![3D""=20](3D"http://www.whatsupyukon.com/images/stories/2009/July23/fee.jpg")
Two=20
portraits in the exhibition demonstrate a more-realistic and =
textured style in the artist=E2=80=99s portfolio. Lucy =
(Portrait of a Girl=20
in Orange) and Virginia are paintings, from 1968, that =
feature an=20
attention to detail not explored in Harrison=E2=80=99s =
more-familiar=20
works.
The images depict a simplistic head-and-shoulders =
capture=20
of these two young women, each with solid, soft background =
colours=20
and quiet, natural lines.
A 1971 acrylic painting, titled =
Carcross, makes use of a slightly different colour palette. =
Gone is=20
the rainbow of bold pastel hues in the sky and, in exchange, =
the=20
artist used a muted peach-like tone complemented by a small =
burning=20
sun.
The minimalist figures in the image remain the same, =
but=20
Carcross perhaps provides a peek at what Harrison was =
exploring=20
before he hit his colourful stride.
The England-born =
artist spent=20
his early days studying and teaching art, but shortly after =
moving=20
to Alberta, in 1967, a teaching position took Harrison and =
his=20
family to Carcross. Only about a year after that, he held =
his first=20
Canadian exhibition in the Whitehorse Library, in =
1969.
Perhaps=20
one of the most-memorable uses of Harrison=E2=80=99s works =
for territory=20
dwellers and those from the outside, alike, are his =
illustrations=20
for the Robert Service poems, The Cremation of Sam McGee and =
The=20
Shooting of Dan McGrew.
Both sets of illustrations are =
included=20
in Painting Paradise to showcase what gallery director Mary =
Bradshaw=20
calls =E2=80=9Ca huge part of our Yukon =
heritage=E2=80=9D.
Each series depicts=20
Harrison=E2=80=99s iconic skies filled with ribbons of =
colour and speckled=20
with dotted stars. They capture his block-coloured =
characters=20
frolicking amidst pastel mountains and terrain. And they =
incorporate=20
crooked, fa=C3=A7ade houses =E2=80=93 and even =
Whitehorse=E2=80=99s own S.S.=20
Klondike.
Although it=E2=80=99s not difficult to find =
some of Harrison=E2=80=99s=20
most-familiar artistic offerings around the shops, =
bookstores and=20
libraries of the territory, Painting Paradise acts as a =
welcome=20
combination of the recognizable with the rare, from public =
and=20
private collections.
And the exhibit is also a =
celebration for a=20
new biography written about the artist.
Author Katherine =
Gibson=20
has combined stories and artwork to develop a full =
retrospective, on=20
Harrison=E2=80=99s explorations as an artist, also titled =
Painting Paradise.=20
The book will launch in Whitehorse at the Yukon Arts Centre, =
on=20
August 26, with Ted Harrison in attendance.
Painting =
Paradise is=20
on display until August 30 in the Yukon Arts Centre Public =
Art=20
Gallery.
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