VSC Summer 2023 en plein airs |
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VSC's plein air sessions will carry on into August with members meeting at pre-determined sites at 10 am Tuesday mornings. Watch for meeting details in the days just prior to the date.
We meet at different localities every Tuesday morning until the end of this month, with a possible (weather-dependent) extension into mid-September, for a total of 16 - 18 weeks (post Paint-Out).
August 1: Fort Rodd and Fisgard Lighthouse (by 10 am sharp, please!)
August 8: Esquimalt Gorge Park/Japanese Gardens & Pavilion
August 15: Starling Lane Vineyard
August 22: Glencoe Cove/Kwatsech Park
August 29: Mount Doug Park and end-o'-the-summer picnic!
Many thanks!
Program coordinator: Rand at randharr@telus.net |
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Members were initially to have gathered at the Starling Lane Vineyard, but a last-minute change of plans had everyone meet at Beacon Hill park (we'll hope to get to the vineyard in August).
The land that stunning Beacon Hill park sits on was originally set aside in 1858 by Sir James Douglas, governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1858. In 1882, the land was officially made a municipal park of the City of Victoria, and given its present name. How lucky we are! |
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July 11
Island View / Michell's Farm |
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| The day's plein air was held at a favourite VSC venue -- Island View Beach near Michell's Farm. This is a regional conservation area on the eastern shore of the Saanich Peninsula, and covers nearly 52 hectares. |
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Another stunning day at Emily Carr House! This beautifully restored home is both a provincial and national historic site, and was the birthplace of famed writer and artist (and former VSC member!), Emily Carr.
To see a list of other notable members of our illustrious club, go here. |
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July 25
Saanich Heritage Acres |
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 | | VSC members had a chance this summer to step back in time to wander amongst beautiful historical artefacts offered up at Heritage Acres in Saanich. |
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History Corner
by John Lover |
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Lillian Clarke Sweeney, artist and noted wood carver and sculptor, was associated with our Club for over half a century. One of the 56 Charter members who founded the Island Arts Club in 1909, she was later one of the stalwarts who bridged the transition of the Island Arts and Crafts Society to the Victoria Sketch Club in 1956.
Born in Winnipeg in 1884, she became a resident of Victoria in 1904, where she married William Sweeney in 1912. Under her maiden name of Clarke her work had hung in the Club’s first Annual Exhibition in 1910, and she remained a faithful contributor until 1927. She exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery in the 1937 Vancouver Island Exhibition, and this versatile lady became a staff artist at the BC Provincial Museum  of Natural History and Anthropology in 1936.
Lillian showed her talent as an illustrator in co-operating with her sister, writer Frances Ebbs Canaran, in publishing “Tale of a Belgian Hare,” a 1914 book dedicated to the little children of Belgium deprived of their homes and heritage during the German invasion.
In 1956, members the newly formed Sketch Club organized a party to honour Lillian Sweeney for “keeping the Club together by means of her charm and personality and generosity in allowing winter Monday meetings at her home and in providing tea and encouragement.” The following year she was elected Club president.
Sweeney was a particularly gifted oil painter (see oil-on-card illustration below). Representing the Victoria Sketch Club, she took the “best oil” in a 1958 competition with eleven other provincial art clubs. Two of her paintings were presented to the Government to hang in the Provincial Library.
She was not only a fine wood carver, but equally adept at sculpture, and was commended by the Smithsonian Institute on her  work for the Museum, which included all manner of paintings and models, including dioramas of Indigenous life. She had a complete collection of British Columbia birds, and carved to meet orders from across the province.
On her death in 1961, the Museum paid her the following tribute: “During her years of service as an artist on the Museum staff, she produced many life-like models of fishes, mushroom, flowers, and prehistoric animals. Her images of native fishes have never been excelled, despite the advent of plastics and more modern techniques and her painting dioramas of native life will continue to be used in schools of the province for years to come.” |
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 | | Member Victor Lotto participated in this year's 34th annual year's Moss Street Paint-In (July 15), with a blockbuster 30,000+ people attending and 160+ artists exhibiting. |
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 Crooner Tony Bennett died recently, and VSC member Virginia Hutzuliak reminds us about Mr Bennett's artistic abilities, endeavors and generosity.
Check out this story in a recent post on www.artistsnetwork.com
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