Phyllis Godwin

Saskatchewan NAC Auction House Biography and Notes

Phyllis Godwin (nee Goota) was born in Fir Ridge, Saskatchewan, in 1930. She initially pursued education as a career, studying at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, earning her teaching certificate in 1950. The following year, she went to Murray Point Summer School of Art at Emma Lake, Saskatchewan. She then studied at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology under artists such as Illingworth Kerr. There, she met artist Ted Godwin, who would become her husband one year later. She received her diploma in 1954. Godwin lived in Regina, Saskatchewan, from 1959 to 1985. She worked as a layout artist for Sears Canada and as secretary-treasurer for a moving and storage company while drawing, painting, and showing her work throughout Canada. She also travelled to Greece (1962-1963) and Ireland (1971-1972) to work on her art. Phyllis Godwin is best known for her drawings in ink or graphite on paper, with her whimsical work full of patterns influenced by her Ukrainian and Polish heritage. For subjects, Godwin tends to look to folk narratives which foreground women and their inner lives, and her works often feature dance and physical action. In 1985, Phyllis Godwin moved with her family to Calgary, Alberta, and in 2005, she exhibited in 'SASKATCHEWAN: Three Rivers' with her husband and their daughter, artist Teddi Ruth Driediger, the first time the three had exhibited together.