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He paints paradiseBy Tom Hawthorn VICTORIA A woman stepped forward to brush stray white hairs on Ted = Harrison=E2=80=99s=20 head. Then another did the same. A few minutes later, a third = pressed down=20 the cowlick. Mr. Harrison, 82, seemed to enjoy their gentle petting. The artist was dapper despite the wayward coiffure. He wore = white socks=20 inside black loafers, kept his navy-blue blazer closed at the = belly with a=20 brass button, sported a spiffy black-and-gold tie for the = occasion. His=20 mustache, white as well, looked as it might have when he served as = an=20 intelligence officer in the British army. In his lapel, he stuck a = tiny=20 enamel pin emblematic of his membership in the Order of = Canada. On a day when Carrs and Shadbolts and Riopelles were sold at = auction=20 for millions, Mr. Harrison came to campus to see what use the = University=20 of Victoria had made of two donated murals. =E2=80=9CArt has to be shared to be useful,=E2=80=9D he said. = =E2=80=9CI don=E2=80=99t believe in=20 billionaire collectors who stuff them down in the = basement.=E2=80=9D He was wheeled into the lower lobby of the new Social Sciences=20 building, where a fresh paint job failed to mask the industrial = aesthetic=20 of concrete walls. A dull grey was interrupted by a mural as wide = as three=20 passed out undergrads lying end to end. Like all of his works, the mural is a riot of bright colour = =E2=80=94 waves of=20 deep purples, soft mauves and cascading blues are offset by = surprising=20 splotches of pink, nature=E2=80=99s treat when a setting sun = shines on the=20 underside of a darkening cloud. The work is called =E2=80=9CVast Yukon,=E2=80=9D representing = the Klondike in a=20 shimmering brilliance all those who came before him neglected to = see. His=20 is a trademark vision, a transforming depiction of what so many = dismissed=20 as a colourless wasteland, one now coveted by collectors and = appreciated=20 most of all by children, whose untutored eyes also see greens in = the sky=20 and reds in the sea. The piece is magnificent. All the more incredible, the mural has gone mostly unseen since = it was=20 painted 14 years ago =E2=80=94 on the walls of the basement of his = Victoria=20 home. Homesick for the Yukon, where he had arrived as a teacher and = left as a=20 recognized treasure, he decided to decorate the alcove of his = basement den=20 with a reminder of the land that so inspired him. Aided by his = son, he=20 covered the walls in gesso to prime the surface before = administering what=20 he described to his biographer, Katherine Gibson, as = =E2=80=9Cgreat gobs of juicy=20 paint.=E2=80=9D Pleased with the result, he went to work on another piece at = the=20 entrance to his home. He wanted to capture scenes still unfamiliar = to him.=20 Not for this artist the gloomy grays and misty blues so often = associated=20 with the coast. A brilliant sun hovers over a sea busy with a red = whale, a=20 blue orca, and yellow trawlers. =E2=80=9CI took my mind into the sea and saw those two whales = and painted=20 them,=E2=80=9D Mr. Harrison said.They are creatures of his = imagination, a=20 rendition made necessary by the unlikelihood of ever seeing a = leviathan in=20 its entirety. =E2=80=9CYou don=E2=80=99t see a whale. You see a = fin. Or a tail.=E2=80=9D This scene, titled =E2=80=9CView of British Columbia,=E2=80=9D = was painted on plywood=20 that was bolted to the wall of the entranceway. The artist had a=20 confession. He liked to turn on the hallway light while = extinguishing all=20 others, before stepping onto the street of his cul-de-sac to = admire his=20 handiwork. =E2=80=9CIt would shine out into the night,=E2=80=9D he = recalled. =E2=80=9CIt sure livened up=20 Romney Place.=E2=80=9D Now, it is mounted on a wall above a stairwell on the third =
floor of a=20
campus building. When he decided to sell the home, the artist thought he should = leave=20 the two murals behind. He was persuaded they had greater worth = than the=20 usual light fxtures or appliances in harvest gold. The art conservator Philip Mix spent six weeks on the = painstaking task=20 of removing the larger mural, painted on drywall and weighing = =E2=80=9Cnearly as=20 much as a grand piano.=E2=80=9D He also repaired screw holes in = the plywood mural,=20 which includes the Harrison signature across a seam of = plywood. At the peak of his creativity, the artist worked in 10-hour = daily=20 bursts. These days, he=E2=80=99s happy if he manages to complete = five hours of=20 painting in a week. He maintains a studio in an extra rented = bedroom at=20 the Oak Bay retirement home where he now lives. Mr. Harrison, born in an English colliery town, finds delight = in such=20 small pleasures as the Guardian newspaper and an occasional pint = of=20 Guinness. He enjoys receiving children=E2=80=99s artworks, a = reminder of his=20 inspirational quality. =E2=80=9CTed is what he paints,=E2=80=9D said Ms. Gibson, the = writer. =E2=80=9CHe=E2=80=99s optimistic,=20 he=E2=80=99s fun, he=E2=80=99s meditative, he=E2=80=99s sincere. = He=E2=80=99s also courageous. =E2=80=9CHe says, =E2=80=98Painting is the last great = freedom.=E2=80=99 =E2=80=9D The eponymous biography, subtitled =E2=80=9CPainting = Paradise,=E2=80=9D will be=20 released in August as part of a several events being held to = celebrate the=20 40th anniversary of his first Canadian exhibition, at the = Whitehorse=20 library. As well, a retrospective of his work will be on display = at the=20 university=E2=80=99s Legacy Art Gallery and Cafe in downtown = Victoria. The artist inspires not just children. Having completed the = mammoth=20 task of salvaging the murals, Mr. Mix has pledged to replace his=20 conservator=E2=80=99s tools for paintbrushes. Edward Hardy Harrison has that effect on people.
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