He has made a career out of using clean lines, vivid colours, and natural themes to reflect the rugged beauty of B.C. Now, Indigenous artist Roy Henry Vickers has returned with a new book, looking back at a half-century of his work. The Best of Roy Henry Vickers: 80 Selected Works marks not only his 50-plus years as a professional artist but comes as he celebrates his 80th birthday.
Related:
He admits the idea for the book came from Robert “Lucky” Budd, his longtime collaborator.
“He’s the one that has been inspiring me to put out more books. And after 80 years and 50-some-odd years as an artist, he felt it was important to select works from those 50 years of work to celebrate my 80th birthday. So that’s how the idea came to be.”
“And when he asked me what pieces I would want in there, it was very difficult for me because I love all of my works. They’re all inspired by a story or a place that I’ve been to. So, I told him, ‘Well, you will have to get some help to pick the pieces because it’s not something I could do.’”
Vickers was born on June 4, 1946. He admits he loved drawing from an early age, so much so, it would get him in trouble at school. His teacher, Ms. Buckle, made him write “I will not draw in math class” a hundred times on the chalkboard and took away his drawings. Years later, she showed up at his gallery in Tofino.
“And I said, ‘Oh, Ms. Buckle, I remember you taking my drawings away.’ And she said, ‘Yes. And I put them in a little cardboard box.’ I said, ‘Well, if you could find those drawings, I would trade you for anything there is in this gallery.’ And she didn’t find them.”
He didn’t always want to become a professional artist. He was rejected from the RCMP because of his colour-blindness but managed to get a job with the Saanich Fire Department. Vickers says he was all set to become a firefighter when his colleagues convinced him to pursue his art full-time.
“They said, ‘Well, if you keep working here and collecting a paycheque, you won’t work as hard as you would if you didn’t have a job and you had to rely on your art.’”
From there he went to art school in Hazelton, where he graduated in 1974.
“[That was] 52 years ago and I sold my first two editions of prints, and I realized I was on my way. And I’ve been going ever since.”
The Best of Roy Henry Vickers covers a half-century from 1974 to 2024. Vickers says, looking back, he can see a real evolution in his style over those years.
“I can see the progression from very traditional work to a contemporary expression of who Roy Henry Vickers is as a Canadian who is Tsimshian, Haida, Heiltsuk, English, Irish, French, German…a real Canuck!”
One of his more famous assignments was the time he was asked to design a cover for Pacific Northwest ‘73–’74: The Complete Recordings, a 19-CD limited edition boxed set released by the Grateful Dead in 2018.
“I was working with two women from Rhino Records who were in charge of everything. And they had different ideas about what a boxed set would look like. And their ideas and mine didn’t work.”
And then he told them what the phrase Grateful Dead meant to him.
“I said, ‘When you are standing in the strength and the truth and beauty of who you are and you’re speaking and telling your story and touching people, your ancestors on the other side are whispering to themselves very excitedly and saying, Maybe this one will be the one to carry the strength and truth and beauty of our lineage. And they are the Grateful Dead.’”
Vickers noticed the other end of the phone line had gone silent. It turns out the women were speechless, moved to tears by his words. And from there, they gave him free rein to design the boxed set as he wished.
His most recent honour was to be nominated the first Elder in Residence by the BC Arts Council. In the book, he talks about how views it as a teaching role.
“We are all creative. We are all teachers, healers, visionaries, and leaders. And if we speak and work from inspiration, we will be doing something no one else in this world can do.”
Even at 80, Vickers says he still feels inspired.
“Inspiration is a word that comes from the Latin inspiratus, which literally means the breath of the Creator respirating us, being breathed into us,” he said.
“I never know where inspiration comes from. It can come in a conversation like this. It can come from someone telling their story. It can come from a beautiful scene that you’re looking at out in nature.”
“And so, I never know where it’s going to come from, I just know it’s going to come. And it seems the older I get, the more inspiration there is.”
The Best of Roy Henry Vickers: 80 Selected Works is available from Harbour Publishing.