STEPHENVILLE, N.L. — Well known artist LLoyd Pretty is being remembered as more than a talented visual artist, musician and storyteller.
The Stephenville resident, who died Thursday, Jan. 30, was also an ardent volunteer and supporter of the arts community across Newfoundland and Labrador and a great lover of the environment.
The announcement of Mr. Pretty’s passing on his Facebook page Friday has saddened many people in his hometown and beyond and generated high praise for the multi-talented artist.
Aldonna O’Keefe of the Bay St. George Folk Arts Council said Mr. Pretty’s love of traditional music and sharing of his talents contributed greatly to their organization in its early days and beyond.
It wasn’t long after the council was established 14 years ago that Mr. Pretty got on board and jumped right into hosting many of its folk nights. He was one of the first to volunteer to perform on fundraising evenings.
To help offset costs for the group, said O'Keefe, Mr. Pretty would often donate one of his impressive prints to raffle off. He did that right up until he fell ill, she added.
“He was just so instrumental in how our Folk Arts Council was able to run for those years,” she said.
Mr. Pretty served on the council's board of directors for three years before he sat on the boards of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council.
Musically, he was not just a singer and songwriter, but played the guitar, harmonica, mandolin and tin whistle. He was also a phenomenal storyteller and poet, noted O'Keeke. His stories and rhymes were mostly about the past and his upbringing.
Judy Parsons of the Bay St. George Artists’ Association said Mr. Pretty’s legacy to the arts community in Bay St. George is unsurpassed.
“His love of nature, his affinity for landscapes and seascapes represented his unique talent and in-depth study of what existed around him,” she said of his body of visual artwork and teachings.
Parsons said Pretty was an inspirational teacher and mentor to his art students and he encouraged each and everyone of them to paint with joy and freedom.
“We’ll miss him as an artist/teacher, but also his zest for life and his wonderful sense of humor,” she said. “It’s with heavy hearts that we hear of his passing and our deepest condolences to his wife Daphne and son David.”
She said Mr. Pretty, who has been a friend of hers for the past 40 years, always did things out of kindness, was accepting of everyone and was a very sociable man.
Parsons noted Mr. Pretty has left two legacies in Stephenville Crossing, namely wall murals which he had a big part in creating.
One is a seascape scene in the dining room of the Bay St. George Long Term Care Centre and the other a scene with Pirate Eric Cobham with his ship in Seal Cove, Stephenville Crossing on a hallway wall in St. Michael’s Elementary School.
Parsons said Mr. Pretty was also renowned for artistic work he did for Parks Canada.
Mr. Pretty was also an activist for environmental protection and an advocate of addressing problems he saw in his community. For example, he fought to have old debris on the former Ernest Harmon Air Force Base dealt with and was successful in having thousands of rusting 45-gallon drums removed.
frank.gale@thewesternstar.com
