Emily Carr House

I have been to Victoria before, but never seen the Emily Carr house.

The kids were gone for the day and I know from the newspaper that Regina sculptor Joe Fafard is having a show there.

What better chance to see the house and his work sitting in it. The house is a BC heritage spot and easy to find.

When the #27 bus stops its route in front of the parliament buildings, walk up the street to 207 Government Street to a large yard and a lovely yellow house.

Ordinarily the house is not full of the sculptures that I saw today, but what a fantastic chance to see his sculptures of her animals in the house where she grew up.

There are three large works where you can see Emily.

In the front yard she sits, life-like on a horse.

I was so intent on her, that I can’t remember much about the horse, though I circled the statue a number of times, looking at it in the light and in the shadow.

A rooster, taller than I am, is also in the front yard.

I must have looked at it for a long time as well, for when I got home I saw that I had taken a picture of the rooster spur, the place where Fafard had etched his name.

Have you been there to the house.

The entry is the back door, through a gift shop.

The back porch is set up with some wicker chairs, and with a bulletin board telling of other events that are going on in Victoria.

On a plate, sits a tea-cup, reminding visitors that if they want to have high tea, as people did in the days of Emily Carr, you can still go over to the hotel and have a cup.

In a corridor of the house stands a more modest statue, in clay, probably not two feet high, on a table.

Only the corner of the hall is lit up, the rest of her in shadow.

She holds a pad of paper in one hand and something to either on in the other hand. This isn’t really a hall, but a corner where one room is straight ahead and another goes left.

There are seven of these models, six already sold, since I read text that said if you see a red dot on the price tag, it means this items is already sold.

Such a small space for viewing one of the works that sold so well.

I was charmed by a larger work Emily sits on a wooden stoop.

She is holding a dog in her lap.

Her fingers are arthritic; she has jowls under her chin, bags under her eyes, skin folds on her eyelids, and a band holding down her hair.

 I looked at the fur on her boots for a long time, at the oversized coat she wears and I looked at her face.

Blue eyes, ruddy cheeks large ears, dark hair.

What was amazing to me is that even though I knew this was clay there was a feeling that she was present and would burst out with a question at any time.

What I was really waiting for her to say was, “Darling, enough photos. Please not another one.  Let’s talk about art instead. Or one of my books.”

A wonderful day for me.

Arta