TIM FRANCIS, 1949…
 

Tim was born at Hamilton, Ontario but his earliest memories of being immersed in artwork were in North Vancouver when, as a young child, his mother, renowned artist Dorothy Francis, used to sit him down at the dining room table with pastels and paper.

Later, attending the Applied Arts program at Capilano College in North Vancouver, he was awarded government bursaries and college scholarships as well as a place on The Dean’s List.

In the late 70’s and through the 80’s Francis worked as a newspaper executive in the areas of art direction, advertising, and marketing but continued to produce commissioned paintings and pencil portraits until he and his wife, Janice, moved from North Vancouver to East Barriere Lake. Here he took up painting full-time, exhibiting in galleries in Victoria, Vancouver, Kamloops, Chemainus, Calgary, Montreal and Cannon Beach, Oregon.

In 1990 an opportunity presented itself for the couple to purchase their local newspaper, which served BC’s North Thompson Valley. While the newspaper became a success financially, the couple decided to move on to other things and sold the paper in 1995.

In 2001 Francis was featured as a ‘Master Painter’ by International Artist Magazine.

Viewers may note that there are several distinct categories to Francis’ work. The 70’s reveal his natural bent to realism because he could always render what he saw. The early 80’s see the inclusion of typography in most of the work, reflecting his time in art direction and advertising - the works of London and Paris are typical of this period. The couple’s move to East Barriere Lake in 1984 brought about the ‘water’ works, mostly children’s activities in the surrounding lakes. Having moved to Kamloops in 2004, the paintings became more colourful and harder-edged, conveying the atmosphere of the semi-arid landscape there. During trip to Haida Gwaii in 2018 Francis learned that the Southern Resident Killer Whale population had dwindled to just seventy-three animals, resulting in him spending the next year-and-a-half portraying the orcas in their natural habitats. Most recently Francis has delved into the area of abstraction.

Dorothy Francis – 1923 - 2016

Dorothy Francis was fascinated with the lifestyles of indigenous people since her early childhood days spent near Duck Lake in northern Saskatchewan. Her first contact being with the local Cree population as they visited her father’s general store there.

Depicting Canada’s indigenous peoples, particularly the Inuit of the far north, developed into a lifelong passion for Francis, resulting in more than 700 images rendered in oil, acrylic, pastel and watercolour. While her works reflect the authenticity of her subjects, it is the unique sensitivity and appreciation for the grace in the day-to-day life, exhibiting a light hearted joyfulness, that have caused her work to be widely published and collected around the world.

Francis exhibited internationally and has one work on display at the Smithsonian Institute. She also had a number of images produced by UNICEF for their greeting card collection, with sales going to benefit hungry children through various projects around the globe.

Moving from Saskatchewan to BC in 1952, Dorothy studied at the Vancouver School of Art, raising her five children in North Vancouver. Later, moving to Qualicum Beach, her efforts in revitalizing the Old School House Public Gallery resulted in having one of their exhibit rooms named in her honour.

She produced more than 40 limited edition prints during the 80’s and 90’s, almost all of which sold out.

Dorothy returned to Vancouver in 2006, overlooking False Creek’s bustling waterfront until she died in 2016.

Sons, Tim and Mark, are also published painters, with Tim working out of Kamloops while Mark works out of North Vancouver.