Denyse Thomasos 

Denyse Thomasos was a highly successful black woman artist from Mississauga who became a professor, a high achieving award winning artist in New York and in Canada.  A large abstract painting of hers is located at St. Michael’s College in Toronto in the collection of the Rev. Dan Donovan a St. Mike’s professor. Dan Donovan has one of Canada’s finest collections of paintings.  

Rev. Donovan married Denyse and her husband in Toronto a couple of years ago. Denyse died recently when she went for an MRI in New York and  a needle caused a reaction that killed her.  Rev. Donovan conducted the funeral. A large event took place at her Gallery the Olga Korper Gallery in Toronto. She was 47 Years old. 

This even caught the eye of my wife who is related to Rev. Donovan. My wife’s mother & Dan’s grandmother were sisters. 

Tom Thompson

While at the Kahlo/Rivera exhibition we saw some Tom Thompson paintings and saw why he is Canada’s most famous painter.  He died 95 years ago at age 39. 

Archie Belaney 

The brilliant author and conservationist Archie Belaney better known as Grey Owl wrote some remarkable books and some contained some of his lesser known drawings. He will be remembered here and in England this year on the 125^th anniversary of his birth and the 75^th anniversary of his death at age 49 in 1938. 

Ruth Jamieson 

There are other examples of early demise of artists but that of local artist and volunteer Ruth Jamieson shook the North Bay Arts Community last March.  The local Galleries made heartfelt statements at the loss. She worked for me as a secretary in the 1990s and I admired her and her pottery and graphics.  She was 55.