~Charles van Sandwyk~Illustrator

 
Charles Noel van Sandwyk was born May 12, 1966.
in Johannesburg, South Africa 
In 1977, he emigrated with his family to Vancouver,
Canada. By the early 1980's, he was selling his
drawings and watercolours in a style reminiscent of
the old prints and paintings which hung
in the family home.

His English mother and Dutch father were avid
nature watchers. As a young child, he spent
many hours with his parents and older brother observing
the wonders of birds and animals in the local landscape.

Van Sandwyk studied graphic design at the
Capilano College art programme in North Vancouver.
Upon completion in 1986, the wanderlust of younger
years sent him travelling to the South Pacific.
He discovered the Fiji Islands, and fell in love with
a remote island and its inhabitants.
In that same year, van Sandwyk won an
Alcan award for his limited edition book
A Selection of Neighbourly Birds,
illustrated with etchings printed on an antique
intaglio press. This first attempt at publishing
prompted a passionate venture into the world of
handmade and private press books and prints.

He began to divide his time equally between
Vancouver and Fiji, leasing land from the neighbouring
family and building for himself a simple home of grass thatch, in the traditional island style. Van Sandwyk settled into a pleasurable routine of winter seasons in Fiji
filled with painting and writing, the results of which
were brought back to Canada each summer and prepared
for exhibition and publication each autumn.

 

His watercolours, etchings and books are now
collected across North America and in Europe.
The National Library of Canada has maintained archives
on his work since 1986, and in 1992 purchased the original drawings and paintings for his children's book
The Parade to Paradise.
The book Wee Folk won Juror's Choice award
at the 1994 Seattle Book Fair, and also third prize
at the Alcuin Awards '95 for limited editions.
Van Sandwyk continues to divide his time
between Vancouver and his beloved Fiji.

Charles Noel van Sandwyk werd geboren op
12 Mei 1966.
in Johannesburg, Zuid Afrika.
In 1977, verhuisde ze met de hele familie
naar Vancouver in Canada.
Zijn moeder is Engelse en z’n vader een Nederlander.

Als jongeman heeft hij veel gereisd over de wereld
zodoende leerde hij de magie kennen van de Fiji eilanden
en werd verliefd op dit eiland en zijn bewoners waar hij tegenwoordig grotendeels van het jaar woont.
De rest van het jaar woont en werkt hij
in Deep Cove, North Vancouver.

Hij heeft vele Awards op zijn naam staan,
zoals de Alcan Award, voor zijn eerste eigen boek
’A Selection of Neighbourly Birds’


Enkele van zijn werken:

-2002 Illustrated "The Blue Fairy Book"
-2004 Published "Mr Rabbit's Christmas Wish"
-2005 Illustrated "The Wind in the Willows"
-2006 Published "Sketches From the Dream Island of Birds"
-2007 Published "Twenty-one years, Twenty-one Prints"
-2008 Published Mr. Rabbit's Symphony of Nature"