"Jim Keirstead wanted to be an artist from his early boyhood. He was born Dec. 18th 1932 in Saint John, N.B Canada. Jim grew up in Toronto, Whitby and Sharbot Lake and then at 17 joined the Canadian Army serving in Korea during the war in 1952 & 53. In Korea Pte. Keirstead drove jeep ambulance for 1st. Batt. P.P.C.L.I and later was the Field Surgeon's driver for M.A.S.H.

After Korea, he returned to Kingston, Ontario where he became an Ontario Provincial Police Constable. During these years he haunted art galleries and libraries, took art courses, sketched and painted at every opportunity. Then in 1965 he took the precarious plunge into the art world. Jim's first paintings were of Ontario...