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by David J. Hawke

The Canadian Arctic has been called "the last frontier of discovery" by many adventurers and conservationists. It is also first love and inspiration to a handful of hardy artists. One such person is Lorenzo Fracchetti, an artist who is concentrating his talents to capture on canvas the life and grandeur of the far north.

It's a bit surprising to find this keen interest in one who is not a native Canadian, but rather in an enthusiastic young man from overseas. Perhaps being born near the Alps, in Italy, instilled a sense of adventure and understanding for such rugged terrain. Whatever the reason, since he arrived in Canada in 1967, Fracchetti (pronounced fra-KET-tee) has put his energy to work to give us a special view of our country's most unique geographic area.

He had originally planned to visit for a year and then return home, but he quickly found work illustrating a book on the arctic and decided to put his roots down here. "My family was not very supportive of me making a career in the art field," he states, "but with this assignment I could not only make a living, but also found the artistic challenges I was seeking."

These challenges are important to him, as he tires quickly of a daily 'straight ahead' routine. He has attended several art academies, both in Europe and Canada, but usually for a limited time at each.

He stayed only for a year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italy, as he became bored with the style and techniques of the teachers. Two years of Artistic Design in Switzerland were helpful in shaping his own ideas and broadening his knowledge of media techniques, but this became to general for his liking. A year at the Ontario College of Art, Toronto, in the early '70's gave him good training in still life and figures.

Lorenzo credits much of his training to the man who first hired him as an illustrator, publisher George Lonn. As well as assembling the book on the arctic, Lonn was also teaching with the Academy of Ontario Artists. He stressed that an artist can only be taught the basics, after that each individual must pursue and hone their own style and technique.

While Lorenzo knew the style he wanted, a big hurdle was getting the first hand experiences and proper references to his images. Travel in the arctic is not cheap, nor is it always available when you want it. A two week sojourn to Baffin Island, where he has visited three times now, costs about $5000. Hiring of sled dogs and driver is $100 per day, and a private airplane can run about $800 per hour! Fracchetti prefers the dog teams as it is a traditional mode of travel, and the dogs and equipment become perfect models.

To find his inspirations, and to expose the hundreds of photographs, which will be later used as reference, he must plan his visits to meet the demands of the season. Lorenzo prefers to travel on the ocean when it is flat and frozen, so most visits take place in early May. The ice breakup occurs in mid-June, a welcome event for the locals as the supply ship can then come into the area.

By his own admission he is not a naturalist, but rather an artist who has a strong desire to show us that "the arctic is not a frozen wasteland, that it has life and beauty like no other place I know". A major component of the north is the Inuit, a people who Lorenzo captures in his exquisite graphite renderings. He feels that "by the use of shadows and shading the figures have much more life, they come alive more so in graphite than in colour."

Before he commits himself to a large piece of artwork, Fracchetti will explore the subject with several sketches and a few small paintings. By gauging the reaction and interest of friends he will decide if it is worth while doing as a large piece.

He is most comfortable with the medium of oils on canvas, as "they flow well, stay fresh for long periods of time and can be glazed. I find acrylics too stiff to work with." On average Lorenzo produces about 30 pieces a year, an amount needed to meet the increasing demand for his originals. In 1986 a travelling show of his works was displayed in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, with all 26 paintings being sold prior to the tour's finish.

Bruce Burchart, president of Discovery Arts, finds that there are three groups of people who purchase Lorenzo's art — there are those who have been to the arctic and are very impressed with the way he has portrayed the lighting and moods of the north; there are those who have never been to the north but are fascinated with the mystic of the arctic, the 'vanishing Canada'; and there are those who simply appreciate fine art, his masterful workings of colour, light and style.

Many people are drawn towards Fracchetti's work as it is also a record of a passing era, an insight to the last of a way of life. Burchart feels that "just as Krieghoff presented us with the final years of traditional lifestyles of the Woodland Indians, so does Lorenzo with the dying ways of the old style Inuit."

The future looks bright for this confident young artist, as major shows are being planned in United States, England and Canada. Lorenzo Fracchetti wants his works to show "the peace and serenity, the life and vibrancy of the arctic" to all those who wish to better understand Canada's last frontier.