Patricia Richardson Logie of Hopkins Landing passed away on May 24 following a long and illustrious career in the arts that began as a child in Niagara Falls when she drew pictures of her school friends.
She was a prolific and talented oil painter, who was honoured many times in her professional career; she was a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and founding member of the Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists.
One of her greatest moments was when she was awarded the Silver Eagle Feather in 1991 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the Native community.
Logie painted a series of 31 portraits of Aboriginal people entitled Chronicles of Pride - a project she undertook when she became disgusted with how Native people were portrayed in textbooks and to the public. She wanted to make a contribution to society with her art. The paintings were shown at the Museum of Anthropology and were later formatted into a book, also called Chronicles of Pride.
As one of her more generous acts in recent years, she donated the originals of the series to the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at the University of British Columbia where they were put on display, and a reception was held last year to thank her. Prints of the work were shown at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery and are still available to be viewed.
"She had a fabulous talent for portraits," said her husband, Bob Logie, who recalled how Logie's education blossomed when the couple moved to London in 1970 with their children so she could study at Sir John Cass College of Art. There she painted at the National Gallery in London and joined the Society of Women Artists. Back in Canada, she was commissioned to do portraits for many of B.C.'s elite, she taught and toured the country, and much of her best work was done in the years from 1983 to 2005. Later, Logie was to call them "God-given years."
Pat Drope of the Gibsons Public Art Gallery recalled a show of Logie's work that the gallery put on in 2004, curated by Donna Hobbs.
"She was so diverse in her art," Drope said. "She also painted landscapes, seascapes and trees."
The show, Lifescapes - A Lifetime of Achievement, exhibited an extensive selection dating back to her early years, including her figurative work rendered in nude paintings.
The Gibsons Landing Gallery put together a retrospective of Logie's work in 2005 when she turned 80, with a show at St. Bart's in Gibsons. The work included some of Logie's latest, bold, colourful abstracts.
As recently as this year, Logie continued to contribute to the arts community - one of her nude oil paintings was auctioned off at the annual Rotary Club fundraising Art Auction. By that time, Logie was living in Christenson Village following another stroke and she was unable to attend the auction.
A memorial for Logie will be held at St. Bartholomew's Church in Gibsons this Saturday, June 18, at 1 p.m. All friends and colleagues in the arts community are invited.
