Remembering Bill Brownridge

It’s with great sadness that we announce the passing of our friend and artist Bill Brownridge. For over 25 years Bill has been one of our gallery artists who consistently supplied us with quality paintings right into his nineties. Bill Brownridge turned his passion for the game of hockey  into a legacy of timeless  fine art and will be remembered for his unique contribution to art in Canada. All of us at Mayberry Fine Art will miss Bill’s great sense of humour and those delightful, happy paintings.

From the moment a child laces their first pair of skates to an epic NHL win, Bill Brownridge captured the excitement and joy of hockey in his paintings in a way that few artists have been able to do. Bill approached these moments in his work, no matter how mundane they may seem, with the care and reverence of an artist that held the joy of sport and art in equal measure. 

Born in 1932 in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, Bill’s love for the sport emerged as a young boy watching his older brothers play hockey.  He had an illness that affected his mobility, but became enthralled nevertheless by the “power and poetry” of the game. Despite his Spina Bifida, Brownridge played hockey to the best of his abilities and then transmuted his love of the sport into paintings and much-loved children’s books. Over the course of an illustrious artistic career, Brownridge authored 5 books, 4 about hockey and 1 about the railway. The Moccasin Goalie was inspired by his own experience stepping in as a goalie for a junior game in North Battleford with rubber shoes over his moccasins. He dedicated one of his books, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Fight, to “all the boys and girls who don’t make the team but love the game”. 

Brownridge worked in commercial design before pivoting to a full time art practice in 1995. As his paintings developed, his legacy in commercial art lived on in the form of the uniform for the Calgary Flames worn between 1994-2000. Bill’s work came to be known for his use of bright colours and impasto paint application that buzzes with excitement and fun. His work is present in important private and corporate collections around North America.