Roy was born on the Nass River. His mother, an English schoolteacher on the island, thought there was plenty of  time to reach the hospital on the main land, but she was wrong. His birth came sooner than expected. Roy attaches a lot of symbolic value to this remarkable  start of his life.He always feels great on water and loves to go on fishing trips to experience more of nature. His art is strongly influenced by the magnificent natural beauty of this area as well as his mixed heritage. His father is of Tsimshian, Haida and Heiltstuk ancestry, while his English mother was adopted into the Eagle clan at Kitkatla.

Developing his own distinctive style, Roy’s work – which encompasses prints, paintings and carvings – includes many elements of traditional art, while he effortlessly fuses both the old with the new and the personal with the universal.

Over the years, the Province of British Columbia has gifted Roy’s art to visiting heads of state, including Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Clinton. In 1998 Roy has received the Order of British Columbia. And in 2003 he received theQueen’s Jubilee medal. Roy has even been nominated for a Grammy. Roys work for the Grateful Dead album cover was recognized by the Grammy organizationand nominated.

On our first journey to Vancouver Canada, we met Roy in Tofino. In Tofino he operated the ’Eagle Aerie’gallery- He designedand decoratedthis gallery himself. His brother helped him with the wooden walls of the gallery-  Roy turned out to be an inspiring person for us. He is beautifully close to his emotions. For us, this is also the power of his way of telling stories. His stories are the onset of his art. You don’t just want to listen, you just have to listen. It affects you and so does his art.

We kept in touch with Roy over time. When we at Moedhart decided to start our own gallery it seemed logical to ask the man, who inspired us, to design our logo.