Tag Archives: Art

Doug the Mentor: Don’t lose the centre line.

by

By Alison Dexter

Courtesy of U'mista Cultural Society and the Audrey and Harry Hawthorn Library and Archive, MOA A002261C, Photo by Vickie Jensen

To those he mentored, Doug Cranmer’s teaching style was reflective of his individual personality. Many of his students remember his strict emphasis on technique, detail, achieving equilibrium while not over-doing the design, and his mantra to ‘never lose the centre line.’ Despite these firm guidelines, Doug encouraged his students to experiment with their carvings, trying to get them to really see what they were looking at. Many of his students helped him with major projects such as the new Alert Bay Big House, the U’mista Cultural Centre, and the Wa’kas Pole in Stanley Park. Cranmer’s advice extended beyond carving techniques, serving as a metaphor for his attitude towards life. He wanted his

students to love doing their art and encouraged taking breaks when it became a source of stress or panic, reminding them ‘it’s just wood.’ Doug Cranmer never lost his centre line and this inspired and remains alive in the work of his students.

Courtesy of U'mista Cultural Society and the Audrey and Harry Hawthorn Library and Archive, MOA A001990C, Photo by Vickie Jensen

‘If I could teach people to see what they are looking at, I would have the whole of Alert Bay carving like crazy’ -Doug Cranmer.

MOA Shop Showcase: William Wasden Jr.

by

By Matthew Willis and Meghan Price

photo taken by Ariel Kwan

The MOA Shop has been brining in more prints and artwork related to the Kesu’ exhibit (which just opened on Friday!). Today, the MOA Shop is show casing the work of William Wasden Jr. His full name is William Hilamas Edward Wasden Jr. Wakanalagalis “The-River-Flows-Through-Him-Forever” and like Doug Cranmer, he is from Alert Bay. William, a member of the ‘Namgis,  is a Hereditary Chief on both his mother’s and father’s side and a descendent of the Cook, Wanukw, Hunt, Alfred, Harris and Inis families.

photo taken by Ariel Kwan

At the age of twelve, his mother enrolled him in one of Doug Cranmer’s art classes where he would later learn and study under his cousin Beau Dick and Haida artist Don Yeoman. Along with visual artwork, William has a passion for singing and for preserving the songs of his people. He has been groomed by the late Chief Tom Willie and wife Elise to be a song keeper and composer for Kwawaka’wakw ceremony and

everyday enjoyment. William  leads the ‘Gwa’wina Dancers Cultural Society’, a professional dance troupe that often represents the ‘Namgis Nation. The group keeps and practises authentic Kwakwa?ka?’wakw culture and teachings in a respectful and dignified way for people all over British Columbia.

While his music is not available at the gift shop at this time, please come by and see his prints (displayed here)!

photo taken by Ariel Kwan

Here is a video documenting William’s life and career. It also gives some excellent insight to Alert Bay and the traditions and artists that it creates. http://www.bebo.com/c/video?FlashBoxId=4224284635

MOA Shop Showcase: Kesu’ Prints

by

By Matthew Willis and Meghan Price

On March 16th, MOA will open the greatly anticipated exhibit on Doug Cranmer, Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer. Cranmer was a prolific artist who “whittled” and “doodled” in carving and painting in the Northwest Coast  Kwakwaka’wakw style. Dr. Jennifer Kramer, the curator of the exhibit, has already released her book on Doug Cranmer which can be found in the MOA shop, but the MOA shop plans to have prints and images of Cranmer’s work for you to take home with you.

Right now, as of March 16th, the following two prints will be available:

Photo courtesy of Royal British Columbia Museum. RBCM 16635. Canoe by Doug Cranmer

Canoe originates from Doug’s series of abstract paintings and was selected to become this limited edition print. “Although Doug completed many of his paintings in one or two days, Canoe was the product of a lengthier and more meticulous process” (Kramer, Jennifer. The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer. University of Washington Press: 2012. p. 90).  The print incorporates multiple views of the same canoe- including that of the log from which it was carved.  Fah Ambers, who observed Doug paint Canoe said that “he had that thing right down to scale where you could take that print, if you had the guts to, and cut it up and actually make a canoe out if it”.

Photo courtesy of Royal British Columbia Museum. RBCM 16325. Untitled Painting by Doug Cranmer, referred to as "Ravens in Nest".

Ravens in Nest originates from the latter half of a series of Cranmer’s abstract paintings. Raven’s in Nest has become an iconic abstract “in which the referent remained identifiable to those who

wanted to see it” (Kramer, 90).  The original painting, along with several others from the series, was chosen over time to be reproduced as limited-edition prints.

Expect to see more MOA Shop showcases about prints and images of Doug Cranmer’s work because there is surely more to come.

‘No man is an island’ – Who influenced Doug Cranmer along with way?

by

By Abigail Ettelman

‘No man is an island’ – Who influenced Doug Cranmer along with way?

If you haven’t heard of Doug Cranmer, yet, you will. In fact, if you have seen the sights in Vancouver, whether as a local or a tourist, you likely have seen his work without even knowing it! Not only did Doug restore the totem poles in Stanley Park, but the poles in the replica Haida village outside the Museum of Anthropology are the result of a collaboration between Doug Cranmer and Bill Reid, another famous indigenous carver from British Columbia.

           Courtesy of Vivien Cranmer. Photographer unknown,

 

"Courtesy of the Audrey and Harry Hawthorn Library and Archives." MOA 2005.002.125N. Photo by Leslie Kopas

Knowing just the basics of his life, it might be easy to think of Doug in stereotypical terms. Born in 1927, he was a hereditary ‘Namgis chief who encountered the residential school system and learned to carve through observation of skilled relatives like his step-grandfather Mungo Martin. Yet Kesu’: The Art and Life of Doug Cranmer shows how Doug resisted the typical to create a singularly dynamic body of work as unique as the man himself.

The exhibit is arranged in five modules, each named to reflect an aspect of Doug’s personality: Doug the contrarian, pragmatist, individualist, iconoclast, and mentor. However, no man is an island, and Doug Cranmer’s work was not created out of thin air. Who influenced him along the way?

Doug’s artistic experience did not end with his step-grandfather, Mungo Martin, or his work with Bill Reid. In the 1960s, Doug was involved in the contemporary Vancouver art scene through his art gallery, the Talking Stick, on Granville Island, and he also had a long-term relationship with Vancouver-trained textile artist Judy Tweedie. Tweedie worked hard to generate publicity for Doug’s work, and supported Doug’s incursion into areas such as silkscreen work and abstract imagery. Doug’s style became even more diverse in the early 1970s, when he began to borrow form elements and imagery from other northern Northwest Coast groups, such as the Tsimshian. This was fueled both by his own imagination and the desire to find a unique commercial niche. His success in this meant that his pieces carried a famous name as well as a unique personal style.

His fiscal security was strengthened by his longstanding relationship with the staff at MOA. Doug had proven himself talented and reliable doing both restoration and original work, which MOA was glad to support through commissions, educational contracts, demonstrations, and a residency. His success was not bound to MOA, of course, as Doug contributed to other museums and played a large role in Expo ‘86.

Within his own work, it is easy to see aspects of Doug’s own character, such as his humor, his attention to quality, and his individuality. Though his influences can be traced to many varied communities, he was very independent-minded and experimental, often doing “something different just to be different” (98). The point is that these experiments would not have been possible without Doug’s personal history and later relationships with various people and communities. Doug would be the first to call his work a job over a vocation, although his actions and emphasis on understanding the meaning behind quality work speaks volumes. He understood well the practicalities of his position. His skills, learned from others but honed by himself, as well as his innovation, historical understanding, and down-to-earth way

of seeing his work combine to show us the portrait of a remarkable man who was able to create a niche that only he would be able to inhabit. He was a man of settled paradoxes, who valued understanding the stories behind pieces, but also created affective art objects using the forms of his ancestors with a style all his own.

"Courtesy of Royal British Columbia Museum" RBCM 16635. Canoe painting by Doug Cranmer.

 

MOA Shop Showcase: Tony Bruce

by

By Meghan Price 

In recognition of MOA’s founding collections from the South Pacific, the Shop is currently featuring palm nut carvings by Tony Bruce.

Born in 1979 in Santo, Vanuatu, Tony Bruce was taught traditional wood carving by his cousins, and with promising talent, he began creating elaborate miniature carvings out of palm nut before his twentieth birthday.  Palm nut, also referred to as corozo, tagua, or vegetable ivory, can be carved like elephant ivory when dried out.  The kernels are typically harvested after the ripe fruit has detached from the tree and fallen to the ground.  Carving palm nuts is a tradition found in numerous cultures around the globe, all the way from Panama to Japan. For an interesting comparison for the objects in the MOA Shop and objects in the collection, compare Bruce’s work to a Japanese palm nut carving (Ed5.3188) found in Case 79, Drawer 1 in the Multiversity Galleries.

Using small chisels and a coping saw, Bruce creates highly detailed miniature carvings.  When embarking on a new carving, Bruce says, “I don’t draw; the picture comes to me like a revelation.  The image is in my mind, and when I start carving

, it develops more and more.”  His vision is to combine traditional stories and traditional ways of living with contemporary ideas. Bruce has a particular interest in marine life and focuses on sea creatures, diving, and the ocean’s movement.

Since branching out into palm nut, Bruce’s work has been purchased by collectors from around the world.  He currently lives in Port Vila, Vanuatu with his wife, Asnet, and their two children, Andrew and Cathleen.

Tony Bruce’s carvings can be seen exclusively in the MOA Shop.