Derek's Biography

Derek Rickwood has been establishing himself as Vancouver Island's most accomplished artist in custom oil paintings.

Since completing his first commission in 1987, Derek has completed eight custom paintings. After Derek completed his diploma in Fine Arts at Malaspina College in 1986 and having studied only one year of oil painting, he completed his first custom oil painting commission of Renoir's "Spring Bouquet" (1987) for Sharon & Al Slaughter of Nanoose Bay, B.C.. Derek's first original commission was created a year later, entitled "Eagle Point" (1988) for David Strang, a local successful financial investment planner. Derek went on with the degree transfer program and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1990 from the University of Victoria, B.C.. During this time he painted his third commission of Monet's "Seine at Bougival" (1989) for Joe & Eloise Bratkowski of Nanaimo.

Since then, Derek has painted six custom oil painting commissions. He painted Monet's "Village on the Seine" (1992) for Bradley Thompson's home, "Noon at Cascais" (1995) for David Strang's office, which was followed by another commission, entitled "Santorini Sunset" (1996) for Scott and Suzanne Currie's home. The next painting commission, entitled "Sunrise at Long Lake" (1997) was created by Derek for the certified general accounting office of Douglas A. Johnston. This was the first time Derek painted from a photography he had taken.

His next painting commission offered him an opportunity to show his art work to an international audience at the world renowned Aerie Resort. This resort is known world wide for many of its impressive attributes, including its breathtaking view. It is with this in mind, Leo & Maria Schuster commissioned Derek to create a painting that would capture an incredible sunrise that can be seen from their resort. A unique business opportunity that no other artist has been given by the Schuster family. On March 30th 1997, with his camera in hand, Derek experienced a sunrise at the Aerie. He went back to his studio and after spending over a hundred hours on his oil canvas, he created "View from the Aerie" (1997).

The next commission, "Winter Scene on the Rideau Canal" (1998) was created for Paul St. John, a prominent businessman from Ottawa. This commission is apparently the first of a series of paintings that will be painted for Mr. St. John. Derek's most recent commission was painted for the Driver family of Nanaimo, entitled "Outback Puerto Vallarta" (1998). This painting was specially commissioned by Dean Driver for his wife, Ida, to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

His first mural was created on the back wall of a stage, entitled "Rialto Bridge" (1996) in a popular hall owned and operated by an Italian society called Cavallotti Lodge of Nanaimo. The mural's dimensions are nine feet high by sixteen feet wide. The Grande Canal scene was selected to give the hall the illusion of added length. The mural's realistic style impressed the society's membership so much that instead of traditionally framing the artwork, they framed the beautiful mural to resemble the view from a real balcony in Venice, Italy. Derek finished "Rialto Bridge" by signing it in front of a special capacity crowd, including the Italian Consulate General and his wife, during a Columbus celebration on Saturday, October 5th, 1996. Apparently, the news of the mural was acknowledged in Toronto and as far away as Rome.

Derek has also been very busy with community charity work. He has produced four successful art and fine dining related fund-raisers in the past two years; two for the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation, one for the Malaspina University-College Foundation, and another for Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children Foundation.

Derek was born (1958) in Comox, Vancouver Island, B.C.. Today he and his wife, Lisa and their three sons, Dane, Dilan & Dion live in Nanaimo. He is currently working on another commission for Mr. St. John of Ottawa and has two other customers reserved for commissions.