Walter J. Phillips | Summers at the Lake

Walter J. Phillips (1884 – 1963) is recognised today as a master of the watercolour and the woodblock print medium. He was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1884 and trained at the Birmingham School of Art. In 1913, he and his wife Gladys emigrated to Winnipeg. Although watercolour was his primary medium, the woodcut print was an enduring interest throughout his career. Among his best-known and loved images are those which depict family holidays at Lake of the Woods. While the family lived in Winnipeg, their summers were often spent at a cottage on the lake. Walter and Gladys had six children, and he spent much of his time during these getaways painting the children, carefree in their youth, as they relished their summers at the lake.