Artists for Kids

Alan Wood is one of Canada's leading artists. He has received international acclaim for his painting and is best known for his use of colour and for creating the outdoor environmental work, "Ranch".

Alan Wood was born in 1935 in the town of Widnes, in Lancashire, England. His early interest in art was due to the support and encouragement he received from both his father and his high school art teacher. Following graduation from high school, he studied art at the Liverpool College of Art and credits his success as an artist to his good fortune to be in the right places at the right times. Firstly, his involvement with the lively art and music scene in Liverpool during the late fifties led him to the innovative St. Ives Artists Colony in Cornwall, which in turn opened the doors to a successful 6 year teaching career at the prestigious Cardiff College of Art in Wales.

Alan Wood moved to Canada in 1971 and settled in British Columbia in 1974. Since that time he has produced his most personal and mature work as an artist. His interest in the dynamics of light and colour of the Ocean, Beach, Forest and Sky has dominated his landscape work throughout his career. In 1983 Alan Wood gained international recognition for taking his painting directly into the landscape with his "Ranch" creation, This 320 acre painted construction built in the foothills of the Alberta Rockies was a monumental exploration of colour and form. Since then, he has continued to work with constructions of wood, canvas and paint around "Ranch", Rock and Waterfall themes. His current work centers around large painted wood reliefs and collages that explore the dynamic of beach, forest and sky. Alan Wood is a prolific artist and since 1962, has participated in many group and solo exhibitions in Great Britain, Europe, Canada, the United States and Australia.


Alan Wood
Beach Walk
Beach Walk
22 colour woodcut, 40.5 x 88.7 cm. (16 x 35")
printed on Arches 100% rag paper
edition of 100, 10 artist's proofs
signed and numbered by the artist
available November, 1992

sale price: $600

The Print

The woodcut "Beach Walk" shows Alan Wood's affinity to the changing moods of the west coast sky and ocean combined with his bold sense of design and belief in honesty of process. The swirling shield shapes portray the constant energy of the beach caught between the seemingly chaotic build-up of beach debris. The rich surface and colour of the shapes in this intaglio/relief print also conveys the ever changing light quality of this time-lapse memory of a Gulf Island beach. Alan Wood has meshed the forces of the west coast beach with his senses in this rich horizontal composition.



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