The Drawing House could very well be one of the city’s best kept secrets; though it is open to anyone who is wanting to learn the world of art.
Tucked away on a quiet side street on 60 Mary Street is the dream that Marshall Geddes has had for many years. The 24-year-old artist has been involved with art as long as he can remember and went to Toronto to study further. When both schools he attended closed in the same year, his dream brought him back home to Barrie.
“I was at the well-known Toronto School of Art and also the Toronto Cartoonist Workshop when they both went under,” said Geddes. “I came back home and opened my own spot in another part of town but after a little while I realized that wasn’t working either. It made me take a good look at what was needed to continue.”
Geddes closed his location and started to look into why he had seen the bad luck he did. The young Barrie North graduate researched low rental spots in town and spoke with his mom about the current location and having a working relationship with her to achieve what he felt would be a fruitful endeavour.
“I realized that no one is really doing the amount of business planning that is required here and it was time to sit and gather a plan,” said Geddes. “I convinced my mom if we could buy a commercial house, the first floor could be for the business and the situation upstairs is like that of separate apartments. Here we are and it’s going very well.”
The Drawing House is a drawing studio that also offers classes for those looking to learn the craft as well as a place to pick up top quality supplies needed for all kinds of art projects. There are classic lessons on figure drawing, life drawing and the usage of watercolours. There are also lessons for the kids having to do with comics and anime. Geddes is particularly drawn to those classes as he not only really enjoys working with the new artists, but it takes him back to how he got started in art.
“I wasn’t a great reader when I was young and comics opened it up for me and I learned to read that way,” said Geddes. “Through that I fell in love with drawing and become a huge fan of art. I had a job at the Barrie Public Library when I was younger and probably read every comic there when in my first week. I loved Flash and the super-hero genre, but one day I picked up the graphic novel Maus which is about the Holocaust and it made me realize how educational this type of reading material can be.”
Geddes credits other institutes in the area that teach oil painting and acrylic usage, but says that he finds that a lot of people really just want to learn the basic skill of drawing. What he calls the “alphabet of drawing” where before one can write a novel, they must learn the alphabet, Geddes feels that’s why he enjoys teaching the kids the most when he does classes.
“There’s this innocence from them when they’re learning and you see it when they finally accomplish what they’ve been attempting,” said Geddes. “It is amazing to follow their progress from when they sign up to when they complete a comic. I actually print comic books and teach kids how to make them, so they get taught how to do and when they’re done we have them take the finished product home.”
The problem of uncertainty that Geddes faced at the start of his art journey has seemingly subsided. While he is always wanting to accommodate those who want to learn whether it’s in one of the classes the Drawing House offers or the private lessons Geddes can provide, he is near capacity on some and is now looking at expanding.
“To be honest I am always looking for students but some of the lessons are almost full so I haven’t been advertising too much,” said Geddes. “That said I am looking to expand the space we have now to bring in more folks. But certain classes could definitely use more bodies and that’s where I could be doing more promotion on what we do.”
With things looking positive for the Drawing House and everything currently going the way he always wanted, whenever Geddes has days of self-doubt he pulls out a little piece of motivation he found in the walls of the old house that was found when they were renovating; and he’s reassured that he is clearly on the right path.
“This clipping was in the walls and has to be extremely old since the house and didn’t seem to have any work done in a while,” said Geddes. “We laminated the clipping and it reads, Do I need to know how to draw to take the classes? It is all about a drawing course and helping anyone from the novice to the professional drawer. It was like fate stepping in, very cool.”
For more information on the Drawing House and how to sign yourself or kids for classes or purchase products, check out their website at www.drawinghouse.ca
