NO ARTS FOUND BY ARTIST

Born in 1942, second of seven children, Gerry grew up on a ranch near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, in the heart of the Canadian prairies. An expert horseman at an early age, he spent his free time roaming the historic Cypress Hills, acquiring a kinship with the wild and the free. To him the First Nations winter camp on the outskirts of Maple Creek, the enormous buffalo wallows he played in as a child and the hundred yard ribbon of wagon ruts crossing the ranch towards the Hills, all attested to the reality and richness of our Heritage. During his school years Gerry excelled in equestrian events, sporting events and art classes, but the love for horses and the outdoors was his passion. His school teachers labelled him a dreamer.
Gerry grew-up on the back of a horse in the summer and on his trap line in the winter, A sharp jackknife always in his pocket, from a piece of wood he carved his toys and necessary tools for survival, his mother said he was born a hundred years too late. 1961 saw him graduate from high school. The following year he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After training in firefighting and crash rescue he spent the next five years in Canadian Forces Bases Grotonquin and Marville, France. In the Base Fire Hall in Marville is where he began to explore his talent and started his first challenging carving project.
In 1968 Gerry was posted to Winnipeg, Manitoba and decided to end his Air Force career and go back to the family ranch which had relocated in southern Alberta. He took back to Canada with him a deep appreciation of the rich Art and Culture of the European countries. They ranched in Scandia, Alberta for the next sixteen years and raised three wonderful children. In the community and district, Gerry organized and trained the Volunteer Fire Department, and was the Fire Chief there for ten years.
In 1984 they moved to Chilliwack. Here Gerry was employed as a firefighter at Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack, and when not working on the Base, operated his own renovation business. It’s during this time he created many more beautiful pieces. The British Columbia forests provided a bountiful variety of medium. However, he had not yet found his true calling. In 1995 an accident amputated the four fingers of his left hand, making it impossible to hold the wood sculptures while working on them. Out of necessity, he turned to the stone as a medium. Incredibly, with the limited use of his left hand and no formal training in the Arts, Gerry can turn large lumps of stone into detailed three dimensional images.
Today, if not spending time with his grandchildren, or Barbershop singing, you will find him in his studio, putting his imagination and perception into preserving,
with love, a piece of our Heritage. Check out my website at: www.geraldsandau.com