Author to profile celebrated artist=92s life
Just as Ted Harrison brought the Yukon to the rest = of the=20 world with his art, author Katherine Gibson will bring Harrison to the = world=20 with her authorized biography about the 82-year-old artist.
Photo submitted
'A FASCINATING JOURNEY' - Author Katherine Gibson, seen with = Ted=20 Harrison and one of his works, says the artist has let her develop the = planned=20 book project in her own fashion. Her research has taken her from the = Yukon to=20 England. Photo by MAUREEN HEMINGWAY-SCHLOSS
Just as Ted Harrison brought the Yukon to the rest of the world with = his art,=20 author Katherine Gibson will bring Harrison to the world with her = authorized=20 biography about the 82-year-old artist.
=93It=92s been a really fascinating journey,=94 Gibson said in an = exclusive=20 interview Thursday from Victoria.
That three-year journey has taken the author to Harrison=92s = birthplace in=20 England, up to the territory, through a slew of interviews with the = artist and=20 the many people who have been a big part of his life. Gibson also = scoured=20 through the papers, documents and artwork of his life.
Though it=92s an authorized biography, Gibson pointed out Harrison = has=20 essentially permitted her to do things her own way, giving her access to = whatever she needed.
It was actually Harrison who suggested Gibson write the book, which = has taken=20 on the title Ted Harrison: Painting Paradise, the author recalled, = noting others=20 had asked Harrison to write his own biography.
In 2005, she interviewed Harrison for a magazine article she was = writing=20 about an upcoming exhibit of his work in Victoria.
After the story was published, she received a call from Harrison = saying he=20 had more stories he wanted to share and wondered if she=92d meet him for = lunch.=20
Her first thought was that she had already written the story, but she = decided=20 to meet him anyway.
=93I wasn=92t going to turn down lunch with Ted Harrison,=94 she = said.
The two got together for the repast, with Harrison sharing more of = his tales.=20 Then as the lunch came to an end, once again, he said he had more = stories to=20 share.
He suggested Gibson might want to put them into a book. He then = proposed that=20 she write his biography, which many had already told him he should = write.
=93It took me about 30 seconds to decide,=94 Gibson commented.
Though authorized, the author is quick to note it=92s not a = commissioned piece,=20 but done the same way any other book would be compiled.
=93He just let me run with it,=94 she said.
Gibson and Harrison meet regularly, the most recent session being = Thursday=20 afternoon, with Gibson spending the past three years looking over the = many items=20 that have made up Harrison=92s life.
=93He and (deceased) wife Nicki kept everything,=94 Gibson commented. =
Among some of the more intriguing items she=92s discovered along the = way is the=20 tiny two-inch wide by four inch high journal the 16-year-old Harrison = kept.
Told she had found the book, which was written entirely with pencil, = Harrison=20 told her she would need a magnifying glass to read it - and indeed she = did.
There, she learned Harrison was constantly reading and sketching with = the=20 teenager listing off what book he was reading each week, ranging from = Dracula to=20 the works of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare.
While Harrison grew up in the working class community of Wingate, = England,=20 it=92s evident he has been drawn to the more intellectual world and had = a natural=20 curiosity about the world for most of his life.
Still, the artist who has won countless awards over the years speaks = the same=20 way to high-ranking officials like the Governor General as he does to a = stranger=20 he meets on the street, Gibson said.
Along with his love of reading and sketching, Harrison=92s early = journal also=20 points to the strong sense of family the teenager had as he described = visits=20 with his grandmother and long hikes he=92d take with his sister and = father.
The young boy=92s commitment to the Boy Scouts also followed him = through the=20 years and, in 1965, he was honoured with the Boy Scouts Association of = New=20 Zealand Medal of Merit.
Visiting Harrison=92s early home in Wingate, Gibson discovered = Harrison really=20 hadn=92t changed much over the years.
=93Ted has always been open, friendly, optimistic and incredibly = intelligent,=94=20 she said. Even in grade school, she noted, teachers were asking Harrison = to=20 organize sketching trips for the class.
He=92s also very stubborn, a trait Gibson credits for Harrison=92s = success.
Harrison paints how he wants and doesn=92t particularly care what = people think,=20 she noted. That means that over the years, he wasn=92t bowing to the = artistic=20 whims of the day but rather creating his own style, unlike any other = current=20 artist.
=93He created his Yukon,=94 she said.
The colourful Yukon skies that Harrison is famous for painting only = came=20 after a time, though.
While the Harrison style may be easily-identifiable to many, his = earlier=20 works are almost =93unremarkable=94, Gibson said.
As she learned during her research though, when Harrison studied art = at the=20 West Hartlepool College of Art, he learned to paint in the style of the = greats.=20 Students would be shown how a particular artist painted, then do a piece = in that=20 manner.
His early works have a British style, looking very much the same as = the=20 landscape would have appeared.
In some cases, Gibson had to have Harrison look at the piece to make = sure it=20 really was him who painted it.
It was after Harrison and his family came to the Yukon in 1968 that = his style=20 began to change.
As he told Gibson, he was like a child seeing the world again.
While it would be a while before his paintings would take on the big, = colourful skies, Gibson said there=92s a time where Harrison begins = stripping away=20 the traditional techniques.
The works are less colourful than his later pieces, featuring more = browns and=20 greens with larger figures of people.
Slowly, Harrison began to work in larger landscapes and skies, the = people=20 becoming smaller parts of many paintings. At the time, he used a = technique=20 outlining the different parts in black, giving his work an almost = stained-glass=20 effect.
He eventually moved away from that to a style that saw the outlines=20 disappear, but the colourful skies remain.
These days, Gibson said, he=92s doing both a bit of the style he got = most=20 famous for during the height of his career in the 1980s and some folk = art.
=93He=92s forever evolving,=94 she said.
Just as her research took her to England to learn about Harrison=92s = early=20 life, it also brought her up to the Yukon last year to see Harrison=92s = home of=20 nearly 30 years before he and Nicki moved to Victoria in 1993.
Here, she journeyed down the Yukon River as Harrison had done on two = separate=20 trips, one with the late author Pierre Berton.
She also interviewed many who had known Harrison well during his time = here,=20 including Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale and former Whitehorse = mayor Flo=20 Whyard, among others. (Harrison once drew editorial cartoons for the = Star, while=20 Whyard once edited the paper.)
It was a teaching position in Carcross that brought the Harrisons to = the=20 territory, a year after they had moved to Canada in 1967, where Harrison = taught=20 at St. Theresa School in northern Alberta.
Prior to that, they were in England, where he taught at Wingate = Junior=20 School, in the same classroom both he and his father had attended. He = became art=20 master at Dene House there.
Meanwhile, his earlier teaching career had taken him to New Zealand = and=20 Malaysia and in other parts of England after he graduated with a = National=20 Diploma in Art and an Art Teacher Diploma.
His studies were interrupted in 1945 when he went to serve in the=20 intelligence unit of the British Army, which saw him do a three-year = tour of=20 North Africa.
Ted Harrison: Painting Paradise will be released next year as a 40th=20 anniversary celebration of his first Yukon art exhibit, held at the = Whitehorse=20 Public Library in 1969.
While Harrison has been honoured over the years in many ways, Gibson = noted=20 there=92s yet to be any Yukon artwork in the National Gallery. Harrison = and others=20 such as Jim Robb should have work in there, she believes.
With the book yet to be published, Gibson has already been pleased = with the=20 interest that=92s been coming out through the pre-registration for the = biography.=20
Two editions are planned, including a standard book and a limited = collector=92s=20 edition that will include an autographed and personalized book numbered = with a=20 certificate of authenticity, images of Harrison=92s most important work, = a DVD of=20 his work and a giclee (a premium reproduction format) print of the = Sketching=20 Paradise painting that will be featured on the cover.
That piece and Walking Alone, which Harrison painted following = Nicki=92s death,=20 are Gibson=92s favourite paintings by the artist.
While the prices still have to be set, Gibson expects the limited = edition=20 will likely be in the $250 to $260 range.
The price for the standard issue is still unknown, with Gibson still=20 selecting which photos of Harrison=92s work to include in the = biography.
Those interested in purchasing a copy of either edition can =
pre-register by=20
calling 1-800-663-6105 or by going to
Those who pre-register will be notified first of when the biography = goes on=20 sale, and can then decide if they want to purchase it, Gibson noted. =
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