Bill Maximick Timeless Mariner History

IT’S BEEN DECADES OF MARINE inspiration for Bill Maximick, through Vancouver Island history mixed with resource-based industries such as Fishing and Logging. As a Fine Artist, Maximick recalls an early start in his art journey. His sister, Teri, has a cookbook from his mother’s collection and on every vacant page are his drawings from when he was very young.

If you’re not familiar with Maximick’s work, you are in for a treat; his fine strokes and transitions are legendary, and recognized at a very high level. Maximick was recently awarded the SS Beaver Medal Award for Maritime Excellence—a prestigious medal awarded annually to up to four individuals for outstanding contributions to BC’s marine sector. Maximick was presented this medal award at CFB Esquimalt by Admiral John Anderson (Ret’d) in December 2022.

Sitting with Maximick, he has an easy style about him which feels familiar. He shares that he still has a charcoal drawing from when he was 14. Maximick used to sketch cars, now in the classic category, which would make him a little walking around money. At Edmonds Junior High, in Burnaby BC, Maximick had an Art Teacher, Jack Hardman, and he thought his teacher should be known and shown as a fine artist. When discussing with Hardman, the teacher noted that it is not an easy road as an artist.

Maximick was always asked to create backdrops for the theatre productions in high school, along with other art-based projects. “Probably the best influence for me was Mr. Hardman. He didn’t criticize and he encouraged and supported what was right,” he shares. “Some teachers point out the worst in your work, not the best. That makes it so difficult for those who are trying to learn and become better artists”.

Maximick has spent a lifetime on or by the water working in commercial fishing and tugboat transport. When he was 16 he got a job decking on a tug; when the summer was over he had made some really good money and decided to stay with it. Maximick took the high risk high paying work to raise his family and create stability while still dabbling in the world of Art.

It was in 1977 that Maximick had his first Art Show. He was looking for direction to go with his art. “When I was a faller in logging camps, I would work on my art in the evenings. I would get inundated with compliments from my co-workers. I decided I needed to have a show,” he reminisces. He began reaching out to Fine Art Galleries and connected with Bill and Rosland Bowie at 207 Government Street – Emily Carr’s House in Victoria. It was discussed and decided the gallery would host Maximick for his first show. He needed 30 pieces to have a proper show which is a big undertaking; he had a television interview that promoted this show and Maximick showed 13 of his pieces. As a result of the interview, he was offered his next show at Victoria’s Maritime Museum in 1978.

Then a letter arrived from Middlesbrough, England. The Captain Cook Museum wanted to host his work of Cook and Chief Maquinna at first contact, which historically happened on Nootka Island, located outside Gold River on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The piece is now part of the permanent collection there. Maximick was approached by the coveted Grosvenor Gallery in Vancouver; it turned out to be a solid relationship and he had 3 shows there. His piece ‘Swiftsure’ was featured in the gallery’s main window on Howe Street and of course sold, along with many other pieces.

Continuing his vision to show his work, it was in 1987 when he was juried and invited to participate in the Living Nature Show. Mila Mulroney’s Women’s Caucus invited him to jury submit for this special fundraising show. 57 pieces were chosen and two were his. Maximick and his wife Rena went back to Ottawa to attend Opening Night of the Living Nature Show – it was all black tie and the food was over the top. Many connections were made at that reception; one memorable connection was another artist Hugh Cunningham, who worked in bronze and marble. Cunningham told the Maximicks if they were ever in Montreal to visit his gallery. They made the detour and decided to visit the gallery on South Sherbrook Street; it was an amazing time, Bill recalls. Meanwhile back at the Living Nature Show, his paintings were the first two to sell by sealed envelope bid.

The Maximicks had a gallery for many years in Comox on Nordin Street and then moved the gallery to Courtenay in February 2003. When COVID first started, the Maximicks closed their Courtenay gallery for the first three months and like most in business, they didn’t know what would happen. They gutted it out and made it through without taking any assistance.

With a slow restart their framing service started to pick up again, but they couldn’t host painting classes. Students have started to come back slowly and it’s beginning to pick up where they left off. Maximick has taught many the fine art of painting through the years.

When Maximick started commercial fishing with Kerry Frank, Geary Cranmer, an Artist from the K’omoks Nation, was fishing with Hereditary Chief Norman Frank. Cranmer decided he was going to try to paint and Maximick gave him a canvas at his old house on 5th Street in Courtenay. If you have seen Geary Cranmer’s work today, rest assured he is extremely talented, but like all good artists had some help along the way.

As Maximick continues to create and paint, he starts with his backgrounds until he is ready to dig into the finer body of his work. He continues to work away and currently is sketching the steamship, SS Beaver which sank at Prospect Point in 1888. “I always sketch using willow charcoal to start,” he shares.

When asked about his favourite subject matter, of course it is marine work, but also the locations that are special and close to home. He notes his piece ‘the Grappler’ when the settlers arrive in K’omoks and another period piece of Cumberland in 1908 with the Genge’s Milk Wagon going down the street in the snow. Maximick doesn’t paint to paint; he enjoys sharing the story of the piece.

He and Rena reside in Comox along with their pet bearded dragon, Charm, who is a Citrus Tiger. Their gallery in Courtenay, Maximick’s Originals, is open almost every day and he invites you to visit and adds, “It’s a great journey and it’s not over.”

ANY 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY In the 1970s, Britain’s rising punk rock scene swept over the country’s rambunctious youth. Wildly popular bands like the Sex Pistols and the Clash performed for massive crowds and their influence spread to North America.

A world away in Saanich, BC, Jade Blade, Carmen “Scout” Michaud, and Dale Powers listened to their rambunctious records and soaked in the anti-establishment punk rock ethos. In 1977 the three highschoolers formed a band—the Dishrags were born.

The Dishrags were one of North America’s first all-female punk bands. In a music genre that was already obscure, they were an oddity in the male-dominated punk-rock scene. Jade Blade wailed on the guitar, Carmen “Scout” Michaud beat the drums, while Dale Powers slapped the bass. They all shared vocals.

Some audience members failed to appreciate the all-female trio and even threw beer bottles at the 14- and 15-year-old teens. At some gigs, establishment owners wouldn’t want them to play on the venue drum kits or use the amps because they thought girls would break them.

But the punk scene was mostly positive. They played in what was considered to be Vancouver’s very first punk rock concert at the Japanese Hall. They would continue to perform in Vancouver the following year (while still attending high school) and in 1979 opened for a band they had only two years earlier admired from afar.

In January 1979 they opened for the Clash at the Commodore Ballroom. After that show the Clash invited them to open again at their next stop in Seattle.

The band began with covers then moved into writing their own songs and worked with Modern Records out of Seattle. They released two 3-track Eps: Past is Past in 1979, and Death in the Family in 1980.

The band disbanded in 1980 for reasons known only fully to the band members. Fast forward to 1997 and they re-released all of their original recordings in an album called Love/Hate.

In 2010 the old band got back together. The documen tary “Bloodied but Unbowed” spotlighted them, and in the same year they toured Japan with the Pointed Sticks.

Their legacy lives on in today’s rebellious punk youth. The group trailblazed for both the punk scene in BC and female punks. Today, women dressed in punk attire are sometimes referred to as dishrags.

Dave is the publisher of Vancouver Island History, a freelance writer, and an editor. He writes about history, but also other lesser-known, remarkable stories hiding in plain sight.