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 for the couple, they 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.
Having moved to Kamloops in 2004, Tim continues to paint what he now describes as, “Magical landscapes. I’ve made a conscious decision to loosen up, both with the subject matter and with the technique. I’m trying to convey my personal feel for the region in these new paintings and I want viewers to recognize that magic exists behind every landscape, something we often forget as we go about our daily lives.”
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 life-long 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 in many major galleries around the world 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 world.
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 there at helping revitalize the Old School House Public Gallery resulted in having one of the exhibit rooms there named in her honour.
Dorothy returned to Vancouver in 2006 where she continued to work overlooking False Creek’s bustling waterfront until her death in 2016.
Sons, Tim and Mark, are also published painters, with Tim working out of Kamloops while Mark works out of North Vancouver.