Vancouver

In the fall, we transport and install a painting on three canvases to a beautiful apartment with a view of English Bay. The painting is commissioned by a Vancouver couple, who lived in Edmonton for over forty years. I was contacted by this remarkable art collector, a former university of Alberta prof, who wanted a large painting for her office wall. In order to transport the piece ourselves, I asked if it could be a tryptic on three canvases. The painting is a 88 x 60” piece with neighbourhood houses, the University of Alberta arts building, her grandmother’s house in Ritchie and a selection of Whyte Avenue landmarks including the Wee Book Inn, the Strathcona Hotel and The Princess Theatre. The Vancouver apartment, with beautiful open spaces and art on every wall, is home to two paintings by Norval Morriseau, stained glass doors by Brenda Malkinson, and charming midcentury modern furniture reupholstered from her parents Lethbridge Arts and Crafts home. She is an enthusiastic collector of art by women. A sculpture of four sisters by a Nelson artist is central in the living space. We find out that we are both from four sister families and we share an afternoon of conversation about Edmonton, politics, family history and in the end, when I return the next day, she tells me that the painting is perfect; she sits and looks at it close up from her office desk, and from her remarkable dining room table crafted by Catherine Burgess. She says that I have created a love letter to Edmonton.