As an artist, John Haines had a way of looking at the world from a place high above it. As a person, he was just down-to-earth cool.
The consummate musician played the stand-up bass, which is to live bands as 'The Fonz' was to Happy Days. While the low-key vibes of the bass might have been his preference on stage, Haines could play most instruments. He wrote several originals, and could occasionally be coaxed into singing. He spent his early adulthood touring North America, drawing caricatures for cash, and playing music in dive bars.
Some of the stages he played were fenced in with chicken wire, a solution to flying beer bottles.
On trips home, he told his nephews stories about working in Nassau teaching yoga and seeing David Bowie and Mick Jagger walking on a beach together. He also brought home tales of living in a shack next to Eric Clapton’s mansion, watching the daily booze deliveries arrive.
In Toronto, Haines was part of the 1960s music scene. He lived in the same apartment building as Buffalo Springfield.
“He was just the coolest dude and had the best sense of humour,” said Paul McCallum, one of Haines’s nephews. “He was even-keeled and witty … if you spent ten minutes with him, and he was a good looking dude, you’d just be like, ‘oh, that guy’s cool.’”
Haines didn’t have children of his own, but was very fond of his nephews.
He took McCallum and his brother to see Star Wars in Collingwood in 1977.
“That made a huge impact, I’m still a super nerd fan to this day,” said McCallum.
He and his brother took their uncle back to the cinema in Collingwood for the 20th-anniversary re-release of the Star Wars film in theatre to relive their beloved childhood memory.
Haines settled, eventually, in quiet Nottawa, purchasing a humble home where he built a basement studio and played his guitar on the back porch.
It was a near-daily ritual for Haines, a vegetarian, to read the Globe and Mail over toast at the Red Hen in downtown Collingwood. Before it burned down, the Red Hen had a large collection of John Haines art, a proud gallery to show off their regular customer’s talents, a habit he himself didn’t practise.
“He was a man of all seasons,” says Bob King, who bonded with Haines over their shared love of Bob Dylan.
Both read every book the Collingwood library ever stocked on Dylan.
“John was an accomplished artist, an excellent musician … and he was a humanist,” said King. "And he was so humble."
More than a friend of Haines, King was a fan and has amassed perhaps the largest collection of Haines originals of any other person.
That collection includes a driftwood turtle, snake, and whale, all brought out of the pale, smooth bits of wood by Haines’s unique way of seeing things.
On the yellow walls and doors of King’s barn in Maxwell are Haines murals, commissioned by King and meant to be funny, if not irreverent. A version of American Gothic, dubbed “Maxwell Gothic,” shows King’s face in place of the woman’s and his dog’s head on top of the farmer’s body.
A coloured pencil sketch of Donald Trump — whose head has been replaced by two round, stubbly butt cheeks — has been framed and added to King’s collection of Haines originals.
But it was not his cheeky cartoons or tongue-in-cheek murals that were best known. The John Haines Tapestry Maps were his widest-spread contributions to the art world, and they were very practical too.
The maps are illustrated from a bird’s-eye view, showing the topography, geography and history of the place he was capturing.
“I think he’s done maps for pretty much every cottage destination in Canada,” said McCallum.
Haines earned a degree in landscape architecture from the University of Guelph, but it was a small plane ride in his childhood that inspired his artistic perspective the most.
In a 2016 article about a gallery show for his maps, Haines explained that he was 10 years old when he took his first plane ride.
“It changed my life,” said Haines. “My father and I took a short flight on a float plane in the Haliburton area over Kashagawigamog Lake on a beautiful afternoon in late August and the thrill of that visual experience overwhelmed me. I kept thinking, why aren’t maps made like this? Several years later, that’s what I set out to do.”
The maps also meant Haines had a very solid knowledge of the local area, something King leaned on heavily when he was running a store in Nottawa and delivering furniture.
“I had no sense of direction and John was like an eagle,” says King. “When I delivered furniture, I would bring John to help me find the place.”
Prior to the pandemic, Haines ran regular musician’s series events at the Collingwood Library, raising money for the library and bringing live music to the community he loved.
“He really cared about Collingwood,” said King.
Rick and Anke Lex, owners of the Tremont and restorers of Simcoe Street, also experienced Haines’s care for the community.
“He had a real interest in the theatre here,” said Rick, referring to the Simcoe Street Theatre. “He always came up with ideas and would bring in drawings of the building with suggestions.”
Haines also regularly performed at Simcoe Street Theatre as part of a band.
“He loved the area and he loved the arts and culture in the area,” says Rick.
“I will miss seeing him in town everyday,” says Anke.
Haines died Feb. 4, 2023 at his home in Nottawa. He was 80 years old. His life, art, music, friendship, and passion will be celebrated at the Simcoe Street Theatre on Sunday, May 7 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Some of Haines's original tapestry maps will be on display and for sale, with proceeds going to his estate. There will also be prints of the tapestry maps available for purchase with proceeds going to the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts.
Music will be part of the celebration. The Haines family has arranged for some of his old band mates and musician friends to play live throughout the day.
