About Bruce

BRUCE LIVED IN WHISTLER FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES, AFTER LEAVING ART SCHOOL TO SPEND A YEAR IN THE MOUNTAINS, TO GET THE SKI BUG OUT OF HIS SYSTEM. HE NEVER WENT BACK.

Rowlesy was born in England but grew up on the North Shore, rope swinging over creeks or “boot skiing” down sand hills with his buddies when the Upper Levels Highway was being built.

Obviously destined to ski. The rest of the non-sandhill skiing days were spent exploring southern British Columbia with his family.

Both Bruce’s parents were very both very good photographers and they gave him a second hand camera as well as some pointers.  His father Ian was a sculptor of some note in West Vancouver. Bruce became very attached to that camera, firing off as much film as he could afford. Originally shooting for resource material for his airbrush paintings, he began to compare his images to the ones in big magazines and decided to try sending a few shots out to see what would happen.

That led to years of shooting freelance for magazines, gear companies, commercials, movies, events, and private contracts. Recently he moved more towards wildlife and model shoots, using those images for his computer artwork.  He also spent time drawing and occasionally painting with paint brush or airbrush to fulfill his artistic needs.

Bruce was a very good athlete and an exercise addict, excelling in slow pitch baseball, mountain biking, kayaking, paddle boarding and disc golf, as well as skiing. He participated fully in the active Whistler lifestyle.

Bruce was married in 1995 and his son, Ben, was born in 1997. Separating from his wife Jodoca in 2002, Bruce became the custodial parent of Ben, who has been the light of his life.  

In 2020, Bruce decided on a change of venue and more comfortable living quarters and moved to a house that he purchased in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. Here, he focussed his photographic skills on the local wildlife and the fabulous scenery and began exploring the seashore by paddle board and kayak.  His art moved toward pointillism pen and ink drawing and the decoration of skis, as his connections with Whistler stayed solid. Many pairs of skis, each requiring up to a hundred hours of detailed artwork, now circulate in the skiing community and some have travelled as far as Europe and the Orient. 

Spared Covid19, he was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2021.  His long time partner, his “Angel”, Mandy, moved from her home in Whistler to care for him until his death at home on March 22, 2022. 

 He was very close to his family and is terribly missed by all of them.  

If you wish to get in touch with Ben’s family, we have created an email address and would love to hear from you: brucerowlescontact@gmail.com