Profile of an artist: Todd Kervin

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Todd Kervin, a 24-year-old Metis, has lived in Edmonton all his life and although he's never been to the north, his pencil drawing Cold Indian featured in the Beaver House Gallery, depicts an arctic man's face so authentically that it almost seems he had to be there to capture it so well.

Kervin's work is featured with eight other Native artists from around Alberta at Beaver House Gallery's (3rd floor, 10158-103St.) once-a-year show, Catch the Rising Spirit.

Among those featured are some well-known artists such as Kim McLain, Faye Heavyshield, Ann McLean -- the first runner up at last year's Asum Mena art festival, and Jacinta Wostenberg, second runner-up at the festival.

Catch the Rising Spirit runs until March 1, before moving on to Calgary.

Kervin began his artistic career at age 10 by drawing cars and trucks and people's faces.

For a few years now, he's found faces are the easiest for him so he has kept with it.

Kervin has work with pastels and pencils and is starting to work with acrylic paints.

He says he likes control in his work and that working with pencils and ink are his favorites.

Abstract art, however, is not his forte. "I understand it, but it's not my style. I like control."

The main focus of his art at this time is portraits. Some are authentic but most are from photographs he gets from books and magazines.

A lot of his ideas comes from blues and sixties music as well, he said, explaining that music gives him ideas and titles which eventually turn into a sketch before the final product.

It's ironic that Kervin has become an artist. The only training he's ever had was throughout high school. Then, he failed Grade 10 and barely made passing grades in a grade 12 art program.

He explains that it wasn't because of his work, but his "bad attitude" and not showing up for classes.

He is now enrolled at the University of Alberta in basic design and an introduction to drawing, "which I don't really need, but I don' really need, but I need them to get into the course I want: printmaking."

Kervin has been with the Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Society for four years and has been featured in six shows. Altogether he's sold about ten pieces of his work, four in last year's Asum Mena festival.

Recently, he drew the cover of a cassette for a local blues artist, Lester Quitau's Take Time. He has been told his ink drawings were featured in a book about Woodlands and Plains Cree.

Kervin is also in the planning stage to start a cartoon. "Bill C-31, and his cousin Melvin Metis. It's going to be political."

In the summer, he plans to work on some "serialistic" work for the Asum Mena show in August, as well as going to Vancouver's Stanley Park with another Edmonton artist to sell and paint for the public.

Kervin explains that he'd like to do art for a living because "if it's something you like doing, you'd like to make money at it, too."

However, he won't compromise artistic integrity for commercial success.

He says if he finds himself doing a piece of work just to add to the chances of getting it accepted into a show, he will not do it.

This is where artist Todd Kervin draws the line.