Thanksgiving Canadiana

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks! In honour (with a 'u') of (Canadian) Thanksgiving, I bring you some awesome Canadiana from Alberta artist Lisa Brawn. She makes woodcuts, usually on salvaged hundred year old Douglas fir. She uses the block (the carved wood) itself as the art rather than making prints. When I learned how to make woodblock prints, my teacher pointed out that I should take care with borders even if viewers of prints would never see them and I should treat the block itself as art. Brawn's blocks are art. They are also full of colour and pattern and life and humour. Check out her website and flickr stream for much, much more*.

We start with the Mounties, of course.

Sergeant Brooke Royal NW Mounted Police, Alberta, ca. 1900-1903
woodcut on salvaged 100 year old Douglas-fir
2009

Then, what could be more Canadian than,

Stompin' Tom
woodcut
2009

The author:

Margaret Atwood
woodcut
2009

The rock-star-environmentalist:

David Suzuki
woodcut
2008

The hockey player:

"Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe showing off his fresh stitches. Two minutes for slashing!"

Lisa Brawn
woodcut

The poet:

Leonard Cohen
woodcut
2009

The comedian:

Andrea Martin
woodcut
2009

The singer-songwriter:

Joni Mitchell
woodcut
2009

The musician:

Oscar Peterson
woodcut
2009

and The Rocket:

Maurice Richard
woodcut
2009

*including circus acts, cult leaders, our PMs, musicians, actors, cowboys, pin-ups, macho men and macha women, and birds (she counts magpies rather than crows)