Maurice Snelgrove Artists’ Statement
I have been painting watercolours on paper and canvas for more than 50 years, both in my studio and plein-air on location during my extensive travels from coast to coast to coast in Canada, including the Yukon, the Nunavut Arctic, the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland, Greenland, Europe, the USA and Mexico.
I continue to share this love of watercolour painting, especially ‘plein-air’ with my PORD colleagues and painting friends.
Canada’s ocean coastlines and inland waterways are, by any measure, a global treasure. These watery vistas supply an endless source of inspiration and interpretation for the visual artist. I hope you will share my love of the outdoors and continuing concern for our environment as you view these paintings.
While the COVID pandemic has severely restricted any recent plein-air travels and painting destinations, we can all resurrect and relive some of the very special places and experiences through these painted images.
I stay attached (although sometimes precariously) to the painters’ world, through fellow artists, regional art group demonstrations and enthusiastic adult ‘students’ who have continued to meet throughout the pandemic on weekly ZOOM meetings.
With gratitude and pleasure, I was elected to membership in the CSPWC (Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour), served on their Board of Directors and also enjoy membership in the OSA (Ontario Society of Artists).
I am honoured to be part of this official inaugural opening of Gallery X and share some of my watercolours with you.
Before starting to teach in 1970, Maurice worked for 15 years as an Artist/Designer/Art Director. He has now retired after teaching for 30 years: 20 years as Head of Visual Arts at Lester B. Pearson Collegiate in Scarborough, ON. He is an elected member and served on the board of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC) and the Ontario Society of Artists (OSA).
Maurice’s love of the outdoors and his concerns for the environment are manifested in his watercolour landscapes. He has traveled extensively and painted coast to coast to coast across Canada, including the Yukon and the Nunavut Arctic, the Northwest Territories, Newfoundland Greenland, Alaska, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, Italy, Belgium, France, Greece, Scotland, Mexico, New England and New Mexico in the USA.
He has juried, demonstrated and taught for many groups including the Scarborough Art Guild, the Toronto Watercolour Society, The Pineridge Arts Council, Banbury Watercolour Workshops, the Markham Group of Artists, the Willowdale Group of Artists, the Humber Valley Art Club, the Celebration of the Arts, Uxbridge, the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour, the Arts and Letters Club and the Haliburton School of the Arts. Maurice designed sets for the North Toronto Players, Gilbert & Sullivan opera for 15 seasons.
Maurice’s commissioned portraits and watercolours hang in public and private collections in Canada, France, Scotland, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and the United States.
Maurice Snelgrove’s solo exhibitions include: Toronto – the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, Glendon College, Victoria University at the University of Toronto, Scarborough Civic Centre, the Gallery Wall Scarborough, St. James’s Cathedral Event Centre, Yorkminster Park Gallery.
Maurice also has also exhibited in numerous group shows: International Fabriano Acquarello (Italy), Roberts Gallery (Toronto), John B. Aird Gallery (Toronto), the Joseph D. Carrier Gallery (Toronto), Fisher’s Loft Gallery (Newfoundland), RAW Riverdale Art Walk (Toronto), Win Henstock Gallery (Oakville), The Linkway Gallery in the TD Centre (Toronto), Gallery on the Grand (Kitchener/Waterloo), Vancouver Maritime Museum (Vancouver), Legislative Assembly Iqaluit (Nunavut), Arts & Letters Club (Toronto), Northern Heritage Centre (Yellowknife), Rails End Gallery (Haliburton), Marianne van Silfhout Gallery (Brockville), Art Gallery of Northumberland (Coburg), Penn State Abington College Gallery (PA, USA), University of Alaska (Fairbanks, USA), Westmount Gallery (Toronto), IX Bienal Internacional de Acuarela (Mexico), Art Square Gallery (Toronto), Kingsway Lambton Virtual Art Exhibition (Toronto).
