Canadian nature artist Gordon Pynn dead

Renowned Canadian wildlife artist and philanthropist Gordon Pynn died of a heart attack outside his home on Vancouver Island, his family said. He was 61. Born into a mining family in Newfoundland, Pynn once told United Press International he decided as a child he wanted to live and work in all 10 Canadian provinces. After a brief military stint in Quebec, Pynn became an ambulance attendant and worked in the Toronto area for almost 20 years. During that time, he began taking 35 millimeter slides of wildlife around his home that backed onto the Credit River in Mississauga, Ontario, and became masterful at detailed acrylic paintings based on his own photos. The self-taught artist's work caught the eye of renowned nature artist Robert Bateman, who included Pynn's work in an exhibit that toured the United States. The government of Canada also presented the University of Beijing with one of Pynn's works as a goodwill gesture. By donating some of his works, his philanthropic efforts helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for hospitals across Canada, as well as the Canadian Diabetes Association, Big Brothers and various environmental groups. Ironically, for the first half of his life, Pynn was an avid hunter. In 1998, he told UPI he had a revelation during what turned out to be his last hunting trip. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking by shooting these animals -- it dawned on me I should be shooting pictures and not the animals," he said. He is survived by his wife Jo-Anne, son John and brother Jack.