Ex-doctor transitions to another caring art

MEREDITH — Marc Bard’s fingers had been itching to hold a paintbrush for decades. The problem was, his successful medical career kept getting in the way. He has been able to dedicate the last several years to art, though, and the latest result will be a show opening on Thursday.

The show, Bard’s second in as many years, will benefit the nonprofit that manages the Castle in the Clouds. The show will be hosted by the Meredith Gallery and Frame Shop, with an outdoor reception from 4 to 6 p.m. at Hermit Woods Winery. Proceeds from last year’s show, more than $3,000, were donated to a local food pantry, and Bard is hoping his art will make possible another significant donation.

The relationship between Bard’s creative interest and professional career has been complicated. Though his medical practice prevented him from being able to pursue his art, it was his art that made possible his career.

“When I was in medical school, times were a little tough for my family. I needed to find some money to pay for medical school,” he said. A medical textbook was being written, he learned, and it was in need of illustrations. Although he was without formal training, he created a portfolio for the book’s publisher, and he was hired. His work as a medical illustrator paid his way through medical school.

That medical degree turned out to be a worthwhile investment. Bard established himself as an internist and as a consultant. It came with a cost, though.

“There was a hiatus for about 30 years that I yearned to be a watercolor painter,” he said. The hiatus finally ended around 10 years ago, when he was able to devote much of his time to painting. Which, he found out, was an exercise in humility.

“You have to be really humble,” to begin a new pursuit, he said. He had to place himself back in the novice’s position, and accept criticism from mentors such as Christine Hodecker, now departed, and his current teacher, Sandy Martin.

He chose watercolor because it seems to take on a life of its own. “It does wonderful things,” he said. He has learned that he has to suppress his instinct to illustrate; instead, he aims to send the viewer on a journey of memory.

“A moment in time that will have impact on the viewer, a memory of a walk they took, a picnic, an afternoon hiking, a kayak, something that will evoke some thoughtful memory, so when they look at it, they don’t think about my art, they think about that moment.”

It took about five years, but Bard got his painting to a point where he felt confident enough to share his work with the public. The first couple were donated to a fundraising auction – another exercise in humility when neither sold. But he continued to work, and improve, and soon thereafter his artwork was trading for dollars, which went toward causes he champions.

Bard and his wife live in Holderness, in a small neighborhood tucked alongside the shore of Squam Lake. They had been vacationing there since the 1990s, and last year decided to make it their full-time home. And so the art show starting this week – and lasting for about a month – allows Bard to indulge in some of the things that mean the most to him at this stage of his life.

“I’ve had a great career, this is my opportunity to integrate the things I most love: painting, New Hampshire, and caring for the community,” he said.