Keith Eldridge  

visual artist, calligraphy, Canada

After early training in art at the Nova Scotia College of Art, Halifax, and later moving to England, Keith trained in commercial art at the Ipswitch school of Arts and Crafts and worked in London as an illustrator. When the war intervened, he served in the armed forces of Britain in the Far East.

Returning to Canada in 1948 to pursue his art career in Toronto, Keith worked in a variety of enterprises until he returned to the Atlantic area with the intention of devoting himself to painting full time, taking various positions in the display ad decorating fields to support himself.

Keith has exhibited widely in the Maritimes and has held one man shows in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. His themes have been nature, calligraphy, the human figure and manipulating light as an analogy for spiritual awareness and progress.

Keith´s work is represented in many private collections in the Maritimes, as well as in other parts of Canada, England, Scotland, the United States, Africa and the Far East. He now lives in Sussex with his wife Janet, where he devotes himself to studying art as a mental and spiritual activity, and continues his interest in calligraphy. He has given numerous workshops on the development and uses of calligraphy at the New Brunswick Craft School in Frederiction NB.

One of his calligraphy pieces has recently been published in a collection in the United States. It is called Lettering Arts.

Keith and his wife Janet have long been active in work promoting the United Nations. "The duty if the Artist,´ says William Blake "is to have visions, and dream dreams."
"My vision," says Keith "is to produce art that reflects the mood of the 21st century, unity and reconciliation between peoples."

He is at present working on paintings that express concern over animal habitat and environmental destruction.