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Artist Follows Long Road

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Artist Follows Long Road

May 4th, 2015 - Thornhill, ON

Rachel Levy Sarfin

Toronto

Correspondent

When Ken Kirsch was in

Grade 1, his teacher asked the students to draw the street where they lived. Kirsch drew the picture as though he were standing at the end of the street. At the far end of the picture the houses looked smaller and the road narrowed into a distant point.

“My teacher freaked out,” he

recounted. She held it up for the whole class to see and explained that Kirsch had drawn a perspective painting, something most 6 year olds can’t do.

Over the years, Kirsch continued to be interested in art.

By Grade 6, he was responsible for the backdrops in school plays. After high school (and a brief stint in the insurance industry), he enrolled in Seneca

College’s graphic design program.

As a student at Seneca,

Kirsch gained an appreciation

for painting, although he set it

aside to pursue a career in advertising.

The Toronto native

had a successful career in the field, establishing Pinpoint

Studios with a fellow Seneca

alumna. Pinpoint Studios was acquired by a larger firm in

1990, and heart issues made

Kirsch reconsider being part of the fast-paced, stressful advertising field. In 1992, he went back into the insurance business, in which he currently works. The career switch also gave Kirsch the opportunity to explore the passion he felt for painting.

The artist focuses on two

subjects: landscapes and

scenes of historic Toronto.

Kirsch’s landscapes are inspired

by his love of the outdoors,

something his late father Moishe instilled within

him. He also attended B’nai

Brith Northland camp for a

number of years, where he fell in love with canoeing.

“I love animals,” he added.

Kirsch enjoys bird watching as well.

His scenes of historic

Toronto were inspired by

Kirsch’s experience in advertising.

In 1980, Gray Coach

Lines hired him. The company gave Kirsch access to its advertising archives, which included many black and white pictures of Toronto in days gone by.

“It was fascinating to me,” he

remarked. Kirsch began going to the library to look at books that described the city’s past, and he also became acquainted with journalist and Toronto historian Mike Filey.

Filey has provided him with

the valuable details that bring

Kirsch’s scenes of old Toronto to life.

“I want to show what it

would look like to open the

door and see Yonge Street in

1910,” he said.

Kirsch’s talent has attracted a

great deal of attention. Since

taking up painting full time,

his work has been featured in

40 shows, and he’s well represented at art galleries across the GTA. You can also find his art at galleries in Gravenhurst and Port Carling.

Between Oct. 24 and 26, five

of Kirsch’s paintings were featured at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in

Kleinburg during its autumn

art sale. It was a prestigious

event in the Canadian art community: the gallery only selects 50 artists from across the country to display their works at the sale.

To view and purchase more

of Kirsch’s work, visit

kenkirsch.com.

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