Geoff Butler

Geoff Butler is a painter, writer and book illustrator. He was born on Fogo Island, Nfld., near Brimstone Head which has been designated by the Flat Earth Society as one of the four corners of the earth.

Geoff practices his art daily so as not to fall over the edge. He has self-published three books: Art of War: Painting it out of the Picture (1990); The Look of Angels: Angels in Art (2004), a collection of poems, songs, stories, paintings and drawings; and With Every Breath I Take (2007), a modern fable in which a snowflake helps put an end to war. Every now and then, he strolls down Alphabet Soup Road to write and illustrate children's books.

He is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Syracuse University. He also studied at the Art Students' League in New York City. His paintings have been exhibited at, and toured by, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. He has been a visual arts recipient of a Nova Scotia Arts Council Creation grant and a Canada Council Established Artist grant. In 2006, he was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. His last series of paintings, Canuckian, is now evolving into another series called Global Village, a look around our planetary home. He lives in the small village of Granville Ferry, N.S.

Selected List of Publications

With Every Breath We Take: a modern fable in which a snowflake helps put an end to war. Self-published, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9694447-2-5.

The Look of Angels: Angels in Art. Self-published, 2004. IBSN 0-9694447-1-0

Ode to Newfoundland. Tundra Books, 2003. ISBN 0-88776-631-5. Click here for WFNS' description of this book.

The Hangashore. Tundra Books, 1998. ISBN 0 88786-444-4.

"Butler's skillful use of dialogue, liberally sprinkled with Newfoundland vocabulary and characteristics of speech, gives his story authenticity. His beautifully detailed paintings depict the tiny outport and its inhabitants in a simple, colourful and moving way."
     - from "The Hangashore," a book review by Val Nielsen, CM: Canadian Review of Materials, Vol. 5, No. 14 (March 12, 1999).

The Killick: A Newfoundland Story. Tundra Books, 1995. ISBN 0-88776-336-7.

Art of War: Painting it Out of the Picture. Self-published, 1990. ISBN 0-9694447-0-2.

Visit Geoff's Artists' Gallery page on the Visual Arts Nova Scotia website, or his own personal website.

You can send mail to Geoff Butler
c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia