BJARNI BJARNASON (TOMMY)

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BJARNI BJARNASON (TOMMY) On August 18, 2009 Bjarni Tommy Bjarnason passed away in Windsor, Ontario after a short illness. Tom was born the youngest of eight children to Gudmundur and Halldora Bjarnason on March 24, 1925 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He grew up in the West End and attended Gordon Bell High School. After serving his country in the Second World War, Tom studied at the Winnipeg School of Art before heading to Detroit to further his studies at Meinzingers Art School. He began his art career doing illustrations in Toronto, Ontario working at an advertising agency drawing ad designs. It was around this time he got secondary work with various publishers including many Canadian magazines and Readers Digest. His work quickly got attention throughout the globe and in Canada. He got work in London, England, Stockholm and Germany. One of his biggest assignments in his long and illustrious career was his assignment with the Canadian Department of National Defence which hired him to travel to Germany to illustrate the activities of the Canadian Armed Forces. That work is still on display at the National War Museum in Ottawa. He also produced many of the First Day' covers for Canada Post. In his latter years Tom's artwork turned experimental. He experimented with stamps and then turned his attention to playing with computer parts and other materials to showcase how he can turn the simplest items into works of art. Not only was Tom a great artist he was also a loving and supportive son, brother, uncle, great-uncle and friend. He was predeceased by his parents and his siblings Ingibjorg, Halldor, Jon, Steinunn, Solveig, and Dilla. He is survived by his sister Lara, various nieces and nephews as well as many great nieces and nephews along with many friends. A reception will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, September 4 at Neil Bardal Inc., 3030 Notre Dame Avenue, across from Brookside Cemetery. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to a charity of one's choice. NEIL BARDAL INC. 204-949-2200 nbardal.mb.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 29, 2009