BIOGRAPHY
Charles Noel van Sandwyk was born in Johannesburg, South Africa
in 1966. In 1977, he emigrated with his family to Vancouver, Canada. By the early
1980's, he was selling his drawings and watercolours in a style reminiscent of the
old prints and paintings which hung in the family home.
Van Sandwyk studied graphic design at the Capilano College art programme in North
Vancouver. Upon completion in 1986, the wanderlust of younger years sent him travelling
to the South Pacific. He discovered the Fiji Islands, and fell in love with a remote
island and its inhabitants
In that same year, van Sandwyk won an Alcan award for his limited edition book A
Selection of Neighbourly Birds, illustrated with etchings printed on an antique
intaglio press. This first attempt at publishing prompted a passionate venture into
the world of handmade and private press books and prints.
He began to divide his time equally between Vancouver and Fiji, leasing land from
the neighbouring family and building for himself a simple home of grass thatch, in
the traditional island style. Van Sandwyk settled into a pleasurable routine of winter
seasons in Fiji filled with painting and writing, the results of which were brought
back to Canada each summer and prepared for exhibition and publication each autumn.
His watercolours, etchings and books are now collected across North America and in
Europe. The National Library of Canada has maintained archives on his work since
1986, and in 1992 purchased the original drawings and paintings for his children's
book The Parade to Paradise. The book Wee Folk won Juror's Choice award
at the 1994 Seattle Book Fair, and also third prize at the Alcuin Awards '95 for
limited editions.
Van Sandwyk continues to divide his time between Vancouver and his beloved Fiji.
EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
1982 Earth-Sea Gallery, Deep Cove, B.C. one man show "Exhibition of Work"
1985 Salamugundi West, Vancouver B.C. "A Celebration of Nature"
1986 Expo '86 Vancouver: kinetic sculpture at Canada Place
1986 Published "A Collection of Neighbourly Birds" (edition: 126)
1987 Salmagundi West, Vancouver: one man show. "Rara Avis"
1988 Tigers Cafe, Vancouver: one man show, "South for the Winter"
1989 Tigers Cafe, Vancovuer: one man show, "New Word from the South Seas"
1990 Tigers Cafe, Vancouver: one man show, "Tropical Bounty"
1991 Joyce Williams Prints, Vancouver: one man show. "21 New Prints"
1991 Published "Affairs of the Heart According to Birds" (edition: 20)
1991 Surrey Art Gallery, retrospective show in children's gallery "Glimpses of Paradise"
1992 Co-published with Summerwild Productions "The Parade to Paradise"
1992 National Library, Ottawa reception for acquisition of "The Parade to Paradise"
1992 Tigers Cafe, Vancouver: one man show "New Work From the South Seas"
1992 Published "Affairs of the Heart According to Birds"
1993 Published "How to See Fairies" (edition : 1000)
1994 Second Printing "How to See Fairies" (edition : 1000)
1994 Published "Wee Folk" (edition : 40)
1995 Tigers Cafe Vancouver: one man show "Sketches From the Dream Island of Birds"
1995 Published 10th anniversary edition of "Neighbourly Birds" (edition : 2000)
1996 Joyce Williams Prints, Vancouver: one man show, "Sketches From A Tropic Isle"
1996 Published "Sketches From a Tropic Isle" (edition : 1500)
1997 Seymour Art Gallery, Deep Cove: one man show. "Life is Art"
1997 Published "Pocket Guide to the Little People" (edition : 2000)
1999 Published "Animal Wisdom" (edition : 2000)
1999 Tigers Cafe, Vancouver: one man show. "Animal Wisdom"
2000 Published "The Gnome King's Treasure Song" (edition : 3000)
2001 Published "The Fairies Christmas" (edition : 1000)
2002 The Seymour Art Gallery exhibition with children "Charles and the Children"
2002 Published "The Meaning of Mice"(edition : 2000)
2002 Illustrated "The Blue Fairy Book" for the Folio Society, London
2004 Published "Mr Rabbit's Christmas Wish" (edition: 2000)
2005 Illustrated "The Wind in the Willows" for the Folio Society, London
2006 Published "Sketches From the Dream Island of Birds" trade edition (2000)
2007 Published "Twenty-one years, Twenty-one Prints" (edition: 13)
2008 Published Mr. Rabbit's Symphony of Nature" (edition: 2500