The Artist Formally Known for His Prints

By JD Boyd aka CCRyder

 

Last year at the Calgary World of Wheels I had the pleasure to meet an upcoming Alberta artist. Allen Moir, like many of us, is at that mid point in life where he finds it is more important to follow his passion in life than to merely exist chasing the all mighty dollar.

 

Allen started drawing early in school and his first work consisted mainly of famous portraits such as the Beatles, John Wayne and Bob Marley. He told me that he wanted people to immediately recognize his subjects and has been doing realist style work ever since. The various mediums he works with are pencil, ink, watercolor, and acrylics.

 

His first bike was a 1956 Triumph Trophy chopper, followed by a 1978 AMF Sportser. Years later he took Landscape Architecture at NAIT. This got him into architectural drawing, which naturally evolved with his love of motorcycles and brought his artwork to where we see it today. He also enjoys throwing some Native American themes into his work.

 

After attending the Bike show in Edmonton last winter he decided to actively pursue his dream and started doing limited edition prints of his personal favorite drawings. From a modest beginning that saw merely three prints at his first show (all Harley-Davidson) Allen now has close to twenty available, including H-D, BMW, Triumph, Yamaha, and Indian. Most of these are incorporated with local landscapes or Native American themes.

 

Besides hitting the show circuit in Western Canada Allen is always attending the local rallies in search of inspiration that he can use for his next masterpiece. To create an even balance and return something to the community Allen also donates his talents to local causes such as the Calgary Salvation Army Toy Run, Ride For Sight, and the Christian Motorcycle Assn. He immortalized Walt Healey in two separate drawings, which he donated to last year’s rides. One was a 10 print limited edition that was auctioned off during the ride to raise money for the Salvation Army.

 

Using turn of the century wood from the rapidly disappearing pioneer homesteads of rural Alberta he creates unique rustic frames to accent his artwork and actually give you a piece of our western heritage.

 

Recently Allen has started a website www.bukidnon.ca to promote his growing portfolio and is currently working on a British series. You can order limited edition prints of his existing catalogue or commission him to do custom work.

 

Catch Bukidnon International at many of the upcoming events and you can watch Allen work or score one of his many prints framed or not, and put some original Alberta artwork on your walls.