N.B. painter finds success — and adrenalin rush — combining art with sports
A New Brunswick-based artist has found international success with her live sports painting.
Bronwyn Celeste has painted in sports arenas across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and beyond.
Live sports painting is the art of capturing a moment of the game as it happens. The artist begins painting at the start of match and finishes it when it's over.
"It's good because it challenges you as an artist," Celeste said. "It can be stressful, yes, but it also is a bit of an adrenalin rush, if I'm being honest."
The earliest instance of this art form can be traced back to ancient Egypt and Greece, according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's website.
Celeste spent her childhood in Fredericton, where high school teachers encouraged her to pursue this fast-paced form of art work.
"My first ever live painting was at a coffee house at Leo Hayes High School, where the [musical] sets were typically about 15 minutes long."
Growing up, Celeste felt she had to choose between her love of sports and her love of art.
"You couldn't really be both," she said. "I just had this kind of moment, where I went, 'Well, why can I not be athletic and artistic at the same time?'"
She has since turned her twin passions into a career, with a mission to introduce fine art to people who may not have had much exposure to it.
Alongside live painting, she has also re-imagined logos for popular sports franchises.
She was visiting her father when she learned how the National Football League's Buffalo Bills reacted to her depiction of them.
"I burst into the other room and said I can't believe it, the Bills have reached out and said they love the piece that I did!" said Celeste.
When you walk into the head office of the Buffalo Bills, you can see Celeste's painting hanging on the wall.
She has worked with the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls, as well as with two hockey teams in the Maritimes, Halifax's Mooseheads and Moncton's Wildcats, a hockey team in Croatia, and even at the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships in Arizona.
"That was an amazing feeling and really affirming the sports artwork I've been aspiring to do," said Celeste, who has also painted at polo matches in the U.K.
Though she has found success with teams like the Bills, she still keeps her community close.
"I love working with local teams," Celeste said. "I think it's really special that we highlight the gifts that we have here and the people that we have who play sports."
One of her close-to-home live paintings was done at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton.
She will set up her easel right in front of the glass in the arena, with one of the best seats in the house.
The Three Defensemen, was painted live at a University of New Brunswick Reds men's hockey game and was one of her first paintings for the team.
"I think we all thought it was really cool having her come in and do the painting," said team captain Colton Kammerer.
"We were very focused on the game itself and didn't pay too much attention to it, but seeing the final product afterwards was quite impressive."
Besides being the team's captain, Kammerer is a shutdown defence player, with an on-ice mission to block some of the opposing team's top players.
He said he had never heard of live sports painting until Celeste came to a Reds game.
"Chicago Bulls, the Bills, those kinds of names, to have the Reds in there as well, beside those professional teams, is something that is pretty cool," Kammerer said.
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