Canadian athletes will not be the only ones showcasing their talents at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Turner Valley artist Gordon Milne will unveil his portraits of some of Canada's most decorated athletes during the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The Olympics will also be a significant moment for Turner Valley artist Gordon Milne who will unveil his portraits of some of Canada’s most decorated athletes for the world to see.

On Day 3 of the 2010 Winter Olympics Milne will be in the spotlight during an opening reception for his “Canadian Sport Heroes” portrait series at the Olympic oval in Richmond.

For the past 10 years Milne has been meeting and researching a dozen athletes who have earned international recognition in a variety of sports. The result is a series of 12 colourful paintings, averaging 4 feet wide by 6 feet high, of Canada’s sport stars who have earned Olympic medals, international championships or both. Among the athletes featured in the series are swimmer Alex Baumann, figure skater Kurt Browning, boxer Willie de Wit, rower Silken Laumann, hockey player Cassie Campbell, speed skaters Gaetan Boucher and Catriona Le May Doan, and decathlete Michael Smith.

“It’s so inspiring to meet people like this,” said Milne. “They’ve moved from being internationally acclaimed athletes to being accomplished in other fields as well.”

To create their portraits, Milne meets with an athlete, sketches out a likeness and gets a feel for the athlete’s personality. When sitting down with each athlete Milne said he could sense there was something that set these athletes apart from their peers.

“There seems to be a common thread through all of them. It’s a sense of them being self-contained, confident and friendly. There certainly is a sense of greatness. There’s a composure about every one of them,” said Milne.

The experience of getting to know such accomplished, confident and down-to-earth athletes has had an impact on Milne.

“I’ve learned a lot from them, mostly tiny things that are hard to pinpoint. But I’m a lot more confident about my painting and what I can achieve and that’s entirely up to meeting these people,” said Milne. “When I started doing these portraits I found it very intimidating to sit down with a blank piece of paper and sketch them. When you do a portrait they have expectations and the portraits I do, they’re not the run of the mill style. So for the athletes it’s a leap of faith.

“I’ve spoken to all the athletes afterwards and they’re happy with them, so I now sit down and know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

One of his most recent subjects, four-time World Champion and three-time Olympian Kurt Browning, wrote to Milne that he was not only comfortable with the portrait, he was honoured.

“I really like it. I’m really comfortable with the image and glad I am a part of the Canadian Sport Heroes Collection. I am honoured and truly think you ‘got’ me,” said Browning.

The portraits convey the physical likeness, but they also convey a feeling for the athlete’s personality, which may come through Milne’s use of geometric shapes and vibrant colours. It’s a technique Milne has been refining during the 10-year period he has been working on the project and recently he has shifted from relying on preliminary drawings to relying on his impressions of the subject that come from having a good chat.

“The last painting I did was more of an intuitive process,” said Milne. “The colours I choose are very important to the person’s personality.

“The thing I’ve learned in the last three to four paintings is that I finally trust what I’m doing, artistically and that’s why I didn’t have to use the drawings very much. I just let it be.”

Milne refined his skill thanks to the Canadian Sport Centre, a Calgary-based organization that helps athletes compete in international competitions. They believed in the project, commissioned Milne to create the portraits and lined up the financial sponsor, ARC Energy Trust.

In 2008, when Milne had nine portraits completed,  the Canadian Sport Centre hosted an opening reception. The exhibition at the Olympics will feature three new paintings to the series: Kurt Browning, Cassie Campbell and Greg Joy.

After 10 years and 12 portraits, Milne said he finally feels like he has reached his own level of accomplishment.

“I’ve always stayed away from calling myself an artist because anybody who paints or draws calls themselves an artist. But I think I’ve reached a point, which this last painting (a portrait in his new series on Canadian ballet dancers) where I can say, ‘I’m an artist,’ and be comfortable and not embarrassed about it,” said Milne.

Milne is just beginning the Canadian ballet portrait series and is looking for a sponsor. He will continue creating portraits of Canadian athletes and is looking for a new sponsor for that project as well.

The “Canadian Sport Heroes” collection will be unveiled on Feb. 14 during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. For more on the series see www.gordonmilneart.com/heroes

tneely@okotoks.greatwest.ca

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