Gallant Avenue and the National Library of Canada both display whimsical illustrations from an artist who has been harnessing his creativity in the Cove since he was a child.
Charles van Sandwyk is well-known for his skill at anthropomorphizing.
“It’s my thing,” says a genial van Sandwyk, while strolling along Gallant on a frigid February morning.
He playfully captured the adventures of Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger for a limited reprinting of the enchanted classic children’s novel, The Wind in the Willows, for London-based publisher, The Folio Society, in 2008 to commemorate a century since the first edition. These books containing van Sandwyk’s fanciful handiwork are now collectors’ items.
However, to trace back his humble roots, one need not look further than the Cove, where van Sandwyk grew up. His family arrived in this idyllic waterfront enclave from South Africa in the 1970s.
“My parents had a choice to buy a house in Deep Cove or in West Van, and the one in Deep Cove was more expensive in those days,” says van Sandwyk. “We saw water and sports and fun here – so this is great.”
As early as elementary school, it was clear to his teachers that van Sandwyk was an exceptional calligrapher, a talent he still uses in his illustrations today.
While studying at Seycove, van Sandwyk entertained as a magician and unicyclist for the neighbourhood kids and also experimented with copper plate etchings.
The precocious artist began selling small paintings and sculptures of beautiful fanciful creatures such as fairies, owls, gnomes and animals in a little gallery called Earth Sea, an annex of the old Savoury restaurant on Gallant.
At Capilano College, van Sandwyk found a mentor in his life drawing and painting instructor Frank Molnar. As a young man van Sandwyk would also travel to Fiji, where he developed a deep connection with the South Pacific, further fuelling his creative energy.
In the Cove and beyond, van Sandwyk had gathered a loyal following. By the 1990s, before one of his shows, people would line up for eight hours for a chance to buy van Sandwyk’s whimsical, hand-coloured etchings.
Some of van Sandwyk’s paintings hang in the National Library of Canada, as well as in some important private collections. He is the writer and illustrator of many books including The Parade to Paradise, How to See Fairies, and Sketches from the Dream Island of Birds.
Several years ago van Sandwyk was approached by the famed British Folio Society to create the illustrations for their Blue Fairy Book. He did that with such great success that it landed van Sandwyk his dream assignment.
“I wanted to illustrate Wind in the Willows since I was eight years old in South Africa. I had an earache and my dad would read it to me,” recalls van Sandwyk.
Indeed, the Folio Society asked van Sandwyk to illustrate The Wind in the Willows, which was an overwhelming success and led him to illustrate Alice in Wonderland.
Locals and visitors alike in the Cove are fortunate enough to see van Sandwyk’s whimsical and highly detailed characters set in a stunning natural landscape.
Look skyward on Gallant at the moment and you are greeted by a seated bear with frazzled fur and a couple of fish on his lap – a perfect representation of van Sandwyk’s art, splashed on a series of street banners.
Adjacent to the art is a stirring quote dedicated to the Cove by van Sandwyk: “… a place of such magnificence can only set you free … .”
“It’s a poem that my partner and I wrote about being in Canada, because we both came from foreign lands,” explains van Sandwyk.
His art didn’t appear on the lampposts overnight. It was the work of the Deep Cove Merchants’ Association and some other dedicated residents.
After eight years of no street banners in the Cove, local resident Anne Collins sought to give the area a colourful identity.
She hosted two events at the yacht club, raising approximately $1,500 for her public art project. In donating the proceeds to the Cove merchants’ association, Collins kickstarted the street banner campaign. Some merchants also contributed donations to the merchants’ association for the banners.
Fellow Covers Cathy Robinson and Jackie Begley jumped in to help by selling wine raffle tickets outside Arms Reach Bistro for an entire summer and raising approximately $3,200. The raffle prize, a curated selection of premium wines nestled in a wooden crate, was donated by Arms Reach Bistro.
The merchants’ association now had the means to commission an artist for the street banners. A call for artists went out and van Sandwyk won over the judges.
His banners hung in the Cove until the elements got the best of them. Some lucky fans got to keep them though, after they were signed by van Sandwyk and auctioned off to raise funds for the merchants’ association.
After a three-year hiatus, van Sandwyk’s art was back in the Cove and spread on 28 lampposts along Gallant and a bit of Banbury. Two sets of banners were commissioned.
In the springtime, raccoon characters paddling a birch bark canoe will replace the bears, drawn in van Sandwyk’s signature whimsical style.
Arms Reach Bistro manager and co-owner Alistair Knox is awestruck by van Sandwyk’s art and how it complements the Cove.
“It’s very Canadian,” he says.
van Sandwyk is now getting ready to have a new book of fairy stories published by the Folio Society this summer. He’s also writing a story about a man who journeys to the moon in 1886, from his home studio in the Cove which houses an etching press from the 1800s.
There’s no need to travel to Ottawa to get your paws on van Sandwyk’s art. The Seymour Art Gallery carries a large number of his cards and books, including the bear illustration used on the street banners.
