Born in Nanaimo, BC, Canada on September 27, 1935, Al is the second son of Frederick Arthur Ranger and Mary Emily Weighill, whose families settled in Nanaimo from England in 1910. Al's art career began in 1965 when he was hired by Sears Nanaimo as Advertising & Display Manager, and also worked as a freelance commercial artist in his spare time. In 1971, Sears transferred Al to their new store in Kelowna, BC, and it was here that he embarked upon his fine arts career, while continuing to work with Sears. Al's first one-man show was held at Kelowna's Dow Reid Gallery in 1973, and he began his full-time career as a fine artist in 1979 when he retired from Sears. He returned to Vancouver Island, where he established his studio gallery at Nanoose Bay, north of Nanaimo. A prolific artist in watercolor, pen & ink, charcoal and acrylics, Al produced more than a thousand works of art during his lifetime, many of which are held in private collections in Canada, the United States, England, Germany and Mexico. He also produced one hard-cover and four soft-cover books about places in British Columbia, each illustrated with sketches and trip notes.

A slingshot made by Al. When Al and best friend Grant Dickie were young boys of about 10 they set out one day to build slingshots. This one belonging to Al is still in existence today. (Circa 1945)

Website made by David Ranger

Website made by David Ranger