The Club's guest speaker on Jan. 10, 2011, was Andrew Giffin. Andrew is originally from Saint John and has lived in Manitoba 20 of the past 25 years, and has recently moved to Sussex in 2005.
He lives off of Roachville Road with his wife, three boys and his dog beside the river. His studio is at home, and the river helps inspire him with his paintings. He is very passionate about fly fishing and is such an avid fisherman he can paint a fishing scene directly from memory of his fishing experiences...
Andrew did the Sussex Mineral Springs mural on the side of the Stiles building. The clown that is on the mural was the mascot for this business, and since he painted the mural, he was contacted by the daughter of the individual that wore the clown outfit when going on promotional ventures. She asked Andrew to make a smaller scale painting of the mural for the clown's 65th birthday. Andrew brought some prints of his paintings, and they were quite amazing.
His prints sell anywhere from $300-$600 dollars, and the originals can be anywhere from $2,500-$10,000. His largest painting (aside from the murals) was 4 feet high and 16 feet long. Andrew also did the mural on the side of Dutchie's Barber Shop and Hairdressing. Andrew appears in one of the murals in town that was created by one of his other artist friends; he is depicted in the bottom left, dancing and flipping flapjacks.