Kevin Roach in his Roach Tackle Studio

Since 1992, Kevin Roach has been amusing cottage owners and fish lovers with his original folk art. From his signature fish chairs and tables to his kitschy lamps, his style and sense of humour evoke the golden age of Ontario cottage country.

 

Using the fish from his native Ontario as inspiration, he honours the true traditions of folk art. As a self-taught painter and carver, he combines new designs and old discarded items with distinctive, amusing and often practical results.

 

Kevin was born in Grimsby, Ontario but his Cape Breton roots have served as a strong influence in his art. His father’s wooden carvings have surrounded him all his life and his mother’s innovative practicality has taught him the art of creative recycling. For the past seven years Kevin has focused on paintings that combine his evolving style of folk simplicity with a tongue in cheek storytelling to match.

 

Over the past number of years he has been featured in the finer art and craft shows throughout Ontario, such as the One Of A Kind Show, Muskoka Arts and Crafts Show, The Cabbagetown Festival and the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition where he earned the Canada Trust Award for best folk artist in 1997. His work has been featured in several publications Chatelaine, Select Homes in Canada, Toronto Star and Cottage Life.

Among his most exciting commissions has been his work for Absolut Vodka. The 1997 advertising campaign in Cottage Life Magazine, which featured his wonderful chairs, has been one of their most successful campaigns in Canada.

 

His work can be found on the end of the more inviting docks throughout Canadian cottage country, as well as in private collections in the United States, Japan, and Sweden.

 

Kevin lives in Toronto with his wife and their two daughters.

 

 

 

Selected Awards and Exhibits

 

Fishermen Never Lie                                                                  

Solo Show                                                                                 

Down East Gallery,                                                                    

December, 2001

 

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibiton

Canada Trust Award

Toronto Best Folk Artist 1997

 

Ojibway Club Art Show

Pointe au Baril, Ontario

2000-2008

 

Rails End Gallery

Solo Show 

Haliburton, Ontario

August, 2001

 

Tails My Father Told Me

Solo Show

Down East Gallery, Toronto                                                             

May, 2000                                                                                        

 

Discovered Archives of the Roach Tackle Bait Co.

Solo Show

Tamarack Gallery, Muskoka, Ontario

August, 2000

 

Sit Down and Take A Stand

Pen Canada Benefit Auction

Toronto

May, 1998

 

The Grimsby Beach Boat Co

Solo Show

Grimsby Public Art Gallery

Grimsby, Ontario

December 2005