Scratching at the surface

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This article was published 17/03/2017 (3150 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When he’s not outdoors enjoying nature, Richard Shier is bringing a bit of wilderness home in the form of his artwork.

Shier, 76, specializes in a technique called scratch board, which involves etching an image onto a black masonite board to reveal the white layer underneath. The St. James resident goes a step further by adding colourful acrylic paint to his pieces.

“Art was my favourite subject in school,” Shier said. “It wasn’t difficult for some reason, it was just God-given talent, I guess. I’ve been doing it off and on.

“At one time I thought I’d be the next Robert Bateman, but there’s only one Robert Bateman, right?”

Shier’s natural aptitude has kept him self-teaching in oils and acrylics as well, creating beautifully detailed and realistic pictures. For 30 years, he worked as a commercial photographer and learned how to compose an image on film.

“In photography you learn to use light and shade and that can transfer into your artwork because that’s important to create that dimension in art. Otherwise, it looks pretty flat,” he said.

Now, Shier said he only takes photos when he’s using the images for new artwork.

He first discovered scratch board when he and his wife took a trip to Minneapolis and met an artist who worked in it. It’s so uncommon in Manitoba that he has to purchase the materials from the states and take a trip to Grand Forks to pick up his yearly supply.

“I thought it was just exquisite,” Shier recalled. “I came home and thought, ‘I want to try it.’ I’ve never taken lessons of anything of any kind so, let’s just try it and do it. You make your own mistakes but you carry on.”

For him, it’s all about putting what he sees onto the board. Although he enjoys painting, he says scratch board allows him to work in a different way.

“It’s the detail you can create in the scratching,” he said. “It’s much finer than any brush stroke. Not to say you couldn’t do nice detail with a brush, but with a scraper tool it’s much finer. And I like what I can do with it — creating light and shade.”

The method is perfectly suited to creating the individual lines of a furry tiger’s face or feathers on a geese. Wildlife and nature and common themes in Shier’s work, and he says he’s always enjoyed being outdoors.

“I’d be out golfing every day if I could,” he said with a laugh. He also goes hunting for geese in the fall, something he used to do with his father when he was young.

Shier’s work will be on display for this year’s Artarama, which is put on by the Knights of Columbus and takes place March 31 to April 2 at Mary Mother of the Church (85 Kirkbridge Dr.).