The Bateman Centre - Victoria

Robert Bateman is a famous Canadian wildlife artist and naturalist who lives and paints on Salt Spring Island, off Canada's west coast.  

He's now 83 and has painted since his teens.  

Photo:  Bateman Centre

On a recent trip to Victoria, I was excited to visit the new Bateman Centre, which houses a beautiful and varied collection of Robert Bateman paintings inside the beautifully-restored Steamship Terminal building on Victoria's inner harbour.

The dreamy, airy gallery does not disappoint.  

It opens with a collection of serene, large-scale Canadian wildlife paintings, a subject and style that will be recognizable to many Canadians:  

Polar Bear

Polar Bear

Bald Eagle

Orcas 

Bald Eagles

Gulls

Red-Winged Blackbirds

I was expecting a gallery full of this type of painting, a style that I was previously most familiar with.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a variety of other beautifully-depicted subjects.  

The next room housed some lovely small paintings - charming vignettes of daily life (I found the style reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth, which the gallery also noted):

I was also thrilled and charmed to see some of Bateman's very early work, done as a young teen.  His naturalist eye and painstaking talent for detail is evident in this small painting done when he was only 12 or 13 years old!

This study of birds in their environment is so charming and impressive for such a young person (age 13 or 14):

I was also charmed by this small portrait and surprised to see his talent for such diverse subjects.  He could easily make a career painting portraits if the wildlife ones didn't work out.  ;)

If you're in Victoria, be sure to make time for the Bateman Centre.  It took me about 45 minutes to see the entire collection (and I lingered...).  The gallery makes a short but very meditative and enriching break from sightseeing.

We also had an amazing dinner later that night (with impeccable service) downstairs at the Steamship Terminal Grill & Taphouse, located on the main floor.

Happy travels!

Framed

I finally got around to framing that pretty little painting we bought in Paris last Fall.

Jarvis Hall, a master framer in Calgary, helped me select a beautiful and appropriate French moulding to construct a frame for my small painting.   We decided against using a mat, as it seemed to look too important and overwhelmed the painting's charming simplicity.

I really wanted the new frame to be somewhat consistent with the frame on my other little (favorite) French painting:

Jarvis originally suggested an antique French frame for the new piece (which he can acquire), but we quickly decided that the new moulding was perfect with all the verticals in the painting:

What do you think?

Have a lovely weekend and thank you all for your kind and supportive comments on my last post.  It means the world to me to have such kind people caring for me out in the universe.

xo Terri

A French Painting with a Story

While in gay Paris last fall, I purchased this darling little Impressionistic painting at a flea market:

(I've propped it in this frame to photograph.  I still must have it properly framed)

The painting depicts a street in Montmartre, rue l'Abrevoir.

An abrevoir (a French word with which I was unfamiliar) is a watering trough for animals,  as the vendor explained to me.  

If you look closely, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica is visible in the distance:

I really like the soft, muted colours in the painting, although shades of pink and lavender don't really seem to work in any room right now.

I especially like the butterscotch and teal blue tones on the left side:

The vendor was an elderly man who said the artist, Fremont (he told me the first name which I forgot an hour later), had painted these small paintings in the 1940's and had been a rather prolific local painter.

Two other paintings in the set were also for sale.  The vendor said he had bought them a long time ago and kept them for himself for many years. He was reluctant to break up the trio, but I only wanted the single painting.  

On hindsight, I am also fond of the one below, which depicts the ubiquitous steep Montmartre stairways.  However, since the price was also steep, I only took the one:

The vendor also took pictures of the three paintings before I left, and seemed a bit teary-eyed to part with any of them.  He seemed like a kind fellow and we talked quite a while, as I struggled to cope with his lovely but very quickly spoken French.  He did seem thankful that the painting was going to an interested person with a sympathetic spirit.

When I got home, I was rather curious about rue l'Abrevoir, about whether the scene existed or was a construct of the artist's imagination.

So I Google-mapped it and sure enough, here is the street from the painting:

Note the street lamp on the left, the triangular-roofed building (now painted white) on the left with the dormer windows and chimney, and the stone wall to the right with trees atop it:

Further along the street you can see the pink house in the distance which appears in the painting:

The artist took some license, as the roof of the Sacre Coeur is just barely visible through the trees and not so prominently located as in the painting (unless perhaps the buildings blocking it in the distance were not there in the 1940's).

There is nothing better than owning a thing which has a story reaching back into the past. 

My Blue Period

Like Picasso, I am experiencing a Blue Period.  

Not only do I find myself in a slightly blue mood (I think it's the darkness), but I am also experiencing a blue renaissance in my decorating.  

Recently, I indulged myself by purchasing a new blue oil painting!

The painting is by a local artist, Ellen Reid, and depicts a scene in the Canadian Rockies near Jasper National Park and the Columbia Icefields (she used the blues to convey the extreme cold there in winter).  

I tried the painting in two spots but can't decide which suits me (it is presently in position #1 above):

Of course, I will have to rearrange things a bit to accommodate the blues.

I already use quite a bit of blue, but my preferred blues are paler or slate-gray blues.  So this is a bit vivid for me!

I love it and it has spruced up my mood considerably!

I hope you like it.

Paris, Part III

For those still reading, allow me to present Part III of our Paris sojourn:

We adored the Rodin Museum (you have to go), housed in a beautiful chateau.

The space is light-filled, airy and magical (the sculptures aren't bad either):

Pedestals elevate smaller sculptures which might otherwise be missed...

Many famous sculptures are housed here, including The Cathedral (which has two right hands):

Seated Venus (casually relaxing without her head):

Moi, overlooking the grounds. 

The Eiffel Tower.  A great time to visit the Eiffel Tower is at the end of the day.  We showed up around 6 pm (the wait is shorter and you get to watch the sunset, which is very romantic and good for photography!)

Amazing views (see what I mean about the evening light):

Sacre-Coeur (Montmartre) in the far distance:

The next day we visited the Tuileries Gardens (with the Louvre in the background) just as it started to rain.  People scattered, so I got some nearly people-free shots (which is very rare in Paris):

On sunny days, these chairs are filled with Parisians and tourists:

From the looks of the flower gardens, apparently it is still summer in Paris.  I definitely live in the wrong city...

Then we visited Musee de l'Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens.  This classical building houses Monet's famous water lily murals (les Nymphaes), in addition to many lovely paintings by Monet's contemporaries (which are worth the trip alone). 

 It was my first time here and I loved it (add it to your list)!

Photography is strictly forbidden inside the dreamy oval galleries, but I sneaked one just for you.  The two rooms have skylights and are lined with murals, giving them an underwater feel:

A group of French school children receiving an art lecture (poor deprived little souls).

Later in the week, we briefly visited the Maison Victor Hugo, inside the Place des Vosges.  He lived here after writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame but before writing Les Miserables:

His writing desk, with four inkwells. He also had a tall desk where he wrote standing.

Views from his writing desk (I could easily be inspired here):

Paris parking (not so polite):

We also visited the Musee Carnavalet, which houses a varied collection covering the history of Paris!  I was most enchanted with the furniture rooms, displaying pieces from the reigns of the various Kings Louis:

Furniture experts will see evidence of Louis XV here

The Musee Carnavalet is huge and tiring.  If you have limited time, you must visit the art galleries which feature room after room of utterly stunning paintings depicting Paris in the 1800's.  Most of this art precedes Impressionism.  The artists are not famous but the art is exquisite:

A painting by Victor Dargaud of the Statue of Liberty, being constructed in a Parisian workyard before being dismantled and shipped to New York

I must confess, I am not yet done describing our Paris journey, so there will be another post or two in this series!  I hope you'll not be too bored when I'm through with you...

Soon, Terri

Vancouver: Hotel Georgia

We just returned from six wonderful days in Vancouver.  I thought I would share some photos of our lovely and amazing hotel, the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.  

The Hotel Georgia is a historic hotel, first opened in 1927.  Plenty of famous people, like John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn have stayed there, not to mention Elvis.  The hotel was recently renovated, so it is fresh and modern inside, with lots of historical detail left intact, as well as the original facade.

Our room was tastefully decorated!

The bed was deliciously soft and inviting with its lovely pillows and chevron blanket:

The pillows were all goose down:

And all the bed linens (silky soft) were by Pratesi:

Our room, a Premium Executive room, had a great seating area for relaxing at the end of the day:

The draperies and patterned sheers were so pretty:

We also had fantastic views over the Vancouver Art Gallery:

And the adjacent Fairmont Hotel Vancouver:

Three of my favorite features of the hotel were its fantastic gym (which I visited three times), the serene Sense Spa (where I had an amazing 80 min. massage) and the Nespresso machine in our room (for an occasional migraine-friendly decaf!):

They got me hooked.  Now I need a Nespresso!!!!

The bathroom was quite amazing, with a rainforest showerhead and a giant soaker tub, as well as his and hers vanities (I do hate sharing!):

We enjoyed the (unexpected) nightly "turndown" service, where each evening, used towels were replaced, the sheers were drawn, and soft lighting was turned on in the room.  They also delivered shortbread cookies and water each evening and topped up the coffee supply...now that's customer service!

The first evening, we toured the hotel with one of the (very knowledgeable) valets.  He took us to the Spanish ballroom with its beautiful hand-carved details: 

The chandeliers were quite spectacular:

Even the (very high-tech) conference room was tastefully appointed, with original art and Barbara Barry chandeliers.  I could totally tolerate a long boring meeting in here:

The hotel was filled with stunning original art.  I forgot to photograph the spectacular lobby, but even the upstairs banquet rooms had lovely art, like this ethereal large photograph (sorry, I have forgotten the artist's name):

One of my favorite pieces of art was this giant 300 lb carved wax sculpture (which was framed and looked like a painting) in the stairwell:

I also really enjoyed the divine Bel Cafe (great coffee) and Hawksworth Restaurant, both located on the main floor of the hotel.  The Hawksworth Restaurant was beautifully decorated and its lounge featured exquisite embroidered pillows by couture embroiderer Ankasa:

Photo from Hawksworth's website

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay despite a few rainy days and a broken foot!  


I was also impressed in that (magically!) we were often greeted by name after only short interactions with the staff...how do they remember all their guests?

Thanks Hotel Georgia for your loveliness and impeccable service...

We will be back!