About

Here’s a shot of me taken by Heidi at last summer’s Dawson City Music Festival. I think I was in my cups at this point

My surname hides the fact that I’m a Latvian, (any Latvians out there?) born of parents after they emigrated to Canada from the ravages of World War II. I really enjoy peeling back layers and sub-layers of information about my Northern European heritage. I speak the language and can read it with a bit of effort. My brother and I were encouraged to speak Latvian at home while growing up in Toronto, Halifax and Ottawa.

Where was I educated? How about the school of hard knocks, ha ha. We had a built-in art professor at home, namely my father, Ilgvars Steins. He graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1959 with the Lieutenant’s Award for excellence in drawing and painting and embarked on a very productive career. At eighty three he’s still making art!

I attended a special 5 year program at Fisher Park High School in Ottawa that was designed to prepare the student for a career in commercial art or further studies at art college. Our family moved to Toronto and I got hired at Vickers & Benson when I turned 18. They were one of the top advertising agencies in North America at the time. They took in young people with an aptitude for various disciplines and groomed them for a future in advertising. Of course, I was destined for the art department or creative arm of the company.

(more to follow)