Born in London, Ontario in 1938, Ed Bartram RCA is one of Canada’s foremost
painter and printmakers. Over the past 30 years, he has consistently found his source of inspiration to be
the rugged northern landscape of the Precambrian Shield.
Unlike his predecessors, such as the Group of Seven, Bartram explores contemporary techniques and influences
to focus upon the abstract and dynamic elements in the landscape. With his innovative techniques, he effectively
captures the powerful forces which were at work during the formation of Georgian Bay’s metamorphic bedrock.
In the article Faces of the Canadian Shield – Wilderness and the Arts by Bartram in the publication
‘Park News – The Journal of the National Parks of Canada’ in 1982, he described the inspiration for and
the characteristics of his art:
The Thirty Thousand Island archipelago, stretching along the northeastern shore of Georgian Bay, is the source of my
inspiration as a printmaker and painter. This bay of Lake Huron is so large that it could be considered the sixth Great Lake.
Canadians are most familiar with my series of colour etchings interpreting the varied surfaces of this Precambrian
bedrock. Along this island-studded coast, glaciers have scraped away the earthen mantle, revealing the ancient
Precambrian landscape. This rock, older than life itself, provides a record of the primordial processes of creation. I
have been most influenced by the banded metamorphic gneiss. A great upheaval seems to have occurred, causing the rusty,
pink rocks of the southern archipelago to merge with the black and gray rock of the more northerly coast, creating
intricate striated patterns. These rocks have been liquefied by great forces within the earth, causing various layers
to intrude upwards or to fold and tilt at odd angles. Other layers have shifted and cracked along fault lines, creating
dynamic abstract structures. These formations in turn have been smoothed and kept free of more recent deposits by the
continual polishing and cleaning action of waves.
My artistic response to the environment is relatively simple and direct. As I create the printing plates for my etching, the
excitement of evolving the image from the metal matrix merges with the emotional impact I feel in the presence of the
power and beauty of the northern Ontario landscape. I had walked over the rock surfaces of Georgian Bay for over twenty
years without really noticing their complexity. I was only after starting to work in the medium of etching that I saw the
richness of the flat rock surfaces etched so incredibly by ice and time.
The Group of Seven was among the first artists to paint the islands of Georgian Bay. I have attempted to reinterpret the
same subject matter using modern printmaking techniques. Rather than using the traditional landscape composition of
the Group of Seven, I often take a more intimate viewpoint where the rock surface itself becomes the subject of the print.
Within the structure of the rock, I find patterns which become abstract landscapes themselves and capture the essence
of the windswept North.
My prints, which are now in many Canadian homes, offices, and civic galleries, will, I hope, encourage love and respect for
the unique freshwater archipelago of the Thirty Thousand Islands and the rocks of the Canadian Shield. For me, at least,
this area remains one of our country’s most precious natural phenomena.