BIOGRAPHY
HARVEY BODACH, BFA, B.Ed,
(FCA-Federation of Canadian Artists-Active/ACTIVE MEMBER)
(SAA-Society of Animal Artists-SIGNATURE MEMBER)
A journey of discovery with a passion for creating visual stories.
Born in 1955, Harvey Bodach was a self motivated, energetic, curious and creative individual growing up as an eldest son in a family of five. They lived in a three story house on the edge of High Park in the City of Toronto.
His early years were filled with much activity, from exploring the outdoors to art projects inside. He visited numerous parks, zoos and engaged vigorously in a variety of sports including hockey which he still enjoys. At home he was drawn to creating original architectural models on paper and building them to scale. As a self taught artist in the visual arts he began creating three dimensional sculptural forms, painted landscapes and animal portraits. These activities and creative expressions laid the foundations of what became a driving force in life, and what would define him as a landscape and wildlife artist today.
Public education offered numerous opportunities for Harvey to explore and apply this natural creative spirit. The visual arts classes were dominated with experimentation in impressionism, abstract expressionism, and surrealism to name a few, but in the end he settled firmly into representative art and the realism camp. He excelled in other classes by applying his artistic flare to each project.
Undergraduate studies were completed at York University where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) honours degree in 1979. Later his post graduate studies took him into education, attending Brock University and graduating with a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) degree in 1996. He sought additional qualifications at that time in visual arts with University of Toronto and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), then technical studies with Mohawk College.
His choices in education have taken him through many challenging and stimulating careers in art. At first he expressed his creativity as a Graphic Designer, Illustrator and Art Director for 19 years in the commercial arts industry. During this time the graphic industry underwent a revolution with the introduction of desktop publishing which served to expand his creative abilities. At one point he tried his hand as a part time freelance artist for five years working on both commercial as well as visual arts commissions in his free time. Later he went into an education career for 24 years and became a High School Teacher with teachable subjects in visual arts, multimedia technology and photography/yearbook.
Exploratory interests took him through wilderness zones in Canada, like Haida Gwaii in British Columbia, Banff in Alberta, Killarney and Algonquin Provincial Parks in Ontario and fed his passions to create art further. There were similar areas in the United States he visited, like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Superstition Mountain in Arizona, the southern ice fields of Alaska and the nature preserves of Florida which continued to stretch his vision. A large number of European research trips took him to many of the major art galleries, museums and churches, which helped shape his knowledge and insight into the visual arts. Works by the great masters like Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Turner and other artists inspired and motivated him to excel in his own journey with art.
Harvey works primarily with acrylic and oil based paints using masonite boards as a base which he prepares himself by applying multiple layers of a gesso ground. The layers are built up and then sanded to a smooth working finish, providing greater technical control when painting the details of a landscape or wildlife in a realism style. When sculpting, he uses both water and oil based clays. His water based clay sculptures dry quickly and are fired once (bisque) and then painted with multiple layers of acrylic paint. The oil based clays offer more creative flexibility and dry slowly, molds are made and multiple casts can be produced.
In 1998 he set a major goal of growing a volume of approximately 30 works of art for some future solo exhibition. He did this in his free time and hoped it would help propel him into a full time career. Two decades went by and the number of completed works of art did grew, but not as quickly as hoped.
Upon retirement from teaching in June 2019 he took the final steps toward his goal. After having moved most of his family north to Thornbury, Ontario, he registered a new business there in January 2021 as “Artist”, and for the first time was working full time on his landscape and wildlife art.
In February 2021, he joined the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) and became an Active/ACTIVE MEMBER by exhibiting and selling his art as part of group exhibitions. Then in June he published his own website www.harveybodach.com which he designed and constructed himself. This offered public access to his work in spite of two challenging years of COVID-19. In early January 2026 he applied for membership with the Society of Animal Artists (SAA) in Colorado, USA and was informed January 22 of being accepted as a SIGNATURE MEMBER. Both of these organizations have a long history of highlighting the visual arts in both Canada and the United States.
In the years since, Harvey has earned international recognition and success with numerous award winning paintings. There have been five exhibition prizes with the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA), nine awards with three American online galleries - Camelback Gallery, Artist Space Gallery and Wild Heart Gallery. Recently an additional prize with Artist Magazines 42nd Annual Art Competition in the USA. Harvey has been extensively highlighted in two publications with the popular “Escarpment Magazine” (2022 & 2023) in southern Georgian Bay. In 2024 a new hard copy art book entitled, “The Artists of Georgian Bay” included him within the 120 page spread. Besides getting media coverage for his work, he tries to engage directly with the public by participating in Ontario’s Buckhorn Festival of the Arts, three ArtWalks, and public speaking engagements with very large groups, like PROBUS, a professional club for semi and retired professionals.
He is also fulfilling a lifetime goal of having Solo Exhibitions, the first in 2022 with the Clark Gallery, Clarksburg and then a second in 2024 at the historic Meaford Hall Arts And Cultural Centre, Meaford, Ontario. Currently a third Solo Exhibition is being planned for spring in 2026 at the Wasaga Society for the Arts (WSA) at Wasaga Beach, Ontario, which will run for six weeks beginning on April 14 - June 13, 2026 at the Stonebridge Gallery.
This Solo Exhibition with the theme, “Diversity in Creation on Display” will once again provide the public with a first hand look at 30 original paintings, drawings and sculptures, both for viewing and sale at the gallery. His website boasts the successful sale of both original artwork and prints which currently still sell HST free. There are currently 14 giclée limited edition prints listed in both canvas and paper which are signed and numbered with a 300 print edition size.
(26/01/2026)
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Contact with the artist Harvey Bodach can be made through his website www.harveybodch.com and harveybodach@gmail.com and then by going to the Contact Page or the Contact to Purchase Pages.
Note: For a limited time only, no HST charge with purchases through the website.