On display in the Signal Hill Gallery are drawings, paintings and bronze sculpture by Milestone artist Jack Pickering.
Born and raised in Wilcox, Pickering has a family heritage of artistic accomplishments, with his great-grandfather who was a landscape artist most impressed with the "more rugged type of picturesque-ness in which there is a note of natural tragedy."
This exhibition features acrylic, oil, watercolour, pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink and bronze sculpture. In Pickering's millennium project: Prairie Pilgrimage - 366 Prairie Sketches, he has, as a Prairie Romanticist, interpreted the remains of buildings that remind us of the many once-flourishing farms and small communities that dotted the vast prairies. From January 1 to December 31, 2000, he sketched a moment in time on the prairies, focusing on the evidence of human habitation.
Pickering has created background paintings and displays at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum for 22 years. He also illustrated the museum publications and created numerous interpretive dioramas and displays for provincial parks. Currently he is working on a design for Duck Lake Museum's tower.
Pickering has had one man and group exhibitions in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan. Copies of one of his bronze sculptures; a sharp-tailed grouse, Saskatchewan's provincial bird, were presented to each of the provincial premiers when they attended a conference in Saskatoon.
Although he is largely self-taught, Pickering has also been an art instructor, and he does accept commissions for sketches of individual houses, barns and farmyards.
Pickering's keen eye and artistry provides a record of what once was and will soon be gone, "prairie history in transition."
One of Pickering's books is on display in the gallery and can be purchased through the Arts Centre office for $20. The exhibit can be viewed during regular Signal Hill Arts Centre building hours.
