On the Curve ― The Life and Art of Sybil Andrews

Sybil Andrews was one of Canada’s most prominent artists working throughout the late twentieth century. From a cottage by the sea in Campbell River, Andrews created striking linocut prints steeped in feeling and full of movement. Inspired by the working-class community that she lived in, her art is known for its honest depiction of ordinary people at work and play on Canada’s West Coast.

Although she was raised in Bury St Edmunds, England, On the Curve focuses on Andrews’ life after she immigrated to Canada in 1947. Settling in Campbell River, Andrews taught private art and music lessons and created artwork that gained her recognition across the globe. In the final years of her life, retrospective exhibitions of her prints in Canada and Britain skyrocketed her popularity. Prints of her artwork became even more valuable after her death in 1992. In this first fully illustrated biography, author Janet Nicol weaves together stories from Andrews’ letters, diaries and interviews from her former students and friends, creating a portrait of this determined, resilient and gifted British-Canadian artist. Andrews’ work is as popular today as it was in her lifetime and continues to celebrate the cultural, industrial, agricultural and natural world of Canada’s West Coast.

Janet Nicol is a freelance writer with a special interest in art, history and social justice. She has written more than 350 articles for 47 magazines. She taught high school history for twenty-nine years in Vancouver and summer workshops to teachers in Mongolia, Peru and Tanzania, and has volunteered for the BC Labour Heritage Centre, ROOM magazine and the British Columbia Historical Federation. She has a master's degree from the University of British Columbia and was the recipient of the British Columbia Historical Federation's Anne and Philip Yandle Best Article Award in 2013.