In the 1940’s, Wilf Carter, a cowboy singer, had a daily fifteen minute program on the radio. “Those were the fastest fifteen minutes of the day” according to my Uncle George. Many of those songs, just like the Ian Tyson ballads, tell stories that describe western men in a heroic light.
As a child, I had the idea that cowboys, men who lived in the West, were rugged, clean-cut, Roy Rogers type guys. Even though engaged in dangerous tasks, they were somehow always clean and invariably polite.
Veregin, Saskatchewan, a tiny speed bump on the highway between Canora and Kamsack, owes what little traffic it has to the Doukhobor sect. In the early 1900’s, this religious sect established a settlement here after political problems forced them to leave Russia. From this small village, this fervent group seeped out across the prairies, with many settling in British Columbia. Aside from that religious connection, Veregin resembles many other prairie towns that draw no visitors at all.
Salt Spring Island is one of a gaggle of islands that float just off the edge of Vancouver. Reached by ferry, this island, I don’t know about the rest, was once the playground of hippies, back to the earth, and all that. Now, however, this island has come up-market much in the way that Key West, Florida has changed character and price bracket. Many media and business types commute to Vancouver for several days in the city, only to retreat to the pleasant calm that Salt Spring offers. Perhaps the most famous of these is Robert Bateman, that outstanding painter of nature subjects.
This mine has now found new life as a tourist attraction offering tours of the minehead and the mill. I discovered this site when, in 1988, I was commissioned by the then President of the National Trust Company to paint a mural for their new headquarters in Toronto. This mural was to describe Canada from coast to coast, so Marilyn and I set out on a three-month journey that provided the raw ingredients for this design.
For several years in the 1980s, I received a large number of commissions from the Calgary area. I always took the opportunity when in the West to travel, not always to the usual beauty spots, around the province just looking for things that charm. This ink drawing, with watercolour, shows a quiet corner of Alberta not far from Edmonton. I always promise myself that I will return to the Rocky Mountains and spend an extended period just painting and enjoying the view.