Born in Montréal in 1954, Blair Sharpe has lived in various locations across Canada and in Germany. After settling in Ottawa in 1973, he enrolled at the Ottawa Municipal Art Centre (now the Ottawa School of Art) and studied with Richard Gorman and James Boyd. He has been working full time as an artist since 1974. In addition to his painting, Blair has actively participated in the cultural scene by writing articles, serving on a number of boards and committees, and teaching at the Ottawa School of Art. He has held numerous solo exhibitions, mainly in Ottawa and Toronto, including a major mid-career survey at the Ottawa Art Gallery in 1989, as well as group shows across Canada and abroad. His more recent solo exhibitions were Imaginary Rivers at Wallack Galleries in 1998 and New Angles at the Ottawa School of Art Gallery in 2000. Blair's work is represented in many public, corporate and private collections. His painting River Keeper is on permanent exhibition at the Canadian Embassy in Oslo, Norway. Public commissions include the mural Ouananiche at the Jack Purcell Community Centre and a floor work, River's Invitation at the Smyth Transitway Station in Ottawa. Blair teaches painting and drawing at the Ottawa School of Art, and has contributed art criticism and other writings to a number of publications.While his work is formally centred in the traditions of abstract painting, a profound affinity to nature and natural process pervades his work.