One of Canada's most wellknown artists will be in Tsawwassen for a public presentation later this month.
Robert Bateman will give a talk, My Life in Art, at the South Delta Recreation Centre as part of a book tour for his recent release, Life Sketches: A Memoir.
Bateman, 86, says he's looking forward to it, noting he has fun telling stories and sharing ideas and that he'll probably be "ranting a little bit" on environmental issues as well.
The artist and naturalist's autobiography is said to provide access into his creative process and detail his artistic vision and the inspiration behind his art.
It also includes new illustrations from Bateman, who grew up in Toronto and eventually moved to Saltspring Island. He is known for his work depicting wildlife in its habitat "My life goes on a certain track and my art goes on a little bit different track, so I did a number of new ones I felt fit into the pacing of the book," he explains.
Asked if it was hard to pick out which personal stories to include in the book, Bateman says with a chuckle that it wasn't his job, noting that task fell to the editors and others who put the book together.
He says he gave hours and hours of interviews for the project, telling stories from his life, which has included many adventures.
Telling stories is one of his favourite things to do, he says.
"I've always been that way. I was that way as a high school teacher for 20 years. I'm always telling stories to my family and grandkids and all that kind of thing."
Bateman travelled the world in the late 1950s in a Land Rover and later spent two years teaching high school in Nigeria.
He has garnered numerous awards and honours over his career, including becoming an Officer of the
Order of Canada. Bateman has received over a dozen honourary doctorates in addition to having multiple schools named after him.
His art has appeared in exhibitions around the world, while the Robert Bateman Centre, a facility in Victoria designed to house and preserve his legacy, opened a few years ago and "displays the definitive collection" of his work.
Bateman is scheduled to be at the South Delta Recreation Centre on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. for his My Life in Art talk. Register online for a free ticket at http://bit.ly/2e9Xbt5.
