Excerpt from The Tangent: April, 1933

He was a fundamentalist in his use Of design as an origin Of creation and in the sense that the created world was sufficiently engrossing to occupy any artist a life-time Of experience. This is manifested in his powerful use Of mobile line and color, arising, not out Of any new philo sophy or but rather from his own sense Of order. He loved to create in his pictures the feeling Of unity between land, water, and sky. All his work has the semblance Of praise, and devotion to the task Of interpretation Of rhythmic harmonies Of line and color.

He belongs to the order Of nature-poets, those who declare the beauty Of the visible world. His painting is an epitome Of this idea and Of his life devoted to working it out. Whether it is the silvery light on the river Humber, the sun glowing on the Laurentian hill, the solemn calm Of Algoma, or the serene aloofness Of a mountain lake, this attitude of the poet and seer shines through in orderly calm. He had the magic touch of St. Francis and something Of his simple mysticism. He had the monastic habit Of supreme craftsmanship, illuminating common words with whimsical forms in his lettering and book decoration.

He is related to Fra Angelico for his lyricism and his expression of Paradise as a garden Of beautiful forms and flowers. He had the Con stable touch ih his devotion to every stick and stone of his native heath. Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman were his philosophic mentors. He loved carols, sagas and symphonies, but had no theories about the things he loved. He believed that art could be manifested in everything, the printed poster, and in simple lettered words, as well as in great buildings, monu mental sculpture and sumptuous paintings.

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