“I can’t conceive of anything more varied and rich and handsome than the planet Earth. Its crowning beauty is the natural world. I want to observe it and to understand it as well as I can. And then I’d like to put it together and express it in my painting. This is the way I want to dedicate my life.”
–Robert Bateman
Robert Bateman was born on May 24th, 1930 and grew up in Toronto. His fascination of the natural world began at a young age when he recorded the sightings of all the birds in the area around his house. When he was 12, he became a “field naturalist” at the R.O.M. He was a high school art and geography teacher for 29 years before he pursued his art career. He was inspired by the Group of Seven, but is most known for very realistic representation of animals. He has become an expert wildlife artist. His paintings are part of the private collections of Prince Philip and Prince Charles. In 1957-58 Bateman traveled around the world by Landrover. He taught high school in Nigeria from 1963-65 and his first son was born there. He now has 5 children and lives with his wife in Vancouver. Since the early 1960s Bateman has been an active member of naturalists clubs and conservation organizations. He uses his artwork and limited edition prints as fundraisers to support these groups. Recently a small parkette was named in his honour in Toronto.
In today’s class we were inspired by Robert Bateman’s Winter Lady but chose to make a winter Gentleman – the male cardinal..
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Students did a wonderful job – we could almost “hear” the quiet snow falling…”