Mr. Allan Milne, an Honorary Member of the VSC and past Club President 1989-1992, celebrated his 99th birthday on October 28th. Allan currently lives in the Berwick Royal Oak Retirement Community. Allan was an accomplished artist in his own right and for many years organized the Club’s annual Paint Out. Sadly he is now blind.
Allan served during WWII as a scientist with the RAF, where he was instrumental in the development of airborne radar for the RAF. To prove his system worked-- which it did-- he flew many night sorties over London and other British cities in RAF night fighters, successfully engaging Luftwaffe bombers using the radar he had developed.
After WWII Allan joined the Canadian National Defence Research Board, immigrated to Canada, and continued his career as a scientist.
I have sent him a birthday card with our collective congratulations and best wishes for the future.
Larry Gollner |
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We have a busy continuation of our autumn program ahead!
It is the season of harvests, colour and migrations of birds and animals on the move as winter approaches. The Covid-19 crisis is an opportunity for us to hone our skills at home, creating art daily, whether sketching, painting or otherwise. It's an opportunity to try new things and experiment with new ideas that have been percolating and waiting to be expressed.
Indoor-at-home program
Our indoor program starts Nov 3rd until Dec1st. Tuesday afternoons (or mornings if you want an early start). Details will be sent closer to session dates .
Nov 3rd: Still-Life = Dinnertime : table setting with an autumnal theme
Nov 10th: Character = Life-drawing of a family member or friend in your bubble
Nov 17th: Painting = View through your window or door
Nov 24th: Still-Life: TBA
Dec 1st: Seasonal / TBA
(subject to changes)
Plein air
Our wonderful plein air outings will continue with Rand sending weekly information about location and dates (note, they will no longer occur on Tuesdays).
Many thanks and a round of applause to our summer convenors, Rand Harrison and Avis Rasmussen for their excellent selection of places to visit. More information about November and December coming soon.
ZOOM Orientation
We are also introducing the use of Zoom to connect with members, to share and show work, hold meetings etc.
If you would like to participate in ZOOM orientation, please let Amy know at anohaleskezes@live.ca and she will send you more information.
To familiarize yourself with Zoom, there are many online resources. Here's one that teaches you how to sign up, download the app, and how to join a meeting (you don’t have to buy anything). It is short and well explained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9isp3qPeQ0E
Art Appreciation-- Emily Carr at the RBCM
Royal BC Museum's Emily Carr exhibit starts Oct. 22nd. As she was one of the founding charter members of our club, it should be of special interest to club members.
RBC Museum allows 31 people in at a time, so it is highly advisable to pre-purchase tickets early, either online or in person prior to seeing the exhibit. Note that the early times are reserved for seniors, opens up to the general public later on. It is a popular show so make sure to get your tickets soon.
The museum advises allowing 90 minutes to see the exhibit.
VSC will give a partial refund of $6.00. Please retain your ticket receipt and tender it to Pat Hindmarch Watson by Dec 2020. (senior tickets are $14.95; adult $22.95)
https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/exhibitions/emily-carr-fresh-seeing-french-modernism-and-west-coast
Emily Carr Video - preview of show
Curator of the show, Dr Kathryn Bridge takes a walk along the footsteps of Emily Carr’s 1911 trip to France, "where did she go, what did she paint, who did she meet?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37JJ5rT-jUk
Cheers,
Nirmala Greenwell
Program Director
Still life and model convenors: Ann Nolte and Vicki Turner
ZOOM convenor: Amy Nohales Kezes |
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| In these seemingly endless days of COVID-19 and a lack of indoor space to accommodate our large group, VSC's Art Connections is a way to show off whatever you're working on. If you would like to receive feedback on an art project, please forward the following to Rand Harrison 1) your image in .jpg format (sorry, we can't work with .pdfs)
2) painting details, including title, dimensions, media, date
3) any artist commentary
4) the email address at which you'd like to receive comments |
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 | Horticulture Centre of the Pacific (former Glendale Gardens) The Gardens at Horticulture Centre of the Pacific, home to the Pacific Horticulture College, offers a year-round garden experience. Located 12 kilometres north of downtown Victoria, HCP started in 1979 and refers to itself as a “gardeners garden”! It's home to Canada's largest outdoor Bonsai garden, and (not surprisingly) is the only one in western Canada. |
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 | Anderson Hill Park This rugged little 6.3 acre Oak Bay park has hiking trails, native plant life & lovely views over McNeill Bay Beach. Located on the 500 block of Island Road, there are views over Mt. Baker and the Olympic Peninsula, and is primarily a Garry Oak ecosystem. In spring camas flowers cover grassy areas, turning the green to a field of blue. Buttercups and Scotch broom are also common.
Unfortunately, October 13 was a plein air write-off for VSC members as the weather didn't cooperate (note that the accompanying photo was taken on a pleasant day...). |
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 | Show 'n' Share
VSC members turned out in good numbers for a much-needed Show 'n' Share, located on the grounds of our beloved Windsor Park Pavilion. |
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 | Mount Doug
A prominent, 225 m hill in Victoria, Mt Doug is on the ancestral lands of the Saanich and Songhees people. In the mid-19th century, locals called it Cedar Hill, and it was home to logging operations. Local mills supplied the growing city of Victoria, including the original Hudson's Bay Company fort.
After finding no cedars on the hill, Captain Henry Kellett renamed it "Mount Douglas."
Many thanks to Christine Gollner for the photo collage! |
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History Corner
by John Lover |
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Over the years, the Club has been graced by the inclusion of a series of professional architects in its membership who have contributed much more to the artistic cause than simply their natural skills in sketching and perspective.
The most famous of these, Samuel Maclure, was a Charter Member at the Club’s founding in 1909. The son of a Scottish Royal Engineer he originally sought to be an artist and studied art at the Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia, in addition to classes in architecture and mechanical drawing, before setting off on a career in architecture.
He moved to Victoria in 1892, and quickly became established as a leading residential architect, his clients constituting as much as one quarter of the Club’s original membership. At the same time, Maclure kept up his interest in drawi ng and painting and produced many impressive drawings and watercolours of local west coast landscapes. Cultured and of wide interests, his love of nature helped him put his observations on paper with fluency, sensitivity and simplicity. Although basically a traditionalist in artistic style, he approved and admired the new approach of Emily Carr and the Group of Seven in representing the untamed and rugged landscape of Canada. Despite a self-deprecating view of his own art work, his generous breadth of vision and objectivity, made him an invaluable critic in the eyes of fellow members, and he did much to enhance the status and reputation of the Society with his encouragement of other artists.
Maclure’s example persuaded Percy Leonard James, a fellow architect, to join the Club (by this time the Island Arts and Crafts Society.) James was born in London, England,  where he qualified as an architect before emigrating to Canada and settling in Oak Bay in 1908. Apart from his association with Maclure, he teamed up with Francis Rattenbury on projects such as the CPR Steamship Terminal Building (completed in 1924). His firm was rated second only to Maclure for the prestige and quality of its residential work. As a committed artist, James’ talents in sketching and watercolour were ably demonstrated in his contributions to Society annual exhibitions.
Visitors to the Society’s annual exhibition in 1916 in the Union Building were treated to architect John Keith’s “drawing of proposed Christ Church Cathedral,” a project which would not start for ten more years. Born in Nairn, Scotland, Keith had arrived in Victoria in 1891 specifically to win the competition for the design of the Cathedral, an accomplishment earning him fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Fast forward to the turn of the century and older members will remember us welcoming into the fold distinguished Calgary-born architect Nicholas Bawlf, who, after years of working overseas, established his practice in Victoria in 1972. His major projects had included numerous restorations, such as Market Square and the historic Barkerville settlement, together with contemporary contextual work exemplified by the Victoria Conference Centre. Bawlf demonstrated a wide range of interests, notably in heritage preservation, and was devoted to his watercolours.
Bawlf’s close friend and sometime collaborator was none other than Ray Goldsworthy, also a graduate of the UBC School of Architecture and with subsequent international experience in the United Arab Emirates, Hawaii and France.
Through his own company, set up here in 1990, he practiced in partnership with Bawlf on the Conference Centre project and completed work on the Lodge at Broadmead, Beckley Farm, Tillicum and Resthaven Lodge, the CBC Building and Esquimalt Branch Library.
In addition to his service to our Club as President and Secretary, Ray has been unfailingly generous in sharing his experience and talent with fellow members. His own work, apart from its impeccable craftsmanship, is characterized by his free-flowing imagination and a puckish sense of humour.
Ray recounts that the Director of the UBC School of Architecture strongly held the view that budding architects should be “Renaissance Men.” It seems that those of this profession who have passed through our ranks over the past century have striven to pass the test. |
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Gladys Perint Palmer
Fashion Masterclass Gladys Perint Palmer is an internationally acclaimed fashion illustrator and will be offering a Live Virtual Masterclass on November 12, 2020. For details, go to this Eventbrite page. |
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Peninsula Plein Air Painters Exhibition
Running until Nov. 5th at the ArtSea Gallery, Tulista Park, 9565 5th Street, Sidney, B.C. Gallery Open 10am to 4 pm 7 days a week.
Entrance and parking is free!
The painters exhibiting are Ken Faulks, Marcia Goodwin, Robin Kilistoff, Anne Krauss, Keith Levang, John Moloney, William Watt, and our own Avis Rasmussen! -- submitted by Avis Rasmussen |
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Val Lawton's latest children's book was just released by Calgary-based Nestling Press.
Working with author Lisa Daiker, Lucas and the Hockey Game is a 32-page colour kids' book. This was one of Val's pandemic projects!
-- submitted by Val Lawton
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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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