Lucille Oille
Encyclopedia
Lucille Oille was a sculptor, wood engraver and book illustrator born in Toronto
, Canada
. She studied with Emanuel Hahn
at the Ontario College of Art and then attended the Royal College of Art
in London, England.
Her sculpture was exhibited at the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy in the 1930s and early 40's.
However, after her marriage to journalist Kenneth McNeill Wells, she devoted most of her time to the wood engraved illustration of his (and other's) books.
In the late 1940s Wells and Oille decided to escape Toronto and find a rural home. After searching the back roads of Simcoe County and its Medonte township, with a limited budget, they decided to salvage the timbers from an old log home and re-assemble it on a few acres of land purchased from a local farmer. While he wrote of the often humorous exploits of transplanted city folk for the Toronto Telegram
newspaper, she began a series of wood engravings that were used in the hardcover collection of the articles known as The Owl Pen. This book, which went through many editions, was followed by four others written by Wells and illustrated by Oille, including The Moonstruck Two, a book about their trip down the Mississippi.
As time passed in her career as a book illustrator, Oille began using scraperboard and linocut as being just as effective for illustration as the more demanding wood engraving.
In the 1960s, the couple moved to Virginia
for 18 years and then to The Bahamas
. It appears that during this time away from Canada, Oille did not continue her art in any way and she was virtually forgotten in Canada despite the continued popularity of The Owl Pen. After Wells' death she returned to Canada in the early 1990s, living in Orillia, Ontario
, very near her ancestral roots and the countryside of The Owl Pen. She is buried in the family plot in Elgin County.
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. She studied with Emanuel Hahn
Emanuel Hahn
Emanuel Otto Hahn was a German-born Canadian sculptor and coin designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada....
at the Ontario College of Art and then attended the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in London, England.
Her sculpture was exhibited at the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy in the 1930s and early 40's.
However, after her marriage to journalist Kenneth McNeill Wells, she devoted most of her time to the wood engraved illustration of his (and other's) books.
In the late 1940s Wells and Oille decided to escape Toronto and find a rural home. After searching the back roads of Simcoe County and its Medonte township, with a limited budget, they decided to salvage the timbers from an old log home and re-assemble it on a few acres of land purchased from a local farmer. While he wrote of the often humorous exploits of transplanted city folk for the Toronto Telegram
Toronto Telegram
The Toronto Evening Telegram was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at both the federal and provincial level. The paper competed with the liberal Toronto Star...
newspaper, she began a series of wood engravings that were used in the hardcover collection of the articles known as The Owl Pen. This book, which went through many editions, was followed by four others written by Wells and illustrated by Oille, including The Moonstruck Two, a book about their trip down the Mississippi.
As time passed in her career as a book illustrator, Oille began using scraperboard and linocut as being just as effective for illustration as the more demanding wood engraving.
In the 1960s, the couple moved to Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
for 18 years and then to The Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
. It appears that during this time away from Canada, Oille did not continue her art in any way and she was virtually forgotten in Canada despite the continued popularity of The Owl Pen. After Wells' death she returned to Canada in the early 1990s, living in Orillia, Ontario
Orillia, Ontario
Orillia, pronounced ōrĭl'ēə, is a city located in Simcoe County in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, 135 kilometres north of Toronto.Originally incorporated as a village in 1867, the history of...
, very near her ancestral roots and the countryside of The Owl Pen. She is buried in the family plot in Elgin County.