The Skeena
Perry Rath has been doing paintings and making other artwork for more than 20 years. But the Smithers-based artist says his lifelong fascination with art began with his grandfather.
“He was an artist in a whole variety of styles,” Rath says in a new video interview done by the Smithers Art Gallery, where some of his work is currently on display. “As a young child I just remember going to visit my grandparents and seeing all the crazy art on the walls and going to his studio space and hearing stories.”
When Rath’s grandfather died, he left Rath some art supplies including paintbrushes and panels. Rath saw that his grandfather had already begun to paint on some of the panels.
Eventually, Rath decided to paint his own work on the panel alongside his grandfathers’ brushstrokes, saying “It was very meaningful for me to layer on top of what he had already started.”
Check out the rest of the interview here with Rath, whose work has been shown all over the world and “has attracted the praise of the Governor-General of Canada.”
Rath is also an art teacher at Smithers Secondary School.
