Thursday, February 28, 2008

Emily Carr

I am currently reading The Forest Lover which is a fictionalized story of Emily Carr's adult years. I have LOVED Emily Carr for years. I bought one of the newer biographies of her life as soon as it came out. She was a unique woman and painter. She was often overlooked during her lifetime, but is considered a national treasure now in Canada. When age prevented her from traipsing off into the woods to paint, she began writing and published a number of novels. Also, Hundreds and Thousands, her journals.

This novel by Vreeland is well written. Some scenes are quite striking and the descriptions of the landscape and flora and fauna are well done. Emily struggled for much of her life with how to live financially and how to make art. She never married and although she got discouraged about her painting, she continued on and made it her life focus until she began writing. Amazing woman.

6 comments:

human being said...

Mmmm. Seems a very interesting book. You made me eager and curious to know about her.
I'm on my way to surf on the net and read about her.
Thanks Suki, for sharing this.

human being said...

Suki, I'm back from the link you gave in you post.. I've just seen some of her paintings .They are magnificent... I just came to thank you again. I'm so glad I know her now..I love her works...
Thank you soooooooooooooo much.

sukipoet said...

thank you human being. I think her paintings are unusual in style, yet sometimes remind me of Van Gogh in the way she swirls the sky and trees. She spent a lot of time with the native cultures of Vancouver and Victoria in Canada. She painted a lot of totem poles before they got destroyed by the Caucasian people.

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Interesting Suki, I too never heard of her and now and curious and will check her out. Thats what I love about this blogging. You learn many things from each other. I like strong woman stories.
Thanks.

soulbrush said...

i am also going to read thi, good choice.

sukipoet said...

Yes Cris, I think Emily Carr is little known outside of Canada. I can't recall just how I fell into her.

FY Emily was a true eccentric.