Southampton Art School –The Group of Seven, Killarney ... and Me

I am very proud to be affiliated with the Southampton Art School. I was the first “Artist in Residence” in 2006 and I made a lot of friends in the community. Jane Champagne was one of those friends and we painted together a lot. I have three courses planned for 2013. One of those is Killarney: the Annual Adventure which provided the plein air paintings that in turn appear in the 50 Years of Our Flag Project. The Killarney Adventure is October 7 through 11, 2013… Let’s paint and have some fun!  http://www.southamptonart.com/
This link takes you to the courses that I play in ...
http://www.southamptonart.com/program_results.php?General=&Category=%25&Instructor=39&Season=%25&submit=Search+Programs

Now for some history… “The Southampton Art School building was erected in 1888 by James Howe to house his amassed collection of books. It later became the Mechanics Institute in 1892 and then a Public Library in 1896. James Howe donated the building to the town in 1912 on the condition that it is used for cultural purposes only. It continued as a library until 1955 when the Etta Shields Library opened on High Street. This unique building became the Southampton Art School in 1957 when under the Directorship of Bert Henderson and an advisory board of such renowned artists as A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, Alex Colville and Lawren P. Harris the original “Southampton Summer School of Fine Art” was formed.”

So the Southampton Art School and Group of Seven share a lot of history. The Group also share a lot of history with Killarney. A.Y. Jackson was instrumental in the creation of Killarney Provincial Park. Franklin Carmichael, Arthur Lismer and A. J. Casson also painted in Killarney. Now it is an annual event for the Southampton Art School and Phil the Forecaster to paint in the park in early October. Life is very good!

A few of my Killarney plein air sketches appear in the “50 Years of Our Flag” Painting including the Killarney Light and the white quartzite ridges of La Cloche. The links between the Group of Seven, the Southampton Art School, Killarney and even me are some of the reasons for these sketches to appear in the tribute to the Canadian Maple Leaf flag. The other reasons include that John Ross Matheson, the Father of Our Flag wanted those paintings in the 50 Years of Our Flag Painting. Now if I can just get past the lettering :>)