Untitled Jack Wise

Jack Wise was devoted to learning and creating, but he also often took on the role of teacher. The arts community was able to share in his knowledge, skill and inspiration, while at the same time benefiting from the foundation of programmes that continue today, such as the Victoria College of Art. He was involved in showing the work of other artists and both edited and wrote the forward for the catalogue of the Mystic Circle exhibit, held in Burnaby, B.C. in 1973. He also wrote an introduction to a portfolio of prints by Lin Chien-Shih that same year, sharing his knowledge and insight through text, rather than his powerful images or technical demonstrations.

Wise moved to Mexico in 1958, to San Miguel de Allende. There, he lived with other artists, and taught classes in textile work for the local peoples. He left this situation in 1961 and moved to British Columbia, initially giving up painting for farming, but eventually giving classes in Nelson.

Jack's students reveal that he had a quiet way of teaching, using a few, carefully chosen words to guide and instruct them. It was the process of using the brush or undertaking a mandala that were emphasized, and his comments were intended to guide rather than criticize. His spiritual and transcendent approach was, at times, coupled with the very analytical way in which he could examine the world. Jack's friend Bill Porteous commented:

He was very intellectual, very analytical. His class at the Detroit College of Art, that HE wrote, and HE titled, was called not "Nature", but "Nature Analysis". That tells you something, I think. Most people would go "Well, if Jack wrote a title for a class, he would never say Nature Analysis. That sounds too scientific." Analyze: pick it apart. That's what he titled it: Nature Analysis, and when given the opportunity, Jack was fairly erudite. (interviewed by Angela Andersen, 02/01)