Philip Craig was born in Ottawa in 1951.
Encouraged by his parents to pursue art from an early age, he attended specialized art programs in Ottawa eventually graduating from Sheridan College of Art and Design in 1971.
The next decade was spent living and working in Newfoundland where his isolation from the art world allowed him to focus on traditional subject matter – landscape, portrait and still life paintings. By 1986, the act of painting became so compelling that Philip returned to his home base in Ottawa with his young family determined to paint full time.
The continual search for new subject matter and the wish to develop his technical abilities pushed Craig first to visit England, then France, Italy, Morocco and India – all travels that not only enriched his palette but also gave him a deeper appreciation of light. In the last few years, Craig has travelled within Canada and this has led to a strong desire to imprint his vision on his own country.
Philip has an extraordinary ability to connect with the viewer as he paints ordinary people engaged in ordinary activities – waiters at work, a moment by a canoe in the woods, reading a map in a café, the viewer wants to be there. If there is only a landscape or an interior, the viewer anticipates what is going to happen. This element of connection, accompanied by the beauty of colour, light and richly expressive brushwork creates a desire to live with his paintings.
