Karl Spreitz was a founding member of the Society of Limners, a group of like-minded creative individuals living in Victoria, BC. Established in 1971, the Limners took their name from the Medieval traveling journeymen who painted portraits and signs; a troupe of animated characters enlivened with wanderlust and creative energy. The Victoria group was primarily social in nature, but the sheer number of their collaborative works and exhibitions demonstrates that their gatherings inevitably resulted in artistic expression.

Photograph of Karl Spreitz, Myfanwy Spencer Pavelic, and Herbert Siebner

Spreitz, the man behind the camera, regularly documented fellow Limner members at their infamous parties and in their studio spaces. He used his talents to assist artists such as Myfanwy Spencer Pavelic by posing and photographing many of her portrait subjects before she painted them. Other Limners and friends such as Maxwell Bates, Robert de Castro, Richard Ciccimarra, Nita Forrest, Jan and Helga Grove, Elza Mayhew, Michael Morris, Herbert Siebner and Robin Skelton were regularly featured in his films, which are an invaluable record of the working processes of local artists.