Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1955,Terry Jackson started passionately learning at the age of 16 , of the amazing qualities of the last century's masters of Northwest Coast native art. With help and assistance from the Hunt family and other carvers  such as John Livingston, Glen Rabena and Francis Horne,Terry slowly learned and became highly skilled at the nuances of the northern style of Northwest Coast  indian art. Interests in his plains heritage and more recently European scroll type design, has broadened his artist sense. The last ten years has been a search for a new cultural expression and identity for artists and Metis like himself.
"To learn a language and to use it increases the range of expression available "
Terry's parents came from the Canadian prairies. His mother ,a Metis , came from the village of Plum Coulee, Manitoba , where Metis and Europeans settled after the Riel resistances.
With bloodlines to the original fur traders as well to the the Cree and Sioux, Terry's people were an interesting mixture of culture and race.
Terry Jackson has reached out to describe the Metis reality in the 21st century. Carving and designing for over thirty years, he has taken his love of Northwest Coast Indian art , his Plains Indian heritage and his European heritage and decided to see if these disparate worlds could be successfully integrated or blended.
His woodcarving has been collected by people such as
The late John Candy-comedian -actor
Glen Close-actress
Ed Asner- Actor
Robert Davidson-Haida carver-designer Master extraordinaire
He had access to the most amazing collections of Northwest Coast Indian Art works at the Royal Provincial Museum . He was drawn to these masterworks and desired to know somewhat the culture and thinking behind them. This profound influence challenged Terry and directed the next many years of his life.
He sensed he was different, yet could not put his finger on why. In collections ,both private and public, his unique use of the form to describe his inner reality, brought the desire to bring to the visual world the reality of Metis thinking .That is ,the various conscious and unconscious mixing of form and spirit into a living example of identity. Before the Metis were often known as derogatory "half-breeds". "Half of something can never be a whole"-Terry Jackson. Now with confidence and the inner security of being a full person, Terry describes himself as a biracial person , one who is more than the sum of his parts.