Onni Nordman 10 Bulls- Number 4 oil on canvas 1.5m x 2.5m "Catching the Bull"
Photo Credit: Onni Nordman

ART- Cape Breton N.S. artist Onni Nordman

Sydney Nova Scotia painter Onni Nordman is a workaholic. He spends endless hours in his studio beside the cottage on a cliff in Cape Breton with the sea and sky he shares with his wife and manager Paula Muise.

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Cape Breton artist Onni Nordman pictured in front of one his large works, the third painting in the 10 Bulls series. 1.5 x 2.5 metres, “Perceiving the Bull” © Paula Muise-supplied

He says painting isn’t something that he acquired, “it’s a condition” he says, something he always had.

Nordman, a 2009 recipient of Nova Scotia’s Established Artist Recognition Award was recently inspired by a children’s book he picked up at used book store. It was called “Bonanza- Killer Lion”. He said he noticed how the line drawings to illustrate the story seemed to somehow closely mimic the 12th century book on zen known as the 10 bulls.

That was the theme and title he used to create his own interpretation  of the zen drawings and the children’s book illustrations.

His Ten Bulls series will be at the Pasinger Fabrik, where he will be artist-in-residence, in Munich, Germany, April 15 to May 31.

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“Both bull and self forgotten” part of the 10 bulls series © Onni Nordman

 Nordman will then travel to Helsinki for another exhibition, this one inspired by Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s illustrations of the Finnish epic The Kalevala for Onni Nordman: Maalaus in June at Galleria-Artika in Helsinki.

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Poster for the exhibit in Helsinki in June at “artika”

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Onni Nordman whom I reached in Germany

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An example of another of Onni Nordman’s work not part of the 10 Bulls series. This one called, 4 AM-, oil on canvas 91.5cm x 91.5cm © Onni Nordman
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An example of another of Onni Nordman’s work not part of the 10 Bulls series. This one called, 4 AM-, oil on canvas 91.5cm x 91.5cm © Onni Nordman
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