Dentistry alum takes dental hand skills to the canvas
8T2 DDS graduate, Joe Shocrylas, is putting his hard-earned dental hand skill to work with his love of painting. His classic hockey art show is currently on display at the Meaford Hall Arts and Cultural Centre until March 3, 2025. He shared his story of why he paints.
As a young person I was always involved in sports (football, baseball, hockey, lacrosse) and had an interest in drawing from an early age. I mostly did pencil drawings on my own, but school emphasized more of the painting style. By the teenage years I combined my two main interests.
I paint because of the fulfillment I receive from this activity as it is relaxing, defies the passage of time and is a great distraction. Usually I have several in progress at the same time.
My subject matter is classic hockey – the NHL Original Six - because hockey was of huge interest
during my formative years. It was a fascination and an obsession. Many of us can relate to that part of our lives in a fond manner (the music, the activities we were engaged in, etc.) and it can leave a lifelong imprint in terms of interests that remain with us.
In a sense I am attempting to capture fragments of hockey history on canvas. I colourize many of the black and white photos that I use as reference, sometimes altering them slightly, deleting or adding players and changing puck and/or net position. It is meaningful in that I feel many of my hockey heroes are brought back to life. My work also demonstrates the contrast between those days of yore and the current NHL.
Relevant to my art, dentistry taught me attention to detail, self motivation, persistence and perseverance - even though one painting took me 17 years to get back and complete. Dentistry also directed me to make sure that I had an outlet to take my mind off the profession and go somewhere else mentally to decompress.
I hope that others, when they view my art, will recall some of the memories and moments in the game as it used to be and perhaps rekindle childhood memories of their hockey heroes. Of course, nostalgia is a major component of my art. In addition, viewers will be able to observe how drastically the game has changed in terms of protective equipment (helmets, masks, body armour, sticks, skates), the ice, boards and uniforms were devoid of advertising, the crowd considered it more of a formal event and the net frames were dangerous metal objects to name some primary differences.
I hope to take my art to other interested galleries. I will be discovering and using more mixed media in the future and perhaps change the subject matter entirely.
To my fellow alumni, I wish to say how important it is to decompress and enjoy the time off we are afforded in our profession as it most certainly comes with stressors. My personal experience was to discover the passion that remained in me from my early years and to allow it to manifest.
Top photo: a painting by Joe Shocrylas