Nigel Fox Artworks

My dad, who is much of the inspiration and source for my artistic talent, passed away last month after living with Hepatitis C for 15 years. I am currently compiling an online retrospective on his art.

He was a large inspiration to my own work. Dad was born in Toronto, Ontario and was abandoned by his mother in a back yard, at only a few months old. Dad’s birth certificate describes his mother as “Indian Canadian.” Dad was of Ojibway descent. A foster child in the Catholic children’s aid society, dad moved through many homes throughout his childhood. Even still, dad’s talent was noticed at at early age and he was even asked to do a fairly large commission at the age of 12. Dad went to Ontario College of Art in the 70’s. He loved to work in chalk pastels. Dad struggled with drug addiction from an early age and I think that this competed with his ambitions and in many ways hindered him. Still, dad was a troubled soul and fought darkness that most of us never experience. I think that he did good with what he was given.

Like I said, he was an inspiration to me. I’m going to miss him. But I am glad that we got to spend the time that we did together. And we even made a mends of sorts in the last few years. One of my most favorite memories was when we had an exhibit together at The Old Ranger Station in Telkwa. The Ranger Station is now gone, and so too is dad; but I can hold on to the memory that will last forever.

We also had other memories. I remember the time, soon after the Station exhibit, when we decided to go painting along the riverside in Topley. Dad wanted to sketch the Bulkley, where it comes through Topley. I remember saying that the bugs were probably fierce and that we should probably use a tent or something. So, I brought a tent, but he refused to use it with me. We were out there for over 2 hours and he was quite eaten alive; but I think that he got a better sketch than I did. Something that he probably realized, and though it may seem obvious, is that an artist draws/paints/expresses what they see. So, my painting looked like it had been skewed and darkened through the lens of a bug net, while his sketch looked crisp. My wife, Amy, always says that my sketches look like they are drawn by someone who is near sighted, and she’s right–my near sightedness comes out in my sketches. My dad did get many bug bites that day, but he brought home a more true representation of the landscape. I don’t know what happened to that sketch of his (below is my painting), and I kind of wish that I had traded him for one of my own, but again we still have the memory and that’s what matters.

My dad told me once that presentation is the most important part of the art process. I think that dad used this knowledge to keep people away as much as he did attract them. I think of how he kept his house on the day when we went to go clean it out. Dad had some nice things, but I think he know that some of the people who he associated with would steal from him if they knew the value of these objects, so he made them look shabby so that only he would know the true value.

This speaks to me as a bit of a life lesson. The treasures in this world are buried in the dirt.

Nathan Wilson and I finished our first commission together.  It had its ups and downs, but it was over all very positive and a total blast.  We worked 10 hour days over a 6 day period and worked on site the whole time.  We set up a tarp tent soon after starting the project and with the wind blowing very hard at times, it nearly blew over a few times and collapsed more times than we could remember.   We started with sketch ups of the proposed crest heads and after all the formalities, such as price, dimensions and other considerations, we started the first day after finishing our last day of class at Freda Diesing School.

We started by preparing the log–a first-growth western red cedar.  And after the surface was prepared and all the roughage taken off, we had a smooth surface to work on and put the crest heads.

Next we painted the primary and secondary forms.

Then we started carving.

Then, finally we painted the tertiary areas and after getting approval from the clients, we were done.

Very exciting project and I am looking forward to what’s next.  Stay tuned.

There is less than a week until the year end exhibit for we, the students at Freda Diesing School. Most of the submitted pieces will be carvings and although this is a new medium for me, I have to say that I have surprised myself with how well I did. I’m happy with the work and I think that is all that matters.

It’s been quite the year and i think that I will do a bit of a review when I have the time, but for now it’s back to the grindstone. I still have some pieces to finish for the exhibit… Here’s a photo of a red cedar mask that I am working on for the show:

Tomorrow we start learning to carve spoons from alder wood. Alder is a semi-hard wood that grows in recently disturbed soil on the west coast. It literally grows like a weed and yet it makes very beautiful carvings. Most of the birch that we are using this year at Freda Diesing came from trees that were blown down during a one-in-200-year storm over the thanksgiving weekend and taken from CN land near Kitsumkalum.

We are coming up to the month of February, when we will be exhibiting as a class in the Terrace Art Gallery. We will be showing numerous paintings from first year students at Freda Diesing School. Opening night is Friday, February 4th at 7pm to 9pm. I will be sending out reminders between now and then, so please be patient if you hear this message a few times. Below is a photo of one of the paintings that I am submitting to the Terrace Art Gallery.

This painting is a reflection a rather strange experience that once happened to me in Topley, BC.

The story behind the painting shown above was from when I was walking with my cat in Topley, yes she’s a strange cat that follows me around wherever I go.  Anyways, I was sitting on the bridge over the Bulkley River, letting my cat catch up with me when all of the sudden I felt these claws on the top of my head.  Startled, I quickly shooed what I assumed was a bird of prey after my cat, off of my head and as the bird flew away, I realized that it was a raven.  It was yet another strange but true story from Topley.

On a more subdued note, I am currently working on a business plan for my art business. There are a few things to consider with a business plan, but it all basically comes down to two things: cash flow and write up. The cash flow is the bones of your business, and is basically what you expect to make and spend based upon historical data from your own and other similar businesses. The write up is the flesh of your business, including a description of all the different aspects of your business: products, services, suppliers, employees, vision, competitors, competitive advantage, marketing plan and any other information that may be relevant.

One item to include in your write up is your competitors. In fact, during the small business workshop that I recently attended, they recommended that we keep a book on our competitors with as much relevant information as possible. They said to “keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” This is a theme that I have seen covered a few times by different speakers in the art world, including Greg Shaaf, director of the Center for Indigenous Arts and Cultures (CIAC), who recommended taking “competitors” out for lunch. He said that while they are enjoying their “creme brulee” (that you paid for) ask them some questions and hopefully they will tell you something in return for your courtesy, and if not, then they will still be thankful because you bought them lunch. It seems like a good idea either way.