50p
Snowball Art Show: A Very Special Addition
Over the past few weeks, Brentwood has had the very special opportunity of housing a collection of works from Canadian artist David Blackwood in the Southam Gallery of the Arts Building. These works were front and center during the Art Show, hosted by Mr and Mrs Luna, which was held during Snowball. On Saturday, each learning group had about half an hour to wander the Arts Building and peruse the Blackwood collection along with sculptures, paintings, and photographs crafted by fellow students.
David Blackwood is a celebrated Canadian artist renowned for his intaglio prints. Intaglio is a complex printing technique that involves etching images into a surface where the etched area holds the ink. Growing up in Wesleyville, Newfoundland and eventually moving to Ontario, Blackwood went on to become a master printmaker and a member of the Order of Canada. Blackwood’s works are housed all over the world, including as part of the Queen’s Royal Collection.
Brentwood had the opportunity to host this collection thanks to former Board of Governors member and current Vancouver Island resident, Richard Osler. A true Renaissance man, Mr Osler has seen his life take him many different places, from working as a business journalist to becoming a poet, leading poetry workshops and retreats. He formed a friendship with David Blackwood who was his art teacher at Trinity College School, in Port Hope, Ontario, a friendship that has changed his life and remains constant to this day.
Over his lifetime, Mr Osler has collected close to sixty Blackwood pieces, forty of which are part of the collection on display in the arts building. This is the first and last time that these forty pieces will be on display together, as many of them are to be sold at an auction in the near future; we are all incredibly lucky that he chose Brentwood as the place to have this exhibition.
Below is an interview I enjoyed with Mr Osler during the exhibit:
How would you describe Blackwood’s style and what’s unique about it?
I'm not an art historian, but I would say in terms of his etchings, he's capturing a kind of mythopoetic quality. So it's narrative art. It's telling a story. But it's telling more than a story. I think the truth that's inside the story goes beyond the story. It's telling a truth of how human beings, against great diversity, can survive. He captures that sort of indomitable human spirit. His images, for me, are these hulking figures, you know. They're people, but they have a weight to them. They're really substantial and they're usually up against enormous natural things like icebergs, so there's this deep sense of the human being able to survive against a backdrop that is so big relative to who they are. And if you think of these men that would go sealing on the ice. You know, they're jumping from ice flow to ice flow in the middle of the North Atlantic. It's hard to believe that this was not solid land. I would say that his etchings make him stand apart. They’re part of an etching tradition that goes back to Goya and Rembrandt, but he has brought his own unique style to it. He's also got this whole other piece where he's got the colourful pieces and I think they add a tremendous element too, but it's going to be his etchings that he'll be remembered for.
What impact has art had on your life?
For me, I think seeing Blackwood’s creativity inspired me. But there's another piece to it here, which is that arts influenced me in that I've looked at Blackwood, and I've collected his work, but I've also been very aware of not falling into a trap of vicariously living through his creativity and not honouring my own. I'm a poet, and I've developed my poetry over the years, even though I was a business person too. So for me, to really honor Blackwood’s art was in a sense, to turn around and own my own art inside me, and not use him as a proxy. So that's, I think, what art tells us. And there's a wonderful prayer called the Fisherman's Prayer and says, “Oh Lord, be good to me, the sea is so wide and my boat is so small.” I think art tells us that we are important, because we can lose a sense of unification. There's a universe out there that still is so bewilderingly big. You know, who are you in that city? Who am I? And art tells us that we matter. And so when you look at a piece of art, and you recognize your own humanity, you know that you matter. And when you make a piece of art, you're saying, “Here I am. I exist.” And it may be just for a moment in time, but I'm important, and I exist. And that's for me, where art, both looking at art and making art, makes all the difference.
How do you want Brentwood students to approach the collection?
To like what you like is to trust yourself. If there's something in the art that confronts you, it is to stay in the discomfort of, and to be curious as to why. I think what I like about Blackwood’s art is it’s not art that people are going to have a kind of easy reaction to. I think there's going to be people who love it, and then there will be people who are just going to think “That's not for me.” Well, to me, that's fine. That's what our job is. It is to have that deeper conversation with yourself.
How did your relationship with David Blackwood start and how did it develop into a friendship?
I was at a boarding school called Trinity College School. The art room was in the chem lab. I just remember him starting to tell stories of home, and it was like it was out of a fantasy novel. It was like this place that was part of Canada (I had no idea of the history of Newfoundland, but telling the stories of these people living in these small outports or small villages, or islands) and it was just bigger than life. And I think I'm a story person. So I was very drawn to the stories. There was an etching of men in a boat in the foreground with an island in the background and it was called Sick Captain Returning. In fact, there was a coffin in the boat, and it had dried flowers on the coffin. It was a very stark picture and it was in my Houseparent’s study. So I knew the art, and I knew David. That's just where it sort of started. So I would just hang out after class and talk to him and he would tell me some personal stories about his life and for me as a 17 or 18 year old that was just sort of wild. He was this exotic person. And then, I'll never forget, I don't know why I was walking with him from the school. It would be like you leaving the Fine Arts Center going over to the main parking lot and seeing Mr Luna with a picture in the back of his car and looking at it and going “Oh my gosh”. That was Gram Glover's Dream. That was his mother's mother. That was a huge part of his growing up. I've never had any other relationship with a teacher like David because he wasn't really a teacher. He was more an artist. He was teaching, but he brought a whole other element into it. It’s hard to say, but I think my parents helped because they kept in touch with him and bought some pieces from him directly to give to me as gifts. Sometimes I would go back to Port Hope and visit him. So then I went and stayed in his studio in Newfoundland for three months when I was about 33. I actually lived there. So yeah, it was kind of very unexpected.
How has your relationship with David Blackwood impacted your life?
I like art a lot, but I think that the greatest impact that David's had on me is loving his art and never being tired of it. I would say it's knowing that the creative spirit in all of us is incredibly important, and in a funny way, the power of David's art spoke to me: Richard, don't drown yourself inside David's art, find your own to find that balance. David's been very supportive of my poetry. He agreed to do the cover of my book of poems although the publishers didn't pick it, but I would say the greatest impact is just knowing that there are human beings out there that are just doing things out of their imagination that are extraordinary. Just think of the craftsmanship that Blackwood has to use to make those prints happen. I mean, it's one thing to do the drawing. But then there's this whole other piece where he’s asked to actually manufacture the prints. You know, so each one is hand-pulled off the press. I think it's certainly helped me appreciate art and the importance of it. I think that's probably the biggest thing.
What do you want Brentwood students to take away from the collection?
I hope that whether they like it or not, they have a conversation with the art and that they will have an emotional reaction. That's what I hope it can be. If they don't like it, okay. If they really like it, great. They may find one or two pieces that can help them. Maybe in three years, they see something and they think, oh, gosh, who was that guy that we saw there? There’s something here that’s reminding me of him. So I hope that it makes their life bigger. Not just because of the stories that are big stories, but the bigness behind the stories. So there's that image of Kean’s Men Departing where it looks like there are dead men on the ice, and they froze to death. But there's a man in the background who's standing tall. He's small, because he's in the background, but to me, I hope that someone will look at a picture like that and go, okay, you can have death on one hand which is the death of dreams, death of whatever it is, death of a job, you name it, but there is always part of the human spirit that's looking forward to the rescue or for how they're going to survive or how they're going to make it. My hope is that in some way, this art inspires people for this deep sense of resilience that is embedded in our human spirit.
Will P, Whittall ‘22
David Blackwood is a celebrated Canadian artist renowned for his intaglio prints. Intaglio is a complex printing technique that involves etching images into a surface where the etched area holds the ink. Growing up in Wesleyville, Newfoundland and eventually moving to Ontario, Blackwood went on to become a master printmaker and a member of the Order of Canada. Blackwood’s works are housed all over the world, including as part of the Queen’s Royal Collection.
Brentwood had the opportunity to host this collection thanks to former Board of Governors member and current Vancouver Island resident, Richard Osler. A true Renaissance man, Mr Osler has seen his life take him many different places, from working as a business journalist to becoming a poet, leading poetry workshops and retreats. He formed a friendship with David Blackwood who was his art teacher at Trinity College School, in Port Hope, Ontario, a friendship that has changed his life and remains constant to this day.
Over his lifetime, Mr Osler has collected close to sixty Blackwood pieces, forty of which are part of the collection on display in the arts building. This is the first and last time that these forty pieces will be on display together, as many of them are to be sold at an auction in the near future; we are all incredibly lucky that he chose Brentwood as the place to have this exhibition.
Below is an interview I enjoyed with Mr Osler during the exhibit:
How would you describe Blackwood’s style and what’s unique about it?
I'm not an art historian, but I would say in terms of his etchings, he's capturing a kind of mythopoetic quality. So it's narrative art. It's telling a story. But it's telling more than a story. I think the truth that's inside the story goes beyond the story. It's telling a truth of how human beings, against great diversity, can survive. He captures that sort of indomitable human spirit. His images, for me, are these hulking figures, you know. They're people, but they have a weight to them. They're really substantial and they're usually up against enormous natural things like icebergs, so there's this deep sense of the human being able to survive against a backdrop that is so big relative to who they are. And if you think of these men that would go sealing on the ice. You know, they're jumping from ice flow to ice flow in the middle of the North Atlantic. It's hard to believe that this was not solid land. I would say that his etchings make him stand apart. They’re part of an etching tradition that goes back to Goya and Rembrandt, but he has brought his own unique style to it. He's also got this whole other piece where he's got the colourful pieces and I think they add a tremendous element too, but it's going to be his etchings that he'll be remembered for.
What impact has art had on your life?
For me, I think seeing Blackwood’s creativity inspired me. But there's another piece to it here, which is that arts influenced me in that I've looked at Blackwood, and I've collected his work, but I've also been very aware of not falling into a trap of vicariously living through his creativity and not honouring my own. I'm a poet, and I've developed my poetry over the years, even though I was a business person too. So for me, to really honor Blackwood’s art was in a sense, to turn around and own my own art inside me, and not use him as a proxy. So that's, I think, what art tells us. And there's a wonderful prayer called the Fisherman's Prayer and says, “Oh Lord, be good to me, the sea is so wide and my boat is so small.” I think art tells us that we are important, because we can lose a sense of unification. There's a universe out there that still is so bewilderingly big. You know, who are you in that city? Who am I? And art tells us that we matter. And so when you look at a piece of art, and you recognize your own humanity, you know that you matter. And when you make a piece of art, you're saying, “Here I am. I exist.” And it may be just for a moment in time, but I'm important, and I exist. And that's for me, where art, both looking at art and making art, makes all the difference.
How do you want Brentwood students to approach the collection?
To like what you like is to trust yourself. If there's something in the art that confronts you, it is to stay in the discomfort of, and to be curious as to why. I think what I like about Blackwood’s art is it’s not art that people are going to have a kind of easy reaction to. I think there's going to be people who love it, and then there will be people who are just going to think “That's not for me.” Well, to me, that's fine. That's what our job is. It is to have that deeper conversation with yourself.
How did your relationship with David Blackwood start and how did it develop into a friendship?
I was at a boarding school called Trinity College School. The art room was in the chem lab. I just remember him starting to tell stories of home, and it was like it was out of a fantasy novel. It was like this place that was part of Canada (I had no idea of the history of Newfoundland, but telling the stories of these people living in these small outports or small villages, or islands) and it was just bigger than life. And I think I'm a story person. So I was very drawn to the stories. There was an etching of men in a boat in the foreground with an island in the background and it was called Sick Captain Returning. In fact, there was a coffin in the boat, and it had dried flowers on the coffin. It was a very stark picture and it was in my Houseparent’s study. So I knew the art, and I knew David. That's just where it sort of started. So I would just hang out after class and talk to him and he would tell me some personal stories about his life and for me as a 17 or 18 year old that was just sort of wild. He was this exotic person. And then, I'll never forget, I don't know why I was walking with him from the school. It would be like you leaving the Fine Arts Center going over to the main parking lot and seeing Mr Luna with a picture in the back of his car and looking at it and going “Oh my gosh”. That was Gram Glover's Dream. That was his mother's mother. That was a huge part of his growing up. I've never had any other relationship with a teacher like David because he wasn't really a teacher. He was more an artist. He was teaching, but he brought a whole other element into it. It’s hard to say, but I think my parents helped because they kept in touch with him and bought some pieces from him directly to give to me as gifts. Sometimes I would go back to Port Hope and visit him. So then I went and stayed in his studio in Newfoundland for three months when I was about 33. I actually lived there. So yeah, it was kind of very unexpected.
How has your relationship with David Blackwood impacted your life?
I like art a lot, but I think that the greatest impact that David's had on me is loving his art and never being tired of it. I would say it's knowing that the creative spirit in all of us is incredibly important, and in a funny way, the power of David's art spoke to me: Richard, don't drown yourself inside David's art, find your own to find that balance. David's been very supportive of my poetry. He agreed to do the cover of my book of poems although the publishers didn't pick it, but I would say the greatest impact is just knowing that there are human beings out there that are just doing things out of their imagination that are extraordinary. Just think of the craftsmanship that Blackwood has to use to make those prints happen. I mean, it's one thing to do the drawing. But then there's this whole other piece where he’s asked to actually manufacture the prints. You know, so each one is hand-pulled off the press. I think it's certainly helped me appreciate art and the importance of it. I think that's probably the biggest thing.
What do you want Brentwood students to take away from the collection?
I hope that whether they like it or not, they have a conversation with the art and that they will have an emotional reaction. That's what I hope it can be. If they don't like it, okay. If they really like it, great. They may find one or two pieces that can help them. Maybe in three years, they see something and they think, oh, gosh, who was that guy that we saw there? There’s something here that’s reminding me of him. So I hope that it makes their life bigger. Not just because of the stories that are big stories, but the bigness behind the stories. So there's that image of Kean’s Men Departing where it looks like there are dead men on the ice, and they froze to death. But there's a man in the background who's standing tall. He's small, because he's in the background, but to me, I hope that someone will look at a picture like that and go, okay, you can have death on one hand which is the death of dreams, death of whatever it is, death of a job, you name it, but there is always part of the human spirit that's looking forward to the rescue or for how they're going to survive or how they're going to make it. My hope is that in some way, this art inspires people for this deep sense of resilience that is embedded in our human spirit.
Will P, Whittall ‘22