Milton Achtimichuk

A Letter from the Artist

Nature is the whole physical universe and what happens in it. As a painter I try to portray a few of the countless things that are so unique, and have spent a good deal of time in the rural countryside and northern wilderness from Ontario to British Columbia.

As an outdoor sportsman, I found that most of these times spent were not really for the sport of hunting and fishing - but rather for the discovery of what exists all around us. The majesty of big game is one thing, but what about the habitat and all that lies in it? That is where all the untamed beauty is -- in the wilderness that was there long before we were, and is there for us to be a part of and enjoy. We can't survive without it.

When I paint old homesteads and the heritage that goes with it, I try to relate it to the wilderness -- in the sense that it is there for us to look back on as a part of nature.

I try to bring to attention some of the things we missed in our lives, to maintain a type of appreciation and responsibility for the past.

My paintings may not conform to any particular rule in the art of painting, because I feel that some subjects can not be related to a law of line and movement. The compositions of my subjects are related more to what I see and feel about a particular time or place. I don't paint with extreme detail throughout the painting, but try to balance the composition with a little extreme detail mixed with something to help carry the concept of the painting.

When I travel along back roads, I look for a building that is one with the land, that has surrendered to the elements. It is not an intruder on the landscape; it is part of it. It has fused with the earth, capitulated to the wind, bent and bowed with the snows, and camouflaged with a coating of age.

These simple buildings cannot be saved. They cannot be refinished. They cannot justify the space that they take and no law can protect them. They are gaunt and dry-boned sinking into a grassy sea. They hold secrets and mysteries that are a vast repository of enigmatic artifacts.

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