CALGARY—Keith Andrews’ passion for painting wildlife began in Africa after photographing animals while on safari. He says the sight of so many animals kept him wanting to return, but then it struck him that there was an abundance of wildlife in his own backyard—the Canadian Rockies.
“Here I am, figuring out how to get back to Africa, and then I’m like, the Rockies are literally just an hour away,” he told The Epoch Times.
But compared to Africa, where seeing animals is a common occurrence, encountering wildlife in the Rockies isn’t so easy. “To see a bear in the Rockies is such an honour,” he said.
The Calgary resident says his choice of Canadian wildlife as painting subjects has led to local audiences connecting on a deeper level.
“The connection between people and animals, the story I want to tell, I think it works better when it’s an animal they’re familiar with,” he said. “Even though we know lions, there’s still that distance.”
Mr. Andrews vividly remembers how he found his purpose as an artist. It was a busy day at the Calgary Stampede Art Show, where he had a booth exhibiting his works.
He spotted a young woman looking at one of his paintings. For several minutes, she stared at the snow-laden bison depicted in it. The mammal was making its way through a heavy snowstorm. When Andrews approached her, tears streamed down her face.
“She said, ‘This painting is me … I just feel like I’m struggling,’” he said.
Mr. Andrews told her that his composition, titled “Endurance,” portrayed how bisons, instead of fleeing from bad weather like most animals, tend to walk into storms to quickly reach calmer weather on the other side.
He told the young woman she should face her storm head-on, and that perhaps, like the wise bison, she would come out of it faster. She agreed.
Mr. Andrews says the touching encounter made him understand “what is important.”
The Bateman Connection
Mr. Andrews’ love of art was ignited in his childhood in the 1980s after his parents gave him a gift of the book “The Art of Robert Bateman.”But as he grew up, Mr. Andrews realized that following in the wildlife artist’s footsteps would not be easy. He dreamed of raising a family of his own, and providing for them would be difficult while trying to make a living from art, at least at the beginning.
So he became an IT consultant. He got married and had two children, and life got busy. For years, making art was a luxury reserved for his rare free time. It wasn’t until a few years ago that things began to slow down.
“As the kids got older … my time increased to the point where I could really focus on making art a lot more without feeling like I was leaving my family,” he said.
Mr. Andrews contacted his childhood idol, Mr. Bateman, in the hope that he would take him as a pupil. The famous painter was too busy to take him on, but recommended one of his lifelong apprentices, Terry Isaac, who lived in B.C.
In 2006, Mr. Andrews drove to B.C. and took a class with Mr. Isaac, who later became his mentor. For the next 15 years, Mr. Andrews would take time off from his IT job, one week at a time, to work with his teacher in the neighbouring province.
“I would paint a bunch of art, and I would throw it all in my car and drive up to B.C.,” he said. “Every morning I would get up and work with Terry, and he'd say, ‘This is good, this is good … this is not so good.’
“And then I would go back and do it again. And I just did it again and again and again.”
In 2014, Mr. Andrews decided to leave his IT job and turn to painting professionally.
The Magic of Black and White
After spending much of his early artistic training imitating other artists’ work, Mr. Andrews began to look for his own voice. It was then that he discovered the beauty and simplicity of black and white.“There was just a feeling and a mood that I wasn’t getting in colour,” he said. “There’s something timeless about black and white.”
Although he has done a few paintings in colour, he says the light and shadows of achromatic painting make it easier to create emotion in his art pieces.
“I think it’s just because that timelessness is built into us,” he said. “We’re used to seeing old photos in black and white, and I think that’s part of it.”
For the past six years, Mr. Andrews has been the only participating painter at the Calgary Stampede Art Show who paints in black and white, and his paintings usually sell within days of being brought to life. His chosen technique is oil painting, and his inspiration comes from the scenery of the Rockies, especially its wildlife.
Michael Wetherup, chair of the Stampede’s Western Showcase Committee, says Mr. Andrews’ ability to connect with the audience using only two colours is unique at the art show.
It’s All in the Eyes
Kathy and Danny Kowarchuk are a Calgary couple with a deep appreciation for art and nature. After learning of Mr. Andrews’ talent and buying one of his pieces titled “Wisdom,” they commissioned him to paint a baby gorilla based on photos they took on a trip to Rwanda.They called the painting “Innocence,” and the Kowarchuks say it transports them back to the jungle.
“You just look at the eyes, and you just feel so calm. It’s almost like you’re right in Rwanda.” said Mrs. Kowarchuk. “People say when they come through the front door, it’s almost as if her eyes follow you while you come in.”
For Mr. Andrews, the subject’s eyes are a critical part of creating something akin to a human communication.
“The eyes in the painting are easily the most important,” he said.
“And sometimes it is just the tiniest little bit of paint that changes the whole painting. It’s very powerful that, depending on where you angle that stroke or put that eye, you’re communicating an emotion from that animal … I think it imparts that connection.”
The Power of Beautiful Art
One of Mr. Andrews’ clients commissioned him to create a piece this year. Her father, a moose enthusiast, had passed away, and on her way back home from the funeral she saw a large male moose standing tall in the canola fields. She wanted that moment captured on canvas.“I painted it and she loved it … you could tell when she came to get it. She was very emotional,” Mr. Andrews said. “She asked for a print of it for her sister because she wanted her to have a copy of it as well.”
Mr. Andrews says his goal as an artist is to create pieces that, once purchased, won’t end up on the market if the owner decides to downsize.
“My philosophy is to create art that is one of the last things that will leave your home,” he said. “I make it a real focal point. ‘This is the story of this piece. It’s important, and I want it to connect with you.’”
He believes that meaningful artwork allows the viewer to slow down and be present. And for Kathy and Danny Kowarchuk, the painting of the baby gorilla does just that.
“People carry so much baggage during the day, the week, the month or the year, and when you start to look at [beautiful art], it allows you to shed that baggage and look at something that is not asking you for anything,” Mr. Kowarchuk said.
“If you look at the cathedrals and all the art and what’s been recreated … hundreds of years later people still crave to see that because they can see the love in the art. I think it really gets down to what feeds your soul.”
