She’s had a life that reads like something out of a storybook. There was even a stint as a Hong Kong celebrity running an upmarket disco in the ’60s. But you won’t hear much of it ‘from the horse’s mouth’, as BJ Boulter, in spite of her energy and focus, is an intensely private person. She doesn’t brag and she’s economical with the facts when they apply to her own successes. All one can really tell is that she’s been pretty damn good at everything she’s done. These days the busy career she pursued as a “fixer”/ line producer for commercials and freelance films has taken a temporary backseat in favour of her special brand of art.
It’s a style you won’t have seen anywhere else – one that has evolved from years of “just knowing” a myriad of apparently unconnected things.
So, what are we talking about? The stunning collage paintings that BJ Boulter submitted for Artealgarve OPEN IX exhibition, and which got rave reviews from everyone who saw them.
Many considered BJ’s pictures “some of the best in the show” – and that’s not just because of the artistry that went into their making. It’s her ability to catch a special moment… the magic she brought to countless films and TV commercials over the years, and, as such, a spirit of place that is preciously unique.
The pictures centre on conversations among the people of East Africa – the land BJ still calls home. Early training as a costume designer brought her specialist knowledge of “how clothes work”, as well as impelling her to collect an impressive stock of African fabrics (“some go back over 20 years, to Zanzibar in ’89-92″) – while her past, scouting for film locations, sees her now with “boxes, cupboards and drawers full” of wonderful atmospheric photographs.
“My career has simply led me here”, she tells us in the country-style kitchen that doubles up as her workroom. She is putting the finishing touches to two of the collage paintings that now hang in Open IX.
“I learnt very early on how to make costumes and clothes, how to cut patterns – so how an outfit works, I just know; how a piece of fabric flows around a body, I know."
“That is why things like this work”… she gestures towards the developing picture which depicts a tribal woman listening intently to advice, her multi-coloured dress rucked up around her knees, her necklaces resting on the folds of gathered material.
Costume design skills don’t explain the marvellous expressions BJ has been able to capture on the faces of her subjects, though. These come from another area of expertise – the eagle-eye for detail that has followed her through everything. Thus by mixing all her talents with the colourful boon of experience, BJ presents a refreshing, captivating style that has people mesmerised.
One of her many new fans is “PESCH” (the artistic name for world-travelled creative director Peter Shäfer). He went to congratulate BJ at the Vernissage last weekend, only to discover they shared a mutual background in film production.
“I love her work!” He told us. “It is absolutely beautiful”…
Countless others said very much the same, which is always hugely comforting for any artist.
“I am loving having time to paint”, she considers as she carefully places her subject’s beads.
Painting however is only one of the strings to BJ’s bow. She is a key player in the low-budget independent feature film made in (and about) the Algarve, The Right Juice – which should be making it to the big screen “very soon” – and she also runs idyllic Wildlife Painting Safaris to Tanzania “as often as I can”. The next one is due to take off in February.
“It’s a fabulous experience for anyone who wants to paint and sketch in the African bush”, she says.
The trips are tailor-made for groups of eight people or more, and you will find all the information you need, including a short video, on: www.paintingsafari.com
But for a feel of the atmosphere you’re likely to find, you need go no further than BJ’s magical canvases, on show at Arte Algarve. Doors open every day at 10am. Admission is free.
