Roy Henry Vickers marks 80th with retrospective on 50 years of art

Roy Henry Vickers, the renowned B.C. Indigenous artist known for clean lines, vivid colours, and natural themes reflecting the rugged beauty of British Columbia, is marking his 80th birthday with a career retrospective. "The Best of Roy Henry Vickers: 80 Selected Works" celebrates both his 50-plus years as a professional artist and his milestone birthday. Vickers was born on June 4, 1946. The idea for the book came from his longtime collaborator Robert "Lucky" Budd, who convinced Vickers that after eight decades and more than 50 years as an artist, it was important to select works from that period to celebrate the milestone. "He's the one that has been inspiring me to put out more books," Vickers said. Vickers admitted the selection was difficult. "When he asked me what pieces I would want in there, it was very difficult for me because I love all of my works. They're all inspired by a story or a place that I've been to," he said. "I told him, 'Well, you will have to get some help to pick the pieces because it's not something I could do.'" Vickers loved drawing from an early age—so much so it got him in trouble at school. His teacher, Ms. Buckle, made him write "I will not draw in math class" a hundred times and took away his drawings. Years later, she showed up at his gallery in Tofino. "I said, 'Oh, Ms. Buckle, I remember you taking my drawings away.' And she said, 'Yes. And I put them in a little cardboard box.'" Vickers later offered to trade anything in the gallery for those early works, but Ms. Buckle never found them. Vickers was rejected from the RCMP because of colour-blindness but got a job with the Saanich Fire Department. His colleagues convinced him to pursue art full-time instead. "They said, 'Well, if you keep working here and collecting a paycheque, you won't work as hard as you would if you didn't have a job and you had to rely on your art.'" He went to art school in Hazelton and graduated in 1974. "Fifty-two years ago and I sold my first two editions of prints, and I realized I was on my way," he said. Looking back over five decades, Vickers sees real evolution in his style. "I can see the progression from very traditional work to a contemporary expression of who Roy Henry Vickers is as a Canadian who is Tsimshian, Haida, Heiltsuk, English, Irish, French, German...a real Canuck!" One of his more notable assignments was designing a cover for "Pacific Northwest '73–'74: The Complete Recordings," a 19-CD limited edition boxed set released by the Grateful Dead in 2018. Working with two women from Rhino Records proved challenging when their visions differed, but Vickers explained what the phrase "Grateful Dead" meant to him: "When you are standing in the strength and the truth and beauty of who you are and you're speaking and telling your story and touching people, your ancestors on the other side are whispering to themselves very excitedly."