TIIE HERALD Wednnday May 1H- Page Georgetown painter remembered Frank C Black had an artists zest for living By JOHN SOMMER Herald Special Frank C Black the fine old painter who had lived in this town for years died a year ago on May at the Georgetown District Memorial Hospital Let me tell you something about him He was born in England and came to Toronto by way of Ber muda in His ancestors were boatbuilders He inherited his sense of craftmanship from them In Toronto he apprenticed at a commercial art house and even tually worked for Publishers He enlisted with the 48th Highlanders in 1915 and was sent to the battlefields in France where millions of young men lost their lives Frank almost lost his He was wounded twice the second time so severely that he was in hospitals for about two years from February 1918 to December 1920 To the day he died his body sheltered the of war steel pieces close to his heart that could have lulled him at any time But instead of slowing him down this threat added zest to his life Whenever he had saved some money he used it to pursue bis goal to become a painter During the Twenties he took courses at the On tario College of Art and at the Arts Students League in New York Ci ty His living be made by returning to MacLeans after the war He married in but the first years of Franks and Lillians married life were hard years depression years with Frank barely manag ing as a freelance commercial ar tist However serious painting was never far from his mind For two summers in the Thirties he went to Massachusetts to paint with Emiel Gruppe and Stanley Wood ward two acknowledged masters of marine painting In 1938 he got a job on a newspaper in Bermuda and the Blacks had four glorious years there years that left many traces in Franks subsequent work When the Blacks returned to Toronto in the Bryant Press became Franks employer and he stayed there to which was the year he retired Before that in 1952 the Blacks bought a house in Georgetown the house they would live in for 36 years During his years in Toronto Frank had come in touch with many of the artists there Arthur Lismer for instance was his teacher at the Ontario College of Art and and Nicholas Homyansky were his friends Others like he met through his work at the Bryant Press or at exhibitions of the On tario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in which he took part In Georgetown he missed the company of these people but he soon assembled a new circle of friends and pupils Dorothy Stone became a close friend and the Palette and Pencil Club which he started gave him the opportunity to develop his considerable talents for teaching When I came to Georgetown in Frank Black was soon pointed out to me In those days I was more at home with the work of artists of my own generation but I learned to appreciate what Frank had to give Public Information Centre Mountainview Road The Region of Halton is undertaking a Preliminary Design Study for Road Regional Road 1 3 through the Silver Creek Valley area The following public information cen tre is being held to provide area residents with an opportunity to review alternative improvement plans Wednesday May 24 1 989 pm to 900 pm in the Committee Room at the Town of Halton Hills Administration Building Trafalgar Road North of Maple Avenue Members of the public are invited to drop in at their convenience and discuss the study with representatives from the Region and their consultant If you require any additional information regarding this study please contact MR PEng Director of Engineering Services Regional Municipality of 23 6 South Service Road West PO Box Ontario L6J6E1 REGIONAL CLERK he was such an honest man and I became very fond of his company and his work He was generous with his time and he loved to talk Even his serious pronouncements had a humorous quality am a landscape painter he once said to me but the way things are going around here a few more years and no landscape will be left to paint He was critical of the rapacious greed that leads to the ravishment of the countryside and he was at times saddened that the world had become such a warlike place during his lifetime He and his wife lived modestly surrounded by Franks paintings They hated all waste and never owned a car They loved to travel and Frank always came back from a trip with drawings and sketches to make paintings from We have almost forgotten bow to honor people like Frank In our society the biggest noisemakers usually get the biggest attention He was an example in more than one way I hope that the people of Georgetown will never forget him Mens GWG Pants Mens Work Pants Shirts Reg 1000 Ladies Bikini Underwear Reg 125 Ladles Casual TShirts Assorted Prints Reg 750 Youth Puma Runners Reg S2597 1298 Boys 100 Cotton Pants Colors 816 Reg 1000 500 A Selection of Assorted Fashions 30 50 Stedmans ACTON STEDMANS ONLY WMeSuRpUesLask 17 Mill Street East Acton Ont STORE HOURS 99 Sat 96