Ted Harrison

In a statement posted to his website, it reads: “His distinctive style of painting is both colourful and sophisticated, yet retains an innocent charm and appeals to both young and old alike.” That is certainly how I feel when I look at his paintings.

On January 16, 2015, Ted Harrison passed away peacefully at his home in Victoria.

His paintings expressed positiveness and a sense of wonder, the kind you feel as a child. I think he was young at heart and he reminded us the importance of remembering that inner child hidden within us. It expresses the kind of feeling we used to get when we were little. The same feeling we felt when our parents would read us a book or fairy tale just before bed. Our minds would start to wander to that place of colourful thinking and great imagination. I think it’s important to never stop dreaming. He was an inspiration to all of us, young and old; especially to those dreamers out there, like myself.

After reading about his passing, I read an article online about Ted Harrison, written by Will Johnson from Castlegar News. The article was really interesting. In particular, a paragraph described the artist in a way that symbolized his uniqueness: “Here was a man so overflowing with beauty he couldn’t help but surround himself with it. Here was someone so enraptured with his surroundings that he invited us all to join in the love-fest, to gawk with childlike wonder at the magic surrounding us daily”. I couldn’t agree more with Will’s statement. Ted brought magic and joy to his paintings and I hope we will get to see his work hanging in the National Gallery someday soon.

These are some of my favourite paintings that can be found online at Island Art or in our store.