Nine decades of art: Meet a Merrickville man still creating paintings and sculptures

Works of art in Merrickville A Merrickville artist in his 90s has no plans on slowing down. CTV’S Peter Szperling reports.

OTTAWA — A Merrickville man is celebrating nine decades of creating art.

Pieter Doef is a painter and sculptor and he has been creating art for as long as he can remember.

"Since I was three years old," he says, "drawing pictures on the edge of the newspaper, underneath my dad’s chair when he was reading the papers."

The 93-year-old has turned out what he believes to be more than three thousand paintings in his lifetime.

"Two-thousand oil paintings and over a thousand water-colours and acrylics and pastels," says Doef.

His paintings fill his home and studio in Merrickville.

"I always looked for things to paint; something that’s different. There’s forest here, not a lot - but there’s all these fields, and all of these farms."

Sculptures surround his home; it's an area that inspires him.

"I got it from life; always be open for what you’re surrounded with."

Doef immigrated to Canada from Holland while in his twenties. He worked in Smiths Falls with special needs children, using art as therapy.

"They work differently, they see differently, they feel differently," he says, "so, I always worked with kids. Art is medicine, you know that - same as singing or dancing; so is painting, a form of medicine and healing."

His works of art bring joy to collectors, as well as visitors looking for something to do locally during the pandemic.

"There’s people interested in different things, something to experience; when you buy a painting or a sculpture, it’s an experience. I made a lot of people happy, because I made the things and they took it home, and they live with it."

A recent showing attracted quite the interest, says Doef,

"I’ve never seen so many cars on our farm."

Doef welcomes visitors by appointment at his Merrickville studio and home. Visit his Facebook page to find out how you can see his work.