Caledon Sketchbook

In Richard Nevitt's hands the act of drawing becomes something more than a mechanical recording of the natural world. His drawings demonstrate that a simple line can elicit a deep appreciation of a geographic place in all of its dimensions. Each of Richard's drawings takes us on a very personal journey of discovery as he delves into the living elements of landscape and its transcendent aspects. At their core, Nevitt's drawings are figurative; his understanding of the human form animates all that he captures with his pen. In the turn of a line, a scrap of contour, the finest hint of mass, form and volume, Nevitt lends his subjects a living quality, a breath of life and of vitality. And above all, A Caledon Sketchbook insists that drawing has little to do with style and aesthetics. Drawing is, in its essence, a means to the end of understanding ourselves and of our place in the world. As Nevitt ably demonstrates, drawing can invoke a profound engagement with all sorts of objects and places by all of the senses. It is a trace of thought itself. -- Tom Smart, Executive Director, McMichael Canadian Art Collection