William (Sandy) Ferguson was born in Dryden and completed his elementary and secondary studies here. He worked at Alex Wilson Coldstream in various positions and retired as production manager in 1994. Sandy was a self-taught artist, and an author. He is remembered as a wonderful person to work with, and as someone who had a keen interest in local history.
Sandy working in his studio
Sandy shared fond memories of DHS. In particular, he recounted the Grade 9 initiation at the school. On the last Friday of the first week of school, all of the Grade nine girls were dressed in men's long underwear with a pair of shorts and a fedora hat. The boys were dressed in girl's clothing which included a night gown, a turban, and on their backs they carried a doll in a papoose. As the grade nines were paraded throughout the school they were greeted, not by jeers and insults, but by hand clapping and praise from the senior students.
Sandy also commented on the fashion that was important to teenage boys during the late 1940s. Many teenage boys wore a fedora, along with baggy pants and a long chain attached to their belt that hung down the pant leg and back up into their pocket.
Sandy remembered passing his grade nine and ten school years in a provisional building called the loft. This building was physically separated from the main school. He told the story of some of the harmless pranks that the boys played on their teachers while the teachers were rotating from the main building to the loft. At times the boys would move the clocks ahead a few minutes, deceiving the teachers about the real time. This resulted in the class being dismissed early at the end of the day!
After high school, Sandy started his employment here in Dryden at Alex Wilson Coldstream Ltd. He began working as a custodian, sweeping the floor and emptying garbage cans. With time, he moved on to the printing process where he was assigned the task of setting the lettering on the linotype machine used to create commercial brochures. Here his natural artistic talent emerged and he advanced to enhancing the commercial brochures by adding special drawings specified by the customer. As time progressed, Sandy became responsible for the overall layout of the brochures. Since most brochures are folded, Sandy would ensure that the images were placed on the brochure in such a way that they were not compromised by the folds in the brochure. In addition to the layout of the advertisement flyers, Sandy ensured that the overall colouring of the brochures was balanced. Brochures were made of dots in four colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. With a quick glance of the eye, Sandy was able to recommend slight colour changes that could be made to enhance the final product. As overall production manager, he was also responsible for the final stripping of the negatives to be made into printing palates for the press. According to Garde Rutter, who worked many years with Sandy, Sandy understood the entire production process, from the initial drawing on paper to the final printing of the advertisement flyer, post card or brochure. If anyone had difficulties at any stage, it was Sandy they went to for advice and consultation.
Pictured here is Sandy's grade 6 class at Albert Street school. The students were wearing masks that they made in school
Garde Rutter recalls Sandy as an excellent teacher who was never impatient while explaining a procedure or task to his fellow workers. As long as the co-worker was willing to learn, Sandy had infinite patience. Furthermore, Sandy explained an idea in such a way that he guided one to ask the right questions.
Garde adds that Sandy was a great ambassador of the printing industry. Since he knew exactly what had to be done from the initial sketch to the final printing of a commercial product, he could work closely with the customer to achieve the end result. For example, if an idea proposed by a customer could not be realized with the technology at the time, he advised the client as such.
During his spare time, Sandy explored art and taught himself to be proficient in many different artistic mediums. One fascinating medium that he worked with is called pointillism. Here he worked with a black ink pen creating countless dots on the canvas. The densities of the dots are varied to give the impression of depth and shadow to the art form. Viewed from a distance, the spacing of the dots serves to give a luminous dimension to the picture. This type of art form is time consuming and very meticulous. Bernice, Sandys wife, remembers Sandy spending countless hours in his study engaged in artistic expression and experimenting with a variety of mediums. Other styles and mediums that he worked with included oils and acrylics, shading or cross-hatching, drawing over strips of tissue paper glued to a canvas, and using an oil can to squirt paint on to the canvas to create an abstract image.
Sandy had no formal training in art. He only took the odd weekend course in art when one was offered here in Dryden. He did teach a course on pen and ink technique to the College of the Desert located in Palm Springs California. In addition he was also invited as a guest to a number of elementary schools in Dryden where he taught art techniques to young students.
Sandy has authored a book with his drawings and just recently there has been a reprinting of the book he first published in 1979 titled Yesterday. In this book he sketched images of old landmarks of the surrounding region. In addition there have been public displays of his art work at the Holiday Inn in Dryden and at the Dryden and District Museum in 1995. Currently his work is on display at the Museum until June 30, 2010.
Finally, it is fitting that Sandy Ferguson's accomplishments are celebrated as part of the 2010 Centennial celebrations organized by the community of Dryden. The artistic expression that he mastered, his willingness to impart this talent with others , his published work, his sincere love of this community and his enthusiasm and willingness to share his memories of the past leave us with the legacy of a truly remarkable person .
Mr. Sandy Ferguson teaching art techniques to elementary school students
