Glen Scrimshaw has always wanted to be a painter.

As a child growing up in Big River, Sask., he remembers drawing on the walls of his family's home while his father did renovations.

The self-taught artist never stopped drawing, even as he worked as a store manager all across northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

"During some of those postings, in one town, there were 80-some people, and there was no telephone. There was a radio phone in the store. There was no television," he said. "I had lots of time on my hands, so I continued to paint and sketch."

Now, 30 years later, Scrimshaw has become a household name across the province. Last year, his design of a canvasback duck made it onto a$10 collectible coin made by the Royal Canadian Mint.

"That has been a pretty big highlight," he said. "My dad was a coin collector, and I spent many hours with him looking at coins, and I can just imagine what he would say if he was here."

Scrimshaw is best known for his detailed nature paintings, often incorporating the northern lights or lightning into his pictures.

"I love nature," he said. "Every time you look at nature, you can see something more... If you look on the shoreline of a lake, all of a sudden you might see a moose on the shore you didn't even know was there. I try to do that in my paintings as well."

Scrimshaw now owns a gallery in Saskatoon and a small framing shop in his home community of Duck Lake, Sask. He thinks he'll be painting for as long as he can.

"It's like breathing," he said. "If I can't paint something for a month, it's like something very important is missing out of my life."

To read the complete article, see:
Sask. artist Glen Scrimshaw celebrates 30 years of making ar (www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/glen-scrimshaw-30-years-art-1.3610823)