, is living her dream.
As a child, growing up in Montreal, she was exposed to creating and enjoying art, as her grandfather and father were professional photographers. Her father also sculpted, and a special grandmother was a talented oil painter. In her formative years, Boocock spent time exploring, experimenting, and creating art. Weekends could be spent visiting studios, galleries, and touring sculpture symposiums.
This artistic environment led her to enroll in the College du Vieux Montreal for a term in “Arts Plastiques.” The course covered a variety of art forms including metal work, composition, and creating sketches for furniture design.
In the early ’70s, the lure of adventure and freedom helped her pack a car and head West. When she arrived in Jasper, she instinctively knew she was home. Even with subsequent travels to Europe, Australia and New Zealand, her belongings and heart never left Jasper. “Jasper is more than wildness and a pristine environment, it’s an awesome community,” she says.
Claude describes her painting like she describes herself, full of energy, loud and exuberant. An avid hiker, she finds subject matter throughout the Western parks. She photographs the landscape, then in her studio paints altered scenes injecting them with the emotions felt while “being there.” Her stylized landscapes are recognizable, with the Boocock touch.
Claude Boocock was a founding member of the Jasper Artists Guild (JAG). She recalls taking a class from Michael Flisak, an accomplished artist, and a conversation where it was suggested to create a Jasper-based artist organization. She, along with Michael Flisak, Greg Deagle, Marla Pollock, Louise Jarry and Deb Schroeder signed the official documents, and on May 15, 2021, the Jasper Artists Guild was born.
Since the formation of JAG Claude has experimented with a variety of mediums (encaustics, pastels, oil and watercolour paints, and alcohol inks), including a period transforming recycled objects into decorative sculptural forms. Her medium of choice is acrylic paint. These past 20 years, she has enrolled in numerous landscape painting workshops with prominent Western Canadian artists.
Boocock is an accomplished artist with her artwork appearing in private collections internationally. Her paintings can be viewed at the Jasper Art Gallery, Fiddle River Restaurant, Harvest Food and Drink, Ransom Jasper and at her studio. You can reach her through her website: cboocock.com
