THE FAMILY / Michael Bedard

 

Michael Bedard (1949 - 2025) grew up in Windsor, Ontario (and like many who have lived in Windsor, the proximity of the U.S.A. informed his artistic growth) and moved to Los Angeles in the late 1960s where he became a popular poster artist (and co founder of OXO Art Publishing). He lived and prospered there for four decades, before returning to Canada, residing in Toronto before relocating to Welland, Ontario, several years ago. Bedard is perhaps best known for his Sitting Ducks work (1977), which is “a darkly comical image of three ducks sunning themselves poolside with sunglasses and iced tea. One duck, however, has noticed bullet holes in the wall behind him and is curiously studying them. The poster is representative of Bedard’s skill in using humor to highlight personal and social problems. Sitting Ducks was inspired by behaviors Bedard witnessed in ducks he was raising at his Topanga Canyon home…[but the] Sitting Ducks poster gave birth to several other projects, including a storybook, a video game, and a television series that aired in some fifty countries. Bedard, who has no formal art training, also won an Emmy Award for his animated film The Santa Claus Brothers.”