I'm a professional visual artist and songwriter, living and working in Whitby, ON. Canada.
JEFF MORRISON was born in Toronto, Canada in 1957.. He attended Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario) and The Ontario College of Art (Toronto, Ontario). He began selling his work at age 17 while still in highschool and in 1980 mounted his first exhibition at the Audrey McLean Gallery (Oshawa, ON).
Throughout the 1980's Mr. Morrison exhibited his work extensively including shows in Toronto, Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris and Tokyo. With the help and guidance of well known Canadian Art dealer Jack Pollock, and Art historian and Curator Kay Woods, Morrison's work began to mature and he enjoyed numerous sales and garnered many awards including the prestigeous " Prix Spéciale René Huyge " from The Louvre Museum, Paris,1985. During this time Mr. Morrison also completed various commissioned works, including a large mural for The Variety Club of Ontario in 1988, which hangs in their multi-purpose athletic facility (Variety Village) in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
In the 1990's, Morrison continued to draw and paint for himself and began accepting more and more commissioned projects, especially for businesses. Many well known Canadian companies such as BCE, Enbridge Gas, Loblaws, Marks Work Wearhouse, Manulife Financial, and The Toronto Dominion Bank have purchased his work.
In 1996 he launched his " Very Special Christmas Cards " helping to raise money for The ThinkFirstFoundation, The Canadian Cancer Society (ON), and The Heart & Stroke Foundation (ON).
In Sept. 2008 Jeff added new charity partners to veryspecialcards.com, in an effort to increase opportunity and benefit for everyone involved.
Besides working as a visual artist, Jeff also has a strong interest in music - both writing and recording. He has written original music under his own name, and also in collaboration with longtime friend and musician Tim Hawkes, together forming Morrison Hawkes. He also shares vocal duties in an internet band Death of the Author Brigade formed by high school buddy Darrell Vickers (Los Angeles, CA.)
In October 2009, Morrison launched a new music based philanthropic project.. MusicCanHelp.com
Morrison's artistic and professional success is perhaps more poignant considering the fact that in 1977, at age 19, he suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury while diving in a friend's backyard pool. Undaunted by the initial 16 months of physiotherapy, and the daily challenges of quadrapelegia that he has faced since, Jeff has continued to move forward with his life, proving that with a positive outlook and hard work, even the greatest obstacles can be overcome.
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| In the studio |
