Earl Cummins
1922 - 2012
Born in the town of Didsbury, Alberta, Earl Porter Cummins was a self-taught, realist, landscape artist, who created sensitive and detailed watercolour renderings, especially of spectacular mountain ranges. His father, John Henry Porter Cummins, immigrated from Ireland, and his mother, Johanna Magdelena Deenik, immigrated from Holland. After her husband died, Johanna moved with five-year-old Earl and his siblings to Northern Ireland to live with relatives, but returned to Didsbury two years later.
Cummins joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and served at the St. Thomas and Brandon bases until 1945. Following the war, he worked in the grocery industry and enjoyed experiencing the glorious vistas of the Spray Lakes area of the Rocky Mountains while witnessing the construction of the Spray Dams. He and his wife Leota eventually moved to an acreage at Winterburn that they transformed into a grove and bird sanctuary. In 1974, Cummins devoted himself to watercolour painting, particularly to depicting the scenic wonders of the Rocky Mountains.
Cummins participated in a variety of group exhibitions including at Stony Plain’s Oppertshauser Gallery, Jasper’s West End Gallery, and Cochrane’s MacKenzie Galleries, and solo exhibitions at Calgary’s Agghazy Gallery and Mount Royal College, Lethbridge’s Coulee Winds Gallery, Nanaimo’s Norsman Galleries, and Edmonton’s West End Gallery. His work lives in the collections of Edmonton City Hall, Toronto City Hall, Chevron Calgary, Gulf Canada, Allarco Developments, Canadian Utilities, Chieftan Developments, and the R. Angus company. The Alberta Heritage Learning Resources Project commissioned Cummins to produce four plates for souvenir books in 1980.
Cummins died at age 90, and was survived by Leota, his wife of nearly 70 years.
Cummins joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and served at the St. Thomas and Brandon bases until 1945. Following the war, he worked in the grocery industry and enjoyed experiencing the glorious vistas of the Spray Lakes area of the Rocky Mountains while witnessing the construction of the Spray Dams. He and his wife Leota eventually moved to an acreage at Winterburn that they transformed into a grove and bird sanctuary. In 1974, Cummins devoted himself to watercolour painting, particularly to depicting the scenic wonders of the Rocky Mountains.
Cummins participated in a variety of group exhibitions including at Stony Plain’s Oppertshauser Gallery, Jasper’s West End Gallery, and Cochrane’s MacKenzie Galleries, and solo exhibitions at Calgary’s Agghazy Gallery and Mount Royal College, Lethbridge’s Coulee Winds Gallery, Nanaimo’s Norsman Galleries, and Edmonton’s West End Gallery. His work lives in the collections of Edmonton City Hall, Toronto City Hall, Chevron Calgary, Gulf Canada, Allarco Developments, Canadian Utilities, Chieftan Developments, and the R. Angus company. The Alberta Heritage Learning Resources Project commissioned Cummins to produce four plates for souvenir books in 1980.
Cummins died at age 90, and was survived by Leota, his wife of nearly 70 years.