Family marks150 Years in Art

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Harry Heine, "Princess Marguerite" n.d.

limited edition print, image size 16" X 22"

Canada may be celebrating its 150th anniversary, but one Canadian family can boast its own landmark – a combined total of 150 years of making art. There’s a good chance you have seen the work of the Heine family of British Columbia on coins and stamps or in books and advertising. But along with commercial illustration, family members have created oil and watercolour paintings for galleries. The patriarch is Harry Heine, who lived from 1928 to 2004 and was the first Canadian elected to the Royal Society of Marine Artists in Britain. His children include daughters Caren, a botanical painter, and Jennifer, who is active in the Federation of Canadian Artists. Heine's son, Mark, has worked for clients such as Disney, Sony, Microsoft and Starbucks, and Mark’s daughter, Sarah, is a photographer studying at the University of Victoria. Their three-generation exhibition, Canadian Legacy, is showing at the McMillan Arts Centre in Parksville on Vancouver Island from May 2 to May 27.

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Mark Heine, "Duress, Study," 2015

oil on canvas, 30" x 36"

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Mark Heine, "Encounter," 2016

oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

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Mark Heine, "Anarchy," 2016

oil on canvas, 45" x 50"

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Mark Heine, "Deliverance," 2017

oil on canvas, 40" x 48"

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Mark, who lives in Victoria, says the show is a tribute to their father. “He was a really big influence on the direction we all chose to go,” says Mark. “That’s why we thought it would be good to put together a Heine family show.” Mark, whose work is featured on 42 postage stamps in circulation in various countries, has been painting for galleries for the last 11 years, topping off 23 years as an illustrator. In Parksville, he is showing some 20 works from his Sirens series, which illustrates a young adult novel he hopes to publish. Mark started the manuscript during a sailing trip from Victoria to Hawaii. His sirens, conduits between sea life and humans, relay messages about marine pollution and environmental destruction. The family exhibits at The Gallery in Oak Bay Village in Victoria, and Mark is also represented by the Peninsula Gallery in Sidney, B.C.