Canadian woodblock to 1945
No black is so rich and 'fat' as the black of a woodcut, and no white is so pure. For graphic boldness, directness, and simplicity the woodcut is supreme
W.J. Phillips, quoted in Patricia Ainslie, Images of the Land, Glenbow Museum, 1984
Canadian landscape since 1945
Canadian artists seem to return constantly to the subject matter of this country which is so dominated by its natural surroundings. Whatever the prevailing international style, the depiction of landscape remains a major activity for Canadian artists.
Terrance Heath, A Sense of Place, Visions, Contemporary Art in Canada, Douglas and McIntyre, 1983
the gestural mark
I wanted the feeling of momentum and I approached this in a very attack-like manner…I wanted to get the feeling that the larger drops were falling fairly quickly, the smaller ones being blown with a lot of momentum …and my gesture, my physical gesture in doing the painting was just that. I kind of attacked it. At one point I was just going zip-zip-zip as the router went through the wood
Paterson Ewen, quoted describing his working methods in: Paterson Ewen, Recent Works; Doris Shadbolt, Journal No 24, 1 September 1977