TRIER Walter

Walter was born 25 June 1890, in Prague present day Czech Republic to German speaking Jewish parents.

In 1910, he was invited to Berlin by a magazine publisher where his illustrations for such magazines as Lustige Blätter, Uhu and Die Dame made him famous. He was also a book illustrator of renown, responsible for Kästner’s Emil and the Detectives and Műnchausen The rise of the Nazis forced him to flee to England in 1936 where he illustrated the inaugural cover of Lilliput magazine and every subsequent cover till 1949. During the war he drew anti-Nazi propaganda cartoons for the British Ministry of Information and the weekly London based newspaper Die Zeitung.

In the 1947 looking for tranquility after the turbulent years of World War 2 in Europe Walter and his partner Helene followed his daughter and her husband to Canada and settled in the Georgian Bay country of Ontario and in 1949 built a quaint looking chalet on the southern slope of Blue Mountain. In Canada he created fine illustrations for books like The Animals’ Conference and Puss in Boots. He continued to illustrate the books of Kästner .

On 8 July 1951 he died unexpectedly at age 61 years.

In 1976, Walter’s family donated more than a thousand of Walter’s paintings, drawings and toys to the Art Gallery of Ontario plus finding for a gallery where the work of other illustrators could be seen.

WORK:

ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOK GRAPHIC COLLECTION:

Content biography & criticism & Cover book front :

The many Worlds of Walter Trier. Commentator, Warren Clements. Nestlings Press, 2019.

SOURCE:

 Article book:

The Many Worlds of Walter Trier. Nestlings Press, 2019: “Fwd.” Writ., Matthew & Michael Fodor. 7-8.

The Many Worlds of Walter Trier. Nestlings Press, 2019: “Intro.” Writ., Warren Clements. 11-14.

 Baron Munchaussen from Műnchausen, The Many Worlds of Walter Trier. 2019: Front cover.

 From The Animal Conference. The Many Worlds of Walter Trier. 2019: Back cover

 

STEIN Alan

Born 1951 in Toronto.

This painter and print maker divides his time between Parry Sound Ontario and Old Bonaventure Newfoundland.

After art school in Toronto he studied at Burleigh field School in England. In 1988 he started the Church Street Press in Parry Sound where he designs hand-prints and limited edition books using his own wood engravings. He has worked with authors Al, Purdy, Douglas LePan, P.K. Page and Michael Crummey. He is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art.

WORK:

BOOK TEXT ANTHOLOGY:

Content poetry:

Other Men’s Business. Nestlings Press, 2017: “Especially When The October Wind.” Writ., Dylan Thomas: 43.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Other Men’s Business. Nestlings Press, 2017: “Alan Stein”: 69.

CHAPMAN Matthew

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design University, and a member of the Toronto Arts and Letters Club since 2011.

WORK:

BOOK TEXT ANTHOLOGY:

Content story:

Other Men’s Business. Nestlings Press, 2017: “The Great Gatsby.” Writ., F. Scott Fitzgerald: 41.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Other Men’s Business. Nestlings Press, 2017: “Matthew Chapman”: 68.

PAULS Cole

                                       A self portrait commissioned by Quill & Quire. Appeared in Kwändǖr.2022:131.

“Even though I drew these stories, I know they are not just mine, they are my community’s stories, they are my family and friend’s stories, they are my collaborators stories and they are stories for you to tell each other.”                        Kwändǖr, 2022:127.

Grew up in Haines Junction Yukon.

He acquired a BFA in illustration from Emily Carr University. Now living in Vancouver he has created two serials, “Pizza Punks” a cartoon strip about punks eating pizza and Dakwäkãda Warriors. In 2017 he was awarded Broken Pencil Magazine’s Best Comic & Best ‘Zine Of The Year for Dakwäkãda Warriors II.

To see the origins of “Dakwäkãda Warriors” we go back to when Cole was in a traditional song and dance group the Dakwäkãda Dancers. There he learned the language of the Southern Tutchone. To revitalize the language he created a bilingual serial involving two characters the earth protectors Ts’ǘrk’i (crow) and Ägay (wolf). These became the “Dakwäkãda Warriors”.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

BOOK GRAPHIC:

Content collection story & Cover wraparound:

Kwändǖr, Conundrum Press, 2022.

Content story & Cover front & back:

Dakwäkãda Warriors. Conundrum Press, 2019.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Dakwäkãda Warriors. Conundrum Press, 2019: Last page & back cover.

Kwändǖr, Conundrum Press, 2022: “Afterword”: 127.

GALLERY:

Dakwäkãda Warriors. 2019: Front cover. (Black border used to set off cover.

Kwändǖr. 2022: Front Cover.

HOUSTON James Archibald

Born 12 June 1921 in St. Catherines Ontario he was raised in Toronto.

He attended the Ontario College of Art from 1938 to 1940. He spent World War 2 with the Toronto Scottish Regiment, then studied at Académié de la Grande Chaumière in Paris France during 1947 to 1948. From 1948 to 1962 he lived in the Arctic serving as a civil administrator in West Baffin. During this time he introduced Inuit sculpture to southern Canadian collectors, taught the Innuit the techniques of print making. He studied printmaking in Japan 1958 to 1959. It was largely through his efforts that Inuit became recognized as a significant art form. From 1962 to 1972, he worked for Steunen Glass of New York.

After his time in the arctic he began writing and illustrating novels. The first was a youth novel Tikta’Liktak, published in 1965. His first adult novel was The White Dawn published in 1971. The youth novels are either based on indigenous legends or coming of age in the arctic. He was awarded the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year For Children in 1966 for Tikta’Liktak, in 1968 for White Archer and 1980 for River Runners. His adult novels involve early contact between Europeans and indigenous peoples. They are often based on actual events. In 1990 he received the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Fiction for Running West. He was writer and producer of the film The White Dawn made from his novel. Running West was awarded the Canadian Authors Association’s Novel Of The Year Award.

In 1976 his 70 foot sculpture called “Aurora Borealis” was installed at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

In later life he divided his time between Connecticut and the Queen Charlotte Islands now called Haida Gwaii in British Columbia.

He died 17 April 2005 in New London Connecticut U.S.A.

WORK

WRITER & ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOK TEXT & GRAPHIC:

Content novel & Cover dust jacket:

Eagle Song. McClelland & Stewart, 1983.

Ghost Fox. McClelland & Stewart, 1977.

Running West. McClelland & Stewart, 1989

Spirit Wrestler. McClelland & Stewart, 1980.

The White Dawn. Longmans Canada Ltd. 1971.

Content novel youth & Cover dust jacket:

Akavak. McClelland & Stewart,1968.

Black Diamonds. McClelland & Stewart, 1982. Sequel to Frozen Fire.

Eagle Mask. Longmans Canada Ltd. 1966.

Frozen Fire. McClelland & Stewart, 1977.

Ghost Paddle: A Northwest Coast Indian Tale. Longmans Canada Ltd. 1972.

Long Claws: An Arctic Adventure. McClelland & Stewart, 1981.

River Runners. McClelland & Stewart, 1979.

The Falcon Bow. McClelland & Stewart, 1986.

Tikta’Liktak. Harcourt Brace & World Inc. 1965.

Content memoir:

Confessions Of An Igloo Dweller. McClelland & Stewart, 1995.

EDITOR & ILLUSTRATOR:

Eskimo Prints. Longmans Canada Ltd. 1971.

Songs Of The Dream People: Chants & Images From The Indians And Eskimos of North America. Longmans Canada Ltd. 1972.

SOURCE:

Book:

Confessions Of An Igloo Dweller. McClelland & Stewart, 1995.

Article book:

The Canadian Encyclopedia, FOR – PAT. Hurtig Publishers Ltd. 1985. “Houston James Archibald.”

Article Internet:

“James Archibald Houston” Writ., Jon C. Stott. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 7 Apr. 2001. 16 Dec.

2013. Accessed, 27 Jan. 2020.

“James Archibald Houston” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 22 Sept. 2019. Accessed, 27 Jan 2020.

GALLERY:

Tikta’Liktak. 1965, Front cover.

Eagle Mask, 1966, Front cover.

Frozen Fire, 1977, Front cover.

River Runners, 1979, Front Cover.

Long Claws, 1981, Front cover.

JAMES Matt

Picture books have always excited me though, I love puzzling out the pacing        and the story telling and I love being able to slowly expand upon ideas over          the course of 32 (or however many) pages.”                                                                                                                    “In the studio with Matt James.” Groundwoodbooks.com.

This painter, illustrator and musician won the 2013 Governor General’s Award for Illustration, Children’s Literature (English) for The Northwest Passage, lyrics by Stan Rogers.

In his development as an artist he had two significant experiences. When he was old enough to be in grade 4 or 5, he took a YMCA course in Woodstock by an instructor who “ very much impressed” young Matt. The instructor was an aspiring cartoonist trying to break into the field and his work ethic and the quality of his output left “left me awestruck”.

Matt’s second experience was in high school where the art department was well equipped but more important staffed by instructors who had been practicing commercial artists in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

At the time of the interview (2018) Matt occupied a studio with two other artists in the Parkdale district of Toronto. Of it he had to say:

‘The studio is pretty scrappy and doesn’t really offer a tonne of space, but it is a bit of     a miracle that we have a place where we can create music and art affordably in the city and we thank our lucky stars daily.”                                                                                                                                      “In the studio with Matt James.” Groundwoodbooks.com.

Talking about the studio’s location in Parkdale:

“… but it is a window into/onto Parkdale with its funky Parkdale sights, sounds and smells a bit of a feast for the senses around here.”                                                                                                              “In the studio with Matt James.” Groundwoodbooks.com.

WORK:

ILLUSTRATOR:

BOOK TEXT & GRAPHIC:

Content story & Cover, dust jacket:

When The Moon Comes. Writ., Paul Harbridge. Tundra Books/Penguin Random House Canada, 2017.,

SOURCE:

Internet:

“In the studio with Matt James.”  Groundwoodbooks.com. An interview Aug 2018. Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.

LEBLANC Daniel Omer “Dano”

Born 1968 in Moncton New Brunswick.

This creator of :Acadieman”  is a writer, visual artist, film maker and a musician. He studied both film and English literature at Concordia University in Montréal.

Daniel, in an interview on Roger TV’s “Hub City Now” (6 June 2017) said that he considers himself more a writer than an illustrator, In 2000, he published his first collection of poetry called Les Ailes de sol followed by a second collection Omégaville in 2003. In 2001, he represented New Brunswick in the poetry/literature division at the IV Jeux de la Francophonie/Games of La Francophonie, in Ottawa. It is an international gathering of French speaking communities that occurs every four years in different countries. Canada’s representation includes three groups Québec, New Brunswick and the rest of Canada. He has written for periodicals Vallium, Satellite, Élizes and Ven’d’est.

He created “Acadieman”. An animated version was created for Rogers TV/TV Rogers in 2005. For this effort he won three Rogers Television Impressions Awards and a jury prize at the Yorkton Film Festival

As a musician, he produced two solo CD albums, one in 1994 called Museum featuring pop/rock music; the other in 1997 Dan’s L’Corps featuring folk/country music. He was part of the group “The Great Balancing Act”. In 2009 he started a record company La Menuiserie.

From about 2009 to 2017, there was a hiatus in Dano’s career as he chose to be a stay at home dad looking after his son. At the suggestion of a friend who wanted to colour the story, Daniel returned to Acadieman to write and illustrate a new Acadieman story. At that time he planned to produce more Acadieman episodes but it appears there are no further developments. information.

SOURCE:

Internet:

“Acadieman (sort of) on Hub City Now – Youtube.” An interview with “Dano” LeBlanc on Rogers TV, 6 June 2017. Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.

“Chia-speaking superhero Acadieman returns.” Writ., Vanessa Blanch. CBC News, 12 May 2017. Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.

 

ACADIEMAN

This character was created by Daniel “Dano” Leblanc, He is described by LeBlanc as “Le first superhero Acadien”, but also an Acadien everyman. The stories are humorous and tend to the satiric.

“Acadieman” began as a cartoon strip in the Moncton newspaper Mascaret. Rogers TV/TV Rogers picked up the idea and an animated series began in 2005. It ran for three seasons. A special Christmas episode called Acadieman vs Nöel appeared on Cap Acadie during December 2008. The first season appears on a DVD called Acadieman la complete first saison. Acadieman Vs Santé was a series of fifteen short educational videos in which “Acadieman” and his friends encountered situations faced by students. In 2006, the animated series won Rogers TV Impressions Awards under Public Choice and Diversity Programming. In the same year at the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival (Saskatchewan), it was given the Jury’s Choice Award.

A series of three cartoon books was published by Éditions Court-Circuit. They were Acadieman Comics 1, Ses Origines, 2007; Acadieman Comics 2, Ses Origines, 2008, and Acadieman Comics 3, Ses Origines, 2009.

After a hiatus of about eight years Daniel retuned to “Acadieman” at the request of a friend who wanted to colour a story. He completed S’échapper de Dieppe with a colour cover and a black and white interior. In this satire, “Acadieman” helps an Anglophone family to escape from the centre of French-speaking Dieppe, New Brunswick an actual town named in remembrance of the Canadian raid at Dieppe France in World War 2. The idea came to Daniel after living in Halifax a few years where little French is spoken. He also added: “When I talk to my Anglophone friends they rarely come into Dieppe, like deeply into Dieppe … and I thought that was interesting too” The cover was inspired by the poster from the film Escape from New York. The result was offered at the East Coast Comic Expo in May 2017. A coloured interior issue was supposed to follow but never did. Although Daniel intended to produce future copies apparently none were.

The character was born in Czech in Southeast New Brunswick where he was left by his parents as they ran off to see they favourite TV show The Price Is Right. A character called “Farty” found him and raised him until he was a teen and left for the big city where he found his biological parents. He loves the indoors, hates walking long distances and loves to eat choir, poutine, sister farts, mouse teats, lobster and piss clams. Coffee makes him strong. Other characters included, T-Gris, Coquille, Johnny Dieppe and Acadiemère. His most prominent feature is he speaks Chiac (Shee-yak) a mixture of Acadian and English with Acadian being predominant.

To quote Emma Jacobs:

“Take French grammar and syntax and add English verbs. Take English verbs and  conjugate them like French verbs. Sprinkle in the vocabulary of 17^th century French settlers to French Acadia. Translate English idiom literally to French. That’s Chiac.

That’s how you’ll get sentences like, “J’ai backé mon car dans la driveway.”

Although the series was popular the use of Chiac raised objections from those wanting to maintain the standards of proper French. The controversy was reminiscent of the objections raised when Michel Tremblay introduced joual into his plays.

SOURCE:

Article periodical:

Kayak, 70, Dec. 2019: “C’est awesome”: 10.

Internet:

“Acadieman” Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, 16 Sept. 2019. Accessed 28 Dec. 2019.

“Acadieman (sort of) on Hub City Now – You tube.” An interview with “Dano” LeBlanc on Rogers TV, 6 June 2017. Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.

“Chia-speaking superhero Acadieman returns.” Writ., Vanessa Blanch. CBC News, 12 May 2017. Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.

“Purists don’t like this mix of Acadian French and English, but it may be helping the French Language in Canada” Writ., Emma Jacobs. The World in Words, 5 April 2016. Accessed 17 Jan. 2020.

GALLERY:

Kayak, 70, Dec. 2019:10.

SPIRES Ashley

Born: 1978 in Tsawwassen in British Columbia.

She studied photography at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She then attended a post graduate program in illustration at Sheridan College, moved to Saskatoon in Saskatchewan where she developed “Binky” and finally returned to British Columbia where she lives in Delta.

In her career as a children’s author and illustrator, she has both illustrated books written by other authors and written and illustrated her own books. Among the most notable of these latter was The Most Magnificent Thing, (2014) an award-winning best seller. In 2019 it was made into an animated featurette by Nelvana, directed by Arna Selznick with screen play by John van Bruggen.

“Binky The Space Cat” was her first graphic novel and has since become an award winning series. It as well has been animated and produced as a series Pets Of The Universe Ready For Space Travel or P.U.R.S.T. featuring Agent Binky, also produced by Nelvana. It began on specialty channel Treehouse on 7 September 2019.

WORK:

CARTOONIST:

BOOK GRAPHIC:

Content story & Cover book front:

Binky The Space Cat. Kids Can Press/Corus Entertainment Co., 2009: 3-64.

Binky To The Rescue. Kids Can Press/Corus Entertainment Co., 2010: 3-64.

WRITER & ILLUSTRATOR:

PERIODICAL TEXT & GRAPHIC

Content story :

chickaDEE, May 2013: “The Space Chronicles – The Bubble Highway”: 16-19.

chickaDEE, September 2013: “The Space Chronicles – Missing Miss Ing”: 16-19.

chickaDEE, October 2013: “The Space Chronicles – Top Secret Mission”: 16-19.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Binky The Space Cat. Kids Can Press/Corus Entertainment Co., 2009: “Ashley Spires”: Back cover.

Internet:

Ashley Spires website, www.ashleyspires.com. Accessed 14 January 2020.

“Ashley Spires” Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Updated, 10 January 2020. Accessed 14 January 2020.

Ashley Spires/Kids Can Press website. www.kidscanpress.com>creators>ashley-spires.

GALLERY:

                            Binky The Space Cat, 2009: Front cover.

chickaDEE, September 2013: 16.

chickaDEE, October 2013: 16.

BINKY THE SPACE CAT

This delightful character and series was created by Ashley Spires.

“Binky” is based on the “football-shaped kitten” adopted from an animal shelter by Ashley’s sister. Like any house cat “Binky” remains in the family home which in his imagination is a “space station”. Outside the walls of his “space station” he sees a vast and hostile “outer space”. One is hard put to find a better illustration of Northrop Frye’s concept of the “garrison mentality” expressed in Canadian literature.

The first book opens with a package dropped through the mail slot, “Binky” opens it and receives his membership card for the “Felines of the Universe Ready for Space Travel”. Binky lives in his “space station” with a mother and son. His most important function is to protect them from “aliens”. He learned as a kitten there were small creatures were flying, crawling and burrowing everywhere, and after much study he concluded they were “aliens” from “outer space”, although the humans call them “bugs”. The humans unfortunately couldn’t figure this fact out and so “Binky” has to protect them. He tried to defend them from the “aliens” inside the “space station” but that didn’t work. It was then that he discovered an invitation to become a “Space Cat” on an advertisement in the bottom of his kitty litter box. From then his course is set. He builds a space ship to go into outer space to battle the “aliens”, but just as he is leaving the space station in his space ship, he realizes he is leaving the humans behind and so jumps out in order to stay with them.

The second story involves “Binky” accidentally falling through a window into “outer space” where he is attacked by “aliens” (wasps) and rescued by his humans who are of course are used to travelling in “outer space”. However his best friend “Ted”, a stuffed mouse, is left behind and so the rest of the story involves “Binky’s” efforts to rescue him.

These stories although written in the third person are all taken from “Binky’s” viewpoint and so there is a blurred boundary between “Binky’s” imagination and reality which gives the stories a pleasant sense of ambiguity.

The series of books has been made into an animation series Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel or P.U.R.S.T. Agent Binky with support characters “Gracie” and “Gordon”. Produced by Nelvana Ltd. it was introduced on specialty channel Treehouse on 7 September 2019.

MEDIUM:

BOOK GRAPHIC:

Content story & Cover book front :

Binky The Space Cat. Kids Can Press/Corus Entertainment Co., 2009: 3-64.

Binky To The Rescue. Kids Can Press/Corus Entertainment Co., 2010: 3-64.

SOURCE:

Article book:

Binky The Space Cat. 2009: Back cover.

Internet:

Ashley Spires website, www.ashleyspires.com. Accessed 14 January 2020.

Ashley Spires/Kids Can Press website. www.kidscanpress.com>creators>ashley-spires.

“Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe.” Wikipedia the free encyclopedia. Updated, 13 January 2020.

Accessed 15 January 2020.

GALLERY:

 “Binky the Space Cat” and his companion “Ted a mousie”. Binky The Space Cat, 2009: Front cover.