Bill Reid-Canadian Artistic Genius

Jade Canoe-Bronze Sculpture
by Bill Reid 1920-1998
photo (c) Terry Krysak

Bill Reid another of My Favorite Artists was a Canadian artist whose father was of European descent, and his mother was a First Nations Haida aboriginal. Reid was profoundly influenced by his paternal grandfather Charles Edenshaw, a renowned Haida artist carver.

Reid became interested in Haida art while he was a radio announcer in Toronto, and studying jewelry making. In 1951 he returned to Vancouver, and began studying the work of Edenshaw, as well as visiting the remains of Haida villages on the Queen Charlotte Islands, and ultimately was responsible for helping to put together a small replica of a Haida village located in the UBC Museum of Anthropology.

The Jade Canoe as shown above (located at Vancouver International Airport) is a representation of an ancient Haida dugout canoe, bearing thirteen supernatural creatures, each in some way related to the Haida's mythical past. For many centuries the Haida people lived in a rich fulfilled existence, nourished by the wealth of their homeland, and watched over by the gods and demigods who peopled their world.

Raven And The First Men
by Bill Reid
Cedar Sculpture

I have always been fascinated by the art of the Haida, and Bill Reid has succeeded in taking this art form to an entirely new level by taking classical Haida imagery, and transforming and morphing it into three dimensional sculptures that would be the envy of many famous sculptors. His use of cedar, and eventually bronze has proven to be an enormous achievement, and has left us with many fantastic works of art that grace our communities for all to see.

Visit the Bill Reid Foundation
Visit the Bill Reid Gallery

Susan Carlin-Paints Online Live On Ustream TV

Companions, Oil Painting
16 x 20
(c) Susan Carlin

This is another in my series of My Favorite Artists, featuring the work of Susan Carlin. Susan lives in San Antonio Texas, and paints online live every Tuesday night on Ustream TV at 4:00 pm PST.

Susan began her career one summer when she got a job doing portraits in pastels. Most of the time she paints in oils, and her subject matter includes, landscape, portraits, and still life. Without question she is a masterful oil painter, and skillfully captures not only a likeness in her portraits, but adds a beautiful artistic touch with superb composition skills and a keen eye for color.

After a career as a Chiropractor, Susan now paints full time, and is approached on a regular basis by people for portraits on a commission basis. In addition to that, she also paints live online every Tuesday evening, delighting all of us with her friendly disposition, and cheerful banter about what she is doing. Many times she discusses her techniques, and provides helpful instruction as she chats with viewers while painting, and answering questions about a variety of art subjects.

I have always been amazed by painters like Susan and David Darrow that can paint, and chat with people who are viewing the demonstration. This in my mind takes an enormous amount of superb skills and the ability to pull it off successfully.

If you have a free evening, drop by and join in on the fun. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. If you are a beginner, or accomplished artist you will always learn something new every night.

Susan Carlin painting live on Ustream TV.
Susan Carlin Blog.

Alfred Ng-Master Watercolor Artist

Southern Magnolia, Watercolor
2009 (c) Alfred Ng

This is another in my series of My Favorite Artists. I discovered Alfred Ng a few years ago while searching the Internet for watercolor artists, and when I found his website, I lingered for a long time, viewing every single piece of work that he had published.

Alfred first became interested at the age of three while watching his neighbor practicing Chinese brush painting in Hong Kong. His family immigrated to Canada in 1973, and after receiving formal art training, Alfred realized how difficult it was to be a successful artist.

Alfred paints in Acrylics and Watercolor, and is also a photographer. His subjects include Architecture, Florals, and Landscape, and his skills as an artist just jump right out at you from the page.

I particularly love his floral paintings, as flowers often inspire me to paint. The Southern Magnolia is an excellent example of what inspires him, and how he has mastered the unforgiving medium of watercolor. The painting is so real, you feel like you could reach out and touch it, or stick your nose right up to it to see if there is any fragrance emanating from the flower.

I love the texture and soft shadows in the flower petals, and find myself warmed by thoughts of a beautiful summer full of light and life, particularly now as we are all surviving a fairly brutal winter here in Canada right across the country.

I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do, and take the time to linger on his website.

Visit the website of Alfred Ng.

Dave Ivey-Graphic Designer & Commercial Illustrator

Custer-(c) Dave Ivey
Crow Quill, Pen, Ink and Watercolor
On Illustration Board

Dave Ivey is another artist in my series of My Favorite Artists and has been a Graphic Designer and Commercial Illustrator for over thirty years. I discovered his work recently on Redbubble, and have become one of his newest fans ever since.

Dave's drawing skills are superb which I admire, as drawing I feel is the foundation of all good art. The better you are at drawing, the better your artwork will be as can be seen in the beautiful illustration of Custer above.

I also love the way that he leaves some areas unpainted, leaving it to the imagination of the viewer as to how it could look. I find this to be a very unique approach to visual imagery.

The wet on wet watercolor technique with the subtle blending and merging of colors also leads the imagination, and pulls the painting together in a masterful style.

Visit Dave Ivey's profile on Redbubble, and view more amazing works.
The image Custer is copyright Dave Ivey, permission to use in this post granted by the artist.

Walter J. Phillips-Master of The Watercolor Wood Cut

Mamalilcoola Villiage B.C.
Watercolor Woodcut 1928
(c) Estate of Walter J. Phillips

I first discovered Walter J. Phillips in the late 1960's when I saw an ad in the local paper in Calgary that a collection of his watercolor woodcuts was on display at the Hudson's Bay Co. store in the downtown area. I went to see the exhibition soon after reading the ad, and was completely awestruck by the work of this Canadian artist. Phillips is another artist in my series My Favorite Artists.

After viewing his watercolor woodcuts, I became fascinated with the watercolor medium, and formed an intense desire to become an artist. My desire was not to become a watercolor woodcut print maker, but to become a watercolor painter. I felt I would achieve great happiness in life if I could paint watercolors with the same skill as he demonstrated in his watercolor prints.

This desire was transformed into action when I applied and was accepted into the Alberta College of Art & Design in 1971. However to my complete dismay, all of the painting instructors were focused on abstract art, and watercolor was not taught as a discipline. Because of this I decided to major in pottery instead.

Walter Phillips was born in the UK, and his family migrated to Canada. He studied at art school, and at some point came across the works of a number of Japanese artists engaged in the Ukiyo-e art movement. The works of Hokusai and other Japanese print makers have also fascinated me over the years as well. I love the uncluttered aspect of this art movement, and in particular the excellent design principles that these artists employed in their works.

The watercolor woodcut print, or Ukiyo-e starts with superb design and drawing skills. Each design is then transferred to a block of cherry wood, as the design is carved out in relief in the wood. A new block of wood must be used for each individual color in the print making process. Cherry wood is the most often used choice for the print maker because of it's hardness. Softer woods often do not yield the desired result, or stand up to multiple impressions, as many as 100 or more individual unique prints.

Phillips as well sometimes used the grain of the wood to indicate water ripples in a print as well.
Phillips captured many everyday scenes of life in Canada, from the shores of Lake Winnipeg to the many spectacular views found in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and BC. Eventually ending on the west coast with great attention and devotion to Haida villages, and the ever beautiful west coast landscapes of British Columbia.

W.J. Phillips was a great inspiration to me, and he has served as a guiding light in my artistic endeavors, and my never ending journey as an artist.

For a comprehensive biography of W.J. Phillips please visit the only website devoted to his work. The website was built and is maintained by Roger H. Boulet, and contains a wealth of information including many images of Phillips' works and history.

The Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta has an extensive collection of the work of W.J. Phillips.

I would like to express my gratitude to Roger H. Boulet, and David Duffin (Phillips' grandson) for permission to use the image Mamalilcoola and to write this article.

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