“Several times each year, I pack my BMW motorcycle with camping gear and explore part of Atlantic Canada. When a good subject shows up, I find a quiet hill and draw for two or three hours. No photograph. The image is translated in the oldest, most direct language of symbols. Robert Rutherford has spent the past twenty years developing his distinctive style of Maritime images. His works are characterized by “a lot of wonderful curved movement, powerful, animated lines and dramatic skies”. He selects the best drawings to work into serigraphs in his studio. The serigraph (or silkscreen) process has evolved from an ancient Japanese stencil technique. The stencil consists of a block-out (or resist) painted on stretched fabric called the screen. Ink is pulled across the screen with a squeegee. The ink passes through the fabric (except where the stencil block-out has been applied) and on to the paper beneath. Each subtle shade of colour requires a separate stencil with at least twenty-four different stencils being overlaid to complete an image. Rutherford’s interest in art began at Trinity College School, while under the instruction of David Blackwood. He was awarded scholarships to study at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Ontario College of Art & Design where he studied printmaking with Frederick Hagen. He spent a year in France, studying at L’Ecoledes Beaux Arts d’Avignon.

Secord Gallery
Upstairs at 6301 Quinpool Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia
(902) 423-6644    info@secordgallery.com

Monday through Friday: 9:30 to 5:30
Saturday: 10:00 to 5:00
Sunday: closed