As an actor, Andrew Stelmack performed this year at The Citadel Theatre as Tobias in Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and returns as LeFou in Disney's Beauty and The Beast.

He is a veteran of the Canadian stage and has worked extensively all across the country performing lead roles in well over 50 professional productions, including shows such as The Lion King, Les Misérables, Beauty and The Beast, Seussical, Assassins, Peter Pan, Fiddler on the Roof, Princess and the Handmaiden, House of Martin Guerre, War Brides, Prairie Boy's Winter, A Funny Thing Happened ..., Lone Star, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, HMS Pinafore and Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Andrew’s journey as a visual artist, while not as lengthy, is as equally impressive. 

While Andrew only began painting in 2005, he has already mounted numerous solo shows in Toronto galleries. He has also participated in group shows such as the Toronto International Art Expo, Queen West Art Crawl, Riverdale Art Walk and the Festival International en Arts in Montreal. His artwork can be found in many private and corporate collections throughout Canada and the United States — including Canada’s House of Commons. He is represented in numerous galleries in Toronto, Winnipeg, Wellington, New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

Andrew describes the visual side of his artistic personality in the following way:

“I have often been blessed to live and perform in the world of the stage, where words and music are given to me; where words and music enable me to communicate. They help me share emotions and messages and connect with others.

“As an artist, connecting with others is what I live for. It is an undeniable need.

“However, my visual art has taught me it can perhaps be even more powerful to communicate without word or sound.

“As a visual artist I use bold colour, shape and textures to connect to others. I use my artwork as a powerful vehicle to express and share my stories, my thoughts and my experiences; to have another means to connect with those around me … without even having to be physically present; connections that I need to make and share, but in this case – without words.”

The artworks you see here — and those in the Shoctor lobby above during the run of Disney's Beauty and The Beast — are works that Andrew has created over the past five months for an exhibit entitled Bloody Beauty-Full! They are all in direct response to the emotional connections and experiences felt while rehearsing and performing in Sweeney Todd and Disney's Beauty and The Beast in Edmonton in 2010. 

While these works are directly influenced by these two theatrical shows (and explanations of the journey influencing their creation accompany each piece), it is always Andrew’s goal that you see and feel whatever you want. 

Abstract art is always in the eye of the beholder.  

Andrew’s intention of this particular exhibit is to let you in on the “what”or “why” for which he created each particular piece; to share with you the internal interactions and emotional mind of both the actor and the visual artist as they met to create each artwork; a rare combination indeed! 

Andrew now feels he must paint when he acts, since these passions have become “one” for him — both spiritually and intellectually. Furthermore, he hopes that sharing these works with his immediate audience (of both art forms) is a unique and rare opportunity for an extended communication.

Ultimately, Andrew hopes that this exhibit may be a rare moment where your thoughts and experiences of seeing these theatrical productions and artworks become entwined with his parallel experience of creating them; that you end up talking to one another … as you view them … on a whole different level … without having to speak an actual word together nor hear a note of any song. 

Please enjoy!

All of these works are available for purchase. 
Please contact Andrew further: www.astelmack.com.