Glenn Spicer

My first impression of Glenn Spicer was gleaned from a telephone conversation: a soft-spoken man self-confident with a hint of a wry humour, all of which have carried him through his life.

Glenn was born in Toronto in 1947, and his artistic career began (if only unthought of at that time), when he was eight years old. His mother had given him a "Paint by Numbers" set which set him on a winding road that took him to the 21st century. But it was not as an artist, per se, that Glenn started his working life. He graduated from Guelph University with a B.Sc in Biology, and it was there that he worked first as a scientific illustrator, then as a scientific sculptor for the new Dinosaur Gallery of the Royal Ontario Museum. In 1971, besides sculpting dinosaurs, he created elements for the full scale Triassic diorama. As Zookeeper and Biologist at the Metro Toronto Zoological Society in 1974, he was responsible for the care of the wildlife collection in the African pavilion and helped in the creation of natural environments.

In 1976, Glenn moved to Vancouver where he received Professional Teaching Certification in Biology and Fine Arts. It was in 1979 that he was layout and graphic artist for a program book and the promotion material for the Vancouver Folk Festival. In Vancouver he studied sculpture at the Emily Carr College of Art under the tutelage of such accomplished artists as Mark Prent, Geirge Ramel and George Norris. The Vancouver Aquarium hired him as the Senior Display Artist during the construction of the award winning Graham Amazon Gallery where he was in charge of a team of seven artists. He worked with Karl Schutz at the Chemainus Festival of Murals.

Glenn moved again in 1984, this time to Maple Bay on Vancouver Island. There he built a house and studio (The Studio Metamorphoses) by the ocean, overlooking Saltspring Island .Until he retired for health reasons, he had been occupied exhibiting and working on commissions in Sculpture, Illustration, Photography, Printmaking and Stained Glass. His sculptures are cast, carved and/constructed in bronze, copper, steel, fiberglass, reinforced concrete, glass, stone, wood, tile and mixed media.

Stained Glass is another medium in which Glenn shines. In 1976 he gained new skills as a store manager, designer and instructor at William Decor Stained Glass. His windows may be seen in the United Church in Duncan, in the Cowichan Hospital and in many private collections in BC. The effects in his stained glass are often detailed and require diverse methods to reach a satisfactory result: sandblasting, etching and carving on a variety of flat-rolled and hand blown coloured glass. From 1995 until 2003, he worked at Malaspina College in Duncan as instructor for introductory, intermediate and advanced courses in stained glass.

And yet another medium in which Glenn excels is Graphics which include illustrations, photography, painting and printmaking. Indeed, Glenn Spicer is Jack of all Trades and Master of All.

Glenn finds inspiration in Nature, especially the natural beauty of British Columbia. He draws on his rich and varied background and experience to create expressive realism in figurative and wildlife renditions, and carefully executed stylized or abstract forms.