Collection: Paul J. Stevenson
Paul was born in March of 1944 in St. Thomas, Ontario. He graduated from Arthur Voaden in St. Thomas, and not long after answered the call of the north. The year was 1964, and Paul found himself at Hazen Lake. He was transfixed and transformed by the raw beauty he found there; and, thereafter, his life would never be the same. The next six years saw Paul purchase his own canoe, explore Algonquin Park for the first of many times, and in 1970 a truly Canadian artist was born. He needed to express what he saw and felt. Paul picked up a brush and… No matter rain or shine, winter or summer Algonquin park continues to call.
Paul J Stevenson autobiography, in his own words: Captivated by the Wild
It was in July of 1964 that I made my first excursion into the uncompromising solitude of the northern wilderness. There, on a lake called “Hazen” I fell in love with this country. Two years later I bought my first canoe, a 16-foot Langford, cedar and canvas.
The following year, 1967, Canada’s 100th birthday, I took my first trip into Algonquin Park, the beginning of a romance that has lasted fifty years. There I was captivated by the rugged, uncompromising beauty of the Canadian north.
Moved by this experience, I soon delved into the works of Tom Tomson and the Group of Seven. Their exuberance in interpreting this wild landscape instilled in me a strong desire to take up brush and paint to make my own attempts. The Ontario Gallery of Art in Toronto displayed a retrospective show of the works of Tom Thomson. I attended this exhibit twice.
In 1970. after three years of immersion in this majestic beauty, I succumbed to this unrelenting desire to attempt to capture it on canvas. I felt a strong need to somehow show this world to others, to relate the sights, the smells, the emotions to those who could not partake. Able to stand the temptation no longer, I took a brush in hand and began to paint.
I’ve never stopped.
I received no formal training in painting. I found the “Park” to be my classroom, the elements my teacher. I paint in acrylic because I find the colors more powerful. Sizes range from 8’ x10” to 3’ x 4’. I either paint on the spot or in the studio from photographs I have taken from my travels.
My paintings have often been described as wilderness paintings. Whether I am painting on the lake shore in Algonquin Park in Canada, or on the African savanna, I try to capture the raw beauty of the land.
My work began selling sporadically in the seventies and in the early eighties I had two gallery shows at “Horizon Artworks” in London Ontario, both of which were quite successful. Shortly thereafter my wife Donna and I built our own log cabin gallery at home, outside of Dutton Ontario, “Gallery of Northern Landscapes”.
In the following 47 years, I have painted from coast to coast in Canada, in South America, the western United States and in Africa.
I have exhibited my work in many shows in Southern Ontario.
Overlapping 2001 and 2, then 2003 and 4, I produced two eight-month long winter shows at the Visitor’s Centre in Algonquin Park, from November through June. The two shows sold extremely well and provided both domestic and international exposure, with paintings going to France, Scotland, England, United States and Germany.
At present I have work at “The Art Place” in Westmount Mall, in London, Ontario and at “In Front”, Nancy Stevenson’s graphic design studio in Canfield, Ontario.
I hope you enjoy these works.
- Paul J. Stevenson
