THOMPSON ART

Art Thompson was born in 1948. at Whyac. a small West Coast village on the southwestern end of Vancouver tsland. Art received his earliest exposure to West Coast or Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth) art from his father. Webster Thompson: his grandfather. George Thompson; and his grandmother. He attended commercial art school in Victoria' where he studied
acrylics. oil painting. and silk-screening. Art has actively worked within the West Coast tradition for eleven years. and has produced over fifty serigraphs' While any art form must change or die. the new wavs should be built on the strengths of the old' Art Thompson understands this concept. His use of line and colour are a radical departure from established patterns. yet draw much of their power from his extensive training in West Coast art forms' Art is extremely influenced by his west coast of Vancouver Island environment. He is able to graphically portray the compassion for nature reflected in the iegends and lives
of his people. He has "found a lot of peace in doing work. this type of thing. There's not a day that I'm not busy doing something with silver. wood or drawing and Sketching. . . . I'll be doing this till I die'"