Sandy Cline:
CLASS OF 1958
St. catharines, ON
General Vanier SchoolClass of 1974
Ft. erie, ON
Maywood SchoolClass of 1953
St. catharines, ON
Maywood SchoolClass of 1952
St. catharines, ON
Maywood SchoolClass of 1951
St. catharines, ON
Sandy's Story
Life
When I was ready to enter high school, the guidance counselor came around to give us what was called the Minnesota aptitude tests. This was to ascertain what classes we should take in high school. I wanted to take art, but the counselor told me that the tests showed I had no artistic talent whatsoever. I decided to take draughting .
After leaving high school I entered the army for a short stint (less then a year) and came out with an honorable discharge. This time with the army made me eligible for a civil service job in Ottawa.
Shortly after I graduated from high school, I met Brian and Wilf Cooper. Brian was a rock hound and his father Wilf a part time prospector. From Brian I developed an interest in geology that has taken me far afield. Prospecting plunged me into the wilderness of Northern Ontario searching for silver, precious stones, minerals and other rocks for our little company, "Canadian Shield Rocks and Minerals".
While I was working in Ottawa as a draughtsman for the Department of National Defense. During my lunch hour, I became a frequent visitor at the Lorne Building that housed the National Gallery of Canada. This is where I first saw the paintings of Lawren Harris.
When I first viewed his Arctic paintings I could feel a chill in the room, I decided then and there that there was much more to painting than just creating pretty pictures.
I began oil painting.
I quit my job in Ottawa and moved to what was soon to become the fashionable Yorkville area in Toronto.
Often I would hitchhike around the country searching for a purpose. It was during this period, I met my wife. I was picking fruit in Niagara to get a little money before moving on and Rita was working in the adjoining canning factory. She was curious about the nomadic lifestyle I was living at the time and asked to travel with me for a while, but she did not like my name and decided to call me Sandy. Forty-four years later we are still traveling together.
My success in painting was slight. To earn enough money to ...Expand for more
live and keep on painting, I began carving objects out of wood, and selling them to the tourists that frequented the coffeehouses.
An artist friend convinced me that I was a better carver then a painter and encouraged me to carve larger pieces, so I turned my talents back to carving.
Because of my previous experiences and knowledge of geology, I feel there was a natural progression to stone.
My discovery of the books and sculpture of Malvina Hoffman completely changed my vision of carving. " She taught me to see the life force in the stone that determines the direction the stone allows itself to be formed. I must respect and admire the stone, working with it to develop its inner beauty. I try to bring out the feeling and motion of the sculpture within the stone. In my mind I see stone eagles suspended in air despite the laws of physics."
I am very critical of my own work, even after thirty-five years as a professional sculptor. My wife, Rita has told me that I am an excellent sculptor, but I have no taste.
While our two children were growing up we moved to a farm outside Ridgeway Ontario. There we raised our own food, beef, milk eggs and pork. After our children left the farm for University, Rita and I moved to the wilds of Burleigh, Ontario.
I feel fortunate that my work has been so widely accepted and has traveled to almost every country in the world. I have created pieces for various Olympics, and international sports events.
I have been teaching at the Haliburton School of Fine Arts eightteen years. I have acquired many of the techniques I use on my own by trial and error, so I feel I should pass the knowledge along.
For the past 15 years Rita and I attend a Retreat in Young Harris, North Georgia. I teach sculpture and Rita learns jewellery making at the William Holland School of Lapidary.
In 2011 I was invited to participate in an art show In Yokohama Japan.
Since Then I have been invited to teach children in France and asked to be Artist in residence at several schools in Missouri..
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