Tanoo, a 4 x 6 foot oil on canvas from her 1912 trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands, is a centrepiece of the exhibit, one third of which is made up of her watercolours. Another piece, Sombreness Sunlit, an oil on canvas from the 1930's interprets the quietness of an old-growth forest penetrated by shafts of sunlight. Sea and Sky is a famous Carr sunset preserved despite the artist's use of gasoline-thinned oil paint on newsprint glued to cardboard.

The exhibit incorporates objects from the museum's collections, such as First Nation's artefacts collected during Carr's travels, historic photographs of the scenes that she painted, and Carr family heritage that has been saved by Royal B.C. Museum historians.

Emily Carr was born in 1871 at Carr House, 207 Government St. (open for tourists), went to San Francisco at the age of 21 to study design, returned to Victoria in 1893 and began painting. In 1899 she went to England to study at the Westminster School of Art, returning to Victoria in 1904 and three years later journeyed to Alaska to sketch totem poles. She later travelled to France, and eventually ended up back in Victoria, building a studio and an apartment. She had several exhibitions of her paintings.

She produced more than 80 oil paintings, watercolours, and sketches over a 50-year period. She is best known for bold and bright paintings of aboriginal sites and nature, but also produced pen and ink drawings, cartoons, and pottery.

For a woman living in her times, she was very independent, not caring whether others liked her artwork or not. She spent her life travelling and painting, looking for the relationship between God and nature.

Her documents and journals reveal her inner turmoil. She visited a medium, spent time in a caravan she named the Elephant, and didn't invite visitors to sit down. She had a weakness for pets of all kinds: a monkey, several dogs, a white rat, parrots, cats, squirrels, and a chipmunk.

Carr started her writing career at the age of 70 and won the Governor General's Award for Klee Wyck. She later wrote the Book of Small and the House of All Sorts. Other books were put together from her diaries and journals after her death.

She travelled on her own during an age when few women did such things, restlessly searching for artistic training, inspiration and the subject matter that "...is surging through my whole being, the wonder of it all...".

Letting you in on a little secret of the locals, here's a favourite walking spot for thousands of us: the Ogden Point Breakwater, a purpose-built 1913 former ship docking point. The breakwater, stretching 2500 feet (762m) into the ocean, is popular for viewing as well as walking. Start your walk from the Inner Harbour and circle around the waterfront of James Bay until you reach the breakwater, or follow the waterfront walkway from Beacon Hill Park. Tourism or your hotel will be able to direct you.

At the far end of the breakwater is a small lighthouse to let ships know it's there. Sticking out as far into the water as it does, the Breakwater is a great place for watching sailboat races, marine life, sunsets, and the view across the strait to Washington's Olympic Mountains. Beware though, there are no railings so it's not a safe place for small children. There are also times when the weather is too stormy and the waves too aggressive - there have been incidents of people being swept off into the icy waters. Not likely to happen in the summer, though. Right next to the breakwater are the docks for cruise ships. Victoria gets a lot of them stopping during the summer months. If you haven't seen one up close and would like to, find out their schedule from tourist information, and plan your walk for when they dock.

Quirky Stuff
Cape Beale on a remote part of Vancouver Island, 10-km southwest of Bamfield has the oldest manned light station on the BC coast. The area is known for its extreme weather with winds of more than 160 km per hour.

Events