Lucille Oille facts for kids

Lucille Oille (1912–1997) was a talented Canadian artist. She was a sculptor, a wood engraver, and a book illustrator. Lucille was born in Toronto, Ontario.

She studied art at the Ontario College of Art with Emanuel Hahn. Later, she continued her studies at the Royal College of Art in London, England.

Lucille Oille showed her sculptures in art exhibitions in the 1930s and early 1940s. These included shows by the Ontario Society of Artists and the Royal Canadian Academy. After she married journalist Kenneth McNeill Wells, she focused mostly on illustrating books. She used a special technique called wood engraving for his books and others.

Moving to the Countryside

In the early 1940s, Lucille and Kenneth decided to leave Toronto. They wanted to find a quiet home in the countryside. They searched in Simcoe County, Ontario, looking for a place they could afford.

They found an old log house and decided to take it apart. Then, they rebuilt it on some land they bought from a local farmer. Kenneth wrote funny stories about city people moving to the country for the Toronto Telegram newspaper.

Illustrating The Owl Pen

While Kenneth wrote, Lucille created many wood engravings. These detailed pictures were used in a book called The Owl Pen. This book was a collection of Kenneth's newspaper articles.

The Owl Pen became very popular and was printed many times. Lucille also illustrated four more books written by Kenneth. One of these was The Moonstruck Two, which was about their trip down the Mississippi River.

New Art Techniques

As Lucille continued her work as a book illustrator, she explored new ways to create her art. She started using scraperboard and linocut. These techniques were also very good for illustrations. They were sometimes easier to work with than the more difficult wood engraving.

Later Life and Return to Canada

In the 1960s, Lucille and Kenneth moved to Virginia, where they lived for 18 years. After that, they moved to The Bahamas. During their time away from Canada, Lucille did not seem to continue her art.

Even though The Owl Pen was still popular, Lucille was mostly forgotten in Canada. After Kenneth passed away, she returned to Canada in the early 1990s. She lived in Orillia, Ontario, which was close to her family's roots and the countryside that inspired The Owl Pen. Lucille Oille is buried in her family's plot in Elgin County.

Sources

Some information in this article comes from an article in The Devil's Artisan, A Journal of the Printing Arts, Number 32, 1993.