As a child growing up in Zenon Park, Raymond Potié definitely liked to draw more than most kids his age. When he was 13 years old, Raymond’s parents enrolled him in oil painting night classes taught by a schoolteacher in neighboring Arborfield and he was given a room on the top floor of the family home for his painting studio.
In 1966, Raymond won first prize at the annual Saskatchewan painting competition (sponsored by the Saskatchewan Farmers Union), for an oil painting of a shack in the region. He then taught himself acrylic painting and began his surrealist and psychedelic period. (See untitled 1970 acrylic on canvas and 1973 drawing). In 1974 Raymond studied at the Vancouver School of Art / Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver. At that time he was influenced by modern American artists such as Andy Warhol who were experimenting with combining photographic elements with painting and drawing.
In 1975, Raymond was awarded 1st prize for printmaking from the Federation of Canadian Artists for an intaglio entitled “Zacharias” printed on mylar embossed on rag paper, from a photo of his 3-year-old son holding a teddy bear and incorporating his son’s hand-drawn version of the photo. (See photo).The highlight of this period was certainly his 1975 two-man exhibition with internationally acclaimed Andy Warhol which included “blues”, an intaglio incorporating photo and drawing elements which he considers to be one of his best works from this period.
Shortly after graduating from Emily Carr, Raymond entered a 15-year hiatus during which time he traveled and lived in South America before returning to Canada to study sciences at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. This was followed by his 1990’s “Plein air” period where Raymond, not having access to a studio, was inspired by artists such as Van Gogh, Monet, Tom Thomson, and Emily Carr to experiment with acrylic landscapes painted outdoors directly from nature. (Attached “Antelope Lake”, 1990).