Bill Brownridge (courtesy of the artist)
Award-winning painter, author and illustrator William (Bill) Brownridge died on May 1 in Victoria, B.C. at the age of 91.
Born in Rosetown, Sask. in 1932, Brownridge graduated with a diploma in advertising art from what is now Alberta University of the Arts in Calgary in the 1950s.
After graduation, he worked in commercial art. In 1972, he joined Francis, Williams and Johnson, a PR and advertising firm, where he worked first as a graphic artist and then became the graphics creative director. As part of his job, he oversaw the design and production of the Calgary Stampede posters, and in 1993, he redesigned the Calgary Flames uniforms, jerseys that were used until 2000. A hockey fan since his childhood, he formed a business, Heart of Hockey, to market his fine art in 1995.
He wrote and illustrated three children's books. The first, Moccasin Goalie, was a Canadian best-seller.
“Brownridge’s heavily textured work utilizes an incredibly dynamic colour palette to showcase the starkness and luminosity of winter and the implied movement of the players in the open-air games he portrays,” reads the note on Gibson Fine Art, which represented his work.
“Combining thick, impasto dabs of paint as a base for each idyllic scene and softly highlighted characters whose colourful attire speaks to the joyfulness of the sport, Brownridge solidifies the distinction of being one of Canada’s most popular hockey artists.”
His paintings have been shown in exhibitions at the Glenbow, the National Gallery of Canada and the Hockey Hall of Fame, and they are found in public, corporate and private collections across North America. In 2001, he was one of 12 artists chosen to paint murals for the NHL All-Star Game.
In 2022, he was awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal and he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.
A free exhibition of Brownridge's work, entitled The Spirit of Motion, is on view now through Aug. 2 at the base of the Calgary Tower. Presented in partnership with the Brownridge family, the Calgary Tower and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the show features 43 of Brownridge's original works, including 33 mono prints that Brownridge created for the 1988 Calgary Olympic Games bid book, plus memorabilia from the Canadian Olympic athletes who medalled that year.
Source: Calgary Herald, Gibson Fine Art, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame