Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/433799
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 1 8 3 O ne of the finest sporting and wildlife artists of our time, Jack Cowin of Regina, Saskatchewan, passed away in September at the age of 67. Jack's health had been iffy for a while, and after being stricken while visiting his son in Illinois he died during emergency surgery there. A passionate fly fisherman, bird hunter, and dog man—he was deeply involved in the Canadian springer spaniel scene and in later years took a fancy to German wirehaired pointers—Jack was a longtime member of the art faculty at the University of Regina. Admired, respected, and even beloved by colleagues and students alike, he worked primarily as a printmaker. His hand-pulled etchings of gundogs, game- birds, gamefish, and other wildlife are notable for their delicacy, their refinement, and for their ability to convey the spirit, personality, and character of their subjects. Jack was not the kind of artist who imposed his style; he was the kind of artist who used his style to illuminate, reveal, and strike a resonant chord in the soul of the viewer. In the mid-2000s Jack recruited me to make a minor contribution to a major project: a limited-edition Tom Davis u n d o g s G boxed portfolio of his gundog and game bird etchings called Upland. My assignment was to come up with a short but evocative essay on the delights of hunting upland birds, an essay that Jack, in turn, would typeset by hand, print on the same heavy vellum as the etchings, and use as a sort of Introduction to the portfolio. Which he did. Jack bankrolled the project himself, and I don't think he ever came close to recouping his investment. In fact, A renowned wildlife and sporting artist, Jack Cowin passed away in September 2014. His paintings covered his two main passions: fly angling and upland hunting. He is perhaps best known for his etchings of bird dogs. A noted gundog artist passes away and an idea inspired by a women's magazine that's fit to print. EngliSH SETTEr courtesy collector's covey