Post by Rick (Admin) on Aug 5, 2012 11:40:31 GMT -5
Homecoming event creates demand for local artist
TH&VS grad Michael Davidson created popular series of Timmins sketches
By Len Gillis len.gillis@sunmedia.ca
Updated 17 hours ago
At least one Timmins High and Vocational School graduate is meeting a lot of new people this homecoming weekend. Michael Davidson of the class of 1987 is among a group of creative artists who has works on display at the high school. Many of Davidson's popular "Timmins Series" of pencil and pen sketches have been a hit for many of the out-of-town alumni visiting the city this week.
"It's bringing back a lot of memories for people and I am really proud of that," Davidson said Saturday. "The reunion is bringing a lot of the older people back to Timmins and really what they're here for is memories. They're here to see people they know and recall. So it's exciting to see that and it's such a joy for me to watch people look at my art and it brings them back," said the Timmins artist, who is now employed full time as a city police officer.
Davidson, who at one time operated a studio and gallery in downtown Timmins, said he began the series of Timmins drawings back in 1994 with a depiction of the old Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Timmins railway station, which is now the Ontario Northland and Timmins Transit bus terminal. His well-known sketches featuring popular old buildings and local scenes of days gone by, have been grabbed by hundreds of local collectors over the years.
"I always say I never sold art. I sold memories," said Davidson. He adds that since becoming a police officer, he hasn't pursued his art as much as he would like, but that doesn't mean the Timmins Series has ended.
"I haven't released anything in the past five or six years, but it's time. I'm getting the bug again and I am going to start again," Davidson said.
The sketches were produced in limited editions, in different sizes and most have been sold out. Davidson said he plans to try a new approach with some of the more popular sketches by producing them from a new angle or a fresh perspective. He said the sketch showing the interior of the McIntyre Arena is probably the most popular drawing he ever produced. Another popular piece is the drawing of the Hollinger bucket line.
City resident Milt Workewich admired Davidson's sketch of the Hollinger ball park saying for him it brought back memories of when he played baseball for the Timmins Dairy team in the 1950s.
Davidson said he could have created more copies of his popular drawings, but the decision to go with limited editions adds value for the collector.
"So we're going on 18 years and I've slowed down a bit,"he said. "But I am not going to stop. Timmins is my love. It's my home and I will still do a new piece every few years, so the series is going to go on until I die."
www.timminstimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3598474
TH&VS grad Michael Davidson created popular series of Timmins sketches
By Len Gillis len.gillis@sunmedia.ca
Updated 17 hours ago
At least one Timmins High and Vocational School graduate is meeting a lot of new people this homecoming weekend. Michael Davidson of the class of 1987 is among a group of creative artists who has works on display at the high school. Many of Davidson's popular "Timmins Series" of pencil and pen sketches have been a hit for many of the out-of-town alumni visiting the city this week.
"It's bringing back a lot of memories for people and I am really proud of that," Davidson said Saturday. "The reunion is bringing a lot of the older people back to Timmins and really what they're here for is memories. They're here to see people they know and recall. So it's exciting to see that and it's such a joy for me to watch people look at my art and it brings them back," said the Timmins artist, who is now employed full time as a city police officer.
Davidson, who at one time operated a studio and gallery in downtown Timmins, said he began the series of Timmins drawings back in 1994 with a depiction of the old Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Timmins railway station, which is now the Ontario Northland and Timmins Transit bus terminal. His well-known sketches featuring popular old buildings and local scenes of days gone by, have been grabbed by hundreds of local collectors over the years.
"I always say I never sold art. I sold memories," said Davidson. He adds that since becoming a police officer, he hasn't pursued his art as much as he would like, but that doesn't mean the Timmins Series has ended.
"I haven't released anything in the past five or six years, but it's time. I'm getting the bug again and I am going to start again," Davidson said.
The sketches were produced in limited editions, in different sizes and most have been sold out. Davidson said he plans to try a new approach with some of the more popular sketches by producing them from a new angle or a fresh perspective. He said the sketch showing the interior of the McIntyre Arena is probably the most popular drawing he ever produced. Another popular piece is the drawing of the Hollinger bucket line.
City resident Milt Workewich admired Davidson's sketch of the Hollinger ball park saying for him it brought back memories of when he played baseball for the Timmins Dairy team in the 1950s.
Davidson said he could have created more copies of his popular drawings, but the decision to go with limited editions adds value for the collector.
"So we're going on 18 years and I've slowed down a bit,"he said. "But I am not going to stop. Timmins is my love. It's my home and I will still do a new piece every few years, so the series is going to go on until I die."
www.timminstimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3598474