In Waterton Lakes National Park, where prairie meets mountain and lake mirrors sky, visual artist Brent Laycock and author Fred Stenson have found a lifetime of subject and inspiration. Waterton: Brush and Pen brings their work together in celebration of this magical place.
Ninety-one of these splendid and evocative paintings are reproduced here in full colour: from the quiet coulees and prairie panoramas of the foothills to the forest havens, alpine meadows, soaring peaks, and wind-whipped water of Waterton Lakes National Park. His introductory essay and comments on each painting give further insight into the creative process and the artist's deep attachment to his subject.
Accompanying Laycock's paintings are fourteen essays by Stenson, recounting his personal experience of the Waterton area along with reflections on the history and geography of this spectacular, out-of-the-way place. The central theme of his essays is the inescapable influence Waterton exerts on the life and dreams of the people who dwell in its shadow.
Laycock and Stenson are mature, recognized, and award-winning artists in their respective disciplines - and both grew up on farms where the Waterton Rockies beckoned from the western horizon. Waterton is a touchstone for their lives and art, a place of refuge, fun, awe, and adventure to which they have always returned. Their work is formed by independent experience of the same landscape - the harmonies between them are for readers to discover.
"Majestic beauty, Brush and Pen is a beautyful portrait of Waterton park . . . it is obviously a book born out of the creators' love of this place. Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to visit Canada's forth national park will join in their steadfast devotion."
— Fast Forward Weekly (Calgary)
"It's not often you thoroughly enjoy a book while hoping its readership will be limited. However, this is the case with Waterton: Brush & Pen. This ode to Alberta's quiet, dignified "other" national park - Waterton Lakes - is so awe-inspiring that one can't help but fear for the park's sanctity should word spread too far. So it is with some trepidation that I heartily recommend this book. It should go down as an Alberta classic, if for no other reason than its inspired collaboration of contributors: Brent Laycock provides the paintings, Fred Stenson the prose."
— Alberta Views
"Brent's watercolours are full of the movement and sparkle of southern Alberta and are a perfect partner to Fred Stenson's essays. Lyrical and assured, funny and frank, Fred's words capture Waterton's character in Polaroid clarity."
— From the Foreword by Lisa Christensen
Fred Stenson
was raised on a farm and cattle ranch between Pincher Creek and Waterton Lakes National Park. He has written thirteen award-winning books. Stenson is the director of the Wired Writing Studio at The Banff Centre and has been president of the Writers Guild of Alberta and on the council of the Writers Union of Canada. Stenson has written scripts for over 130 films and videos, which have received the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association award for best documentary scripts.
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