VSC Newsletter ~ August 2021

 

August 2021
Contact Information:

Secretary   victoriasketchclub@gmail.com

VSC website   www.victoriasketchclub.ca   
 
Facebook  
 https://www.facebook.com/victoriasketchclub/
Scenes from August 3rd 
Plein air program
The day's plein air session was held on the grounds of St Stephen's church, where the church's peaceful cemetery was enclosed by a white picket fence. Built just after the church in 1862, pioneers from the Mt. Newton Valley are buried here (and, according to the website, "there is still room"!)
Scenes from August 12th
Plein air program
This week the gang met at the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific. Our travelling minstrel played many favourite tunes including, most appropriately, “Country Gardens,” adapted from an 18th century British folk song by Australian-born Percy Grainger.
Scenes from August 17th
Plein air program
A small yet hardy group met up at Telegraph Cove in what started off as a rather gloomy day. However, the sun came out, the tide rolled in and a flock of Canada geese told us everything they knew.
Scenes from August 24th
Plein air program
Club members met at Hatley Castle for this plein air. Hatley Castle is a Classified Federal Heritage Building, and has been used for the public Royal Roads University since 1995. From the 1940s to 1995, it was used for the Royal Roads Military College, a naval training facility.

The extensive grounds of the historic site have formal gardens, former farmland, and trails through mature stands of first and second-growth forest, including large Douglas fir and western red cedar.

Scenes from August 31st
End-of-Summer-Season picnic at Mount Doug
Our last summer outing of 2021 was held at Mount Doug, known as ‘PKOLS’ in the Sencten dialect. This large rise in the landscape was referred to by the early European settlers as ‘Hill of Cedars’ or ‘Cedar Hill,' and the abundance of this tree species served as a source of wood for part of Fort Victoria and other buildings in the evolution of Victoria. The harvested trees were transported south along a route known today as Cedar Hill Road.
History Corner
by John Lover
Several of our present members will remember Peter and Liza Chesshire, two memorable personalities who both passed away during the past decade. Both were active in the club for many years, and each is remembered for specific contributions which in each case would set a tradition.

Liza’s initiative was referred to in a previous History Corner. Born in England, she served in the WRENS (Women's Royal Naval Service) during World War II and was awarded the distinguished British Empire Medal for her work as an ambulance driver during the London Blitz.

She emigrated to British Columbia in the early 1950s, settling first in Vernon and later moving to Victoria to take up a position as Matron at Glenlyon-Norfolk School. As President of our club in 1984, Liza struck a deal with the then Headmaster, an old colleague Keith Walker, whereby the school would be the venue for the club’s annual exhibitions. This is now a tradition which has endured for 37 years, interrupted only by the current Covid pandemic. 

To step back in time for a moment, Liza resigned as Matron at Glenlyon-Norfolk to take up a similar post at Shawnigan Lake Boy’s School, where in 1956 she met and married a teacher there named Peter Chesshire. The couple later moved to Victoria’s Oak Bay, when Peter secured a teaching job at St. Michael’s University School. Liza, after raising a family of two children, became a realtor.

Peter was also born in England, and after service in World War II and with a Cambridge Classics degree, emigrated to Canada. Once settled in Victoria, Peter joined his wife as a member of the club. Being an avid sketcher, with a distinctive and delicate style, he decided to organize a sketching component in the club’s Annual Show. Older club stalwarts will recall that Peter would invite members to contribute sketches by a firm cut-off date. With military precision, he would set up a large table in the old Glenlyon gymnasium, lay out the sketches and place them under a glass cover.

After Peter’s departure, the table and glass procedure was discontinued in favour of mounting sketches on walls or display panels, but, nevertheless, another Chesshire tradition had been established.  
Paint Out! 2021
Beach Acres, Parksville, is the venue for 2021, September 7-14, 2021. There are lots of painting sites in and around Parksville and Qualicum Beach. 
 
For more information, please go to the website at www.beachacresresort.com. If you are interested in joining us, please make your booking ASAP.

Guest Services and Sales, call 1-800-663-7309
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