Art Gallery of Newfoundland and
Labrador (AGNL)
Shaped by the Sea
Permanent Collections
Although born in Windsor, Ontario, Ritchie's sources of inspiration for his art could not be more removed from that urban setting. They come instead from the wilderness areas that he loves to explore by hiking or kayaking.
Born in 1954, Ritchie attended several arts colleges in Southern Ontario before moving to Halifax and graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in 1976. That same year he travelled to Labrador for the first time as part of Memorial University of Newfoundland's Artist-in-the-Community program. What was to have been a stay of several months in the community of Nain lasted instead six years, as he fell in love with the people and the landscape of northern Labrador.
While in Labrador he met native resident Gilbert Hay, and the two became close friends, with Ritchie eventually becoming like a family member. Both men worked out an arrangement whereby Ritchie taught Hay silk-screen printing and lithography, while Hay taught him how to survive in the harsh Labrador wilderness. Hay also taught Ritchie about Inuit mythology, a subject that was to influence him several years later when Ritchie worked with Hay to create the Labrador Inuit Mythology Series of lithographs, illustrating various Inuit legends.
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Labrador Inuit Mythology Series: Trout 4/20 1983 Lithograph, 4/20 46 x 59 cm 
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After leaving Labrador, Ritchie went to Newfoundland and began to work at St. Michael's Printshop, then located one hour south of St. John's along the scenic Southern Shore. Ritchie felt at home in the area, where for many years he lived in an isolated cabin with electricity provided by a small generator and no running water.
Over the years, Ritchie has experimented with a variety of art media, including drawing, etching, watercolour, acrylic, film and, in one case, a 25-foot high wooden sculpture of a whale that was commissioned by the provincial government. However, Ritchie's true love has been lithography, to which he constantly returns.
The images in Ritchie's artwork are primarily landscapes and animals, but often with human characteristics. A fish may have human hands, a picture of a fox has a human face hidden within the image. While his early artwork tended to be monochromatic, in recent years he has worked more with colour.
Along with art, Ritchie has an avid interest in the wilderness and in natural history. He has worked for the Smithsonian Institute and the Federal Department of Mines and Energy. In 1997, he opened Caplin Cove Press, a small fine art printshop, in the community of St. Michael's.
