Birches

Terry Watkinson was born in 1940 in what is now Thunder Bay, Ontario, where he was raised in the northern Ontario landscape that would later become central to his artistic vision. After completing high school, he moved to Toronto to study architecture at the University of Toronto, where he spent two years developing skills in structure, precision, draftsmanship, and perspective that would later inform his artistic practice. However, his academic path took an unexpected turn when he left his architectural studies to join the rock band Max Webster as keyboardist alongside Kim Mitchell.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Watkinson gained national prominence as a member of Max Webster, touring extensively throughout North America and Europe for eight years. The band achieved considerable commercial success, playing to sold-out audiences in major venues such as Maple Leaf Gardens and recording six gold and platinum albums. This period of intense touring and performance provided Watkinson with experiences that would later influence his artistic approach, particularly in terms of rhythm, bold gestures, and dynamic communication in his visual work.

Following the dissolution of Max Webster, Watkinson returned to the University of Toronto to pursue a different academic path. He earned a challenging Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Illustration, a field that required precise technical skills and detailed anatomical knowledge. After graduation, he taught surgical illustration and perspective drawing for the university's Biomedical Communications program. His work in this field appeared in numerous medical textbooks and journals, demonstrating his ability to combine artistic skill with scientific accuracy and technical precision.

Watkinson eventually transitioned from medical illustration to focus on fine art painting, drawing upon his diverse background in architecture, music, and scientific illustration. His paintings are characterized by their brilliant sense of light, depth, and emotion, particularly in his wilderness scenes and cityscapes. Working exclusively in oil paints on canvas, he creates largely stylized landscapes of northern Ontario, often assembling imaginary scenes using elements from the Canadian landscape he experienced during his Thunder Bay childhood. Rather than depicting specific locations, he prefers to construct composite scenes that capture the essence of the northern Canadian environment.

His artistic style reflects the synthesis of his varied life experiences. From his architectural training, he incorporates structural understanding and the science of perspective; from his medical illustration background, he draws discipline and anatomical knowledge; and from his musical career, he brings rhythm, expansive gestures, and communicative energy to his canvases. Watkinson has maintained regular exhibition schedules over the past two decades, typically presenting one or two feature gallery exhibitions annually. Beyond painting, he has continued his involvement with music, releasing an album titled "Ask" that features him performing on keyboards, saxophone, pedal steel guitar, and vocals, and has contributed artwork to album covers, including the 1993 cover for Klaatu's compilation album "Peaks."