How to Become a Dam Good Artist in 39 Easy Years

 This step by step guide to HOW TO BECOME A DAMN GOOD ARTIST IN 39 EASY YEARS, is an important tutorial for all who want to enjoy the sacrifices of becoming an artist.

Warning!
I do not encourage my readers to take my advice or follow my step by step "guide to becoming a dam good artist"..... it may lead to questionable behaviour, such as dressing funny, drinking too much, or being rude at art openings or ending up with an astronomical school loan that forces you to get a job as an accountant.

Year One fresh out of high school

1. To get on the road to become a dam good artist, first of all you must be wealthy, have wealthy parents or arrange to be adopted by a NHL hockey star. Get accepted into an accredited Art College full time, 4 years minimum. Stay away from any art school named Famous Ethel's Art Emporium, Gifts, and Art Classes.
2. Wear totally groovy clothes that identifies you as a first year art school student. A leather jacket with fringe and a head band says it all. Carry your sketch book, conte and 2 and 4 B pencils with you 24/7
3. Learn how to draw, draw some more, draw everything in site and for good marks, draw what your instructors point to but most importantly, learn anatomy! Learn how the human body looks undraped (an art school word for naked.) After you mastered anatomy and have drawn those art school issue white plaster Roman/Greek statuary figures one thousand times, move onto classical still life studies which emphasise realistic lighting, volume and shadows, patterns, texture and dead pheasants.
4. Stay up all night rushing to finish your due tomorrow drawing class project- a realistic figure study of Caesar Augustus. Make sure you add some special touches and creativity. By 3 am you should be happily cutting a mat for your heroic drawing of Caesar who is stands proudly draped in his glorious plaid toga and clenching a dead pheasant.
5. Be the centre of attention at your drawing project "crit". Get a thumbs up from your class mates for your divine personal twist of Caesar but don't expect the same respect from instructor  Wilhelm Von Strictenmeister.
6. Get concerned for about an hour after your other instructor (who will remain nameless) approaches you in a hallway to chat with you and "review" your first semester marks. Hold a straight face while the instructor reminds you that your brother graduated with honours and scholarships and that YOU may want to change your attitude or leave art school. Shake off the negative feedback about being a woman studying in the arts and know that the same silly instructor gave Joni Mitchell the same kind of negative feedback several years before. Hang out and drink with your friends, play Joni Mitchell songs and stay out very late.
7. Show up for your Wednesday's Communication Arts class - even while sleep deprived and hung over, learn how to use a ruling pen and ink, calligraphy nibs, French curves and the streaky paint called gouache. Replicate, illustrate and hand letter an authentic looking ancient illuminated manuscript by Friday.
8. Take advantage of all the school field trips for outdoor sketching and painting (en plein air). Try your local zoo for drawing studies of exotic wildlife but if you have a wealthy parent or boyfriend, I suggest the wildlife is exceptional in downtown Vancouver or Africa.
9. Make an appointment with your chiropractor for the chronic neck and shoulder pain you endured while lugging your over sized plywood drawing board and paint box to the zoo and the downtown bar.
10. Fantasize daily about showing in galleries. After some enquiries, you will find out that art school is not the place to dream about being an art god or goddess. It is a place of learning your craft and finding out who you are and what clay body and beer you prefer. For more vital career advice, wait patiently until your 3rd or 4th year. Depending on what art college you attend, one instructor may offer a new course in Business Essentials that will cover how to set up a company and save your receipts for claiming your expenses. 
11. to be continued  .................

                              Exciting News
                         
Visit my New Website http://www.weaver-bossonart.com


                                      ***************************************

Woman in the Gallery

digital drawing by Barbara Weaver-Bosson

copyright 2013 all rights reserved

Colours may display differently on each monitor

                         

 

 Here I am in my studio with my painting in progress, October 2012. My painting Looking South to the Blue Bridge is finished and is available as art prints and gorgeous Giclees on lovely watercolour paper and Premium artists canvas.

 See my art print gallery locations link at the top of this page in the right column.

Image Strip from my website www.weaver-bosson.com
my new site is now under construction
colours may display differently on each monitor

View from the Terrace
View of Gonzales Bay, Victoria B.C. 1995
 Acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson

Image size  24 1/4  x  32 1/2 inches
copyright 1995 all rights reserved

Limited Edition prints Sold Out 
available as a greeting card

Logo for my art prints

Accepting Art Into Your Life for Fun and Spiritual Fufillment

Accepting Art into Your Life.

Let it be known to all the uninitiated and curious - attending artists studio tours is the secret to obtaining personal spiritual enlightenment! 
It is a fact that hundreds of our tour attendees report that -visiting our art studios is a safer alternative to sky diving, street racing and DIY kitchen and bathroom renovations. Barbara Weaver-Bosson

Thank you to all who attended our April 27th and 28th Fairfield Artists Studio Tour. 
Vic and I enjoyed meeting EVERYONE who came out to our 12th annual studio show and sale. We were delighted in showing you all our paintings and art prints and works in progress.

 Our friend Donna who is awfully good with figures and counting stuff, was our gallery assistant for the two days and she cheerfully greeted many at our door and welcomed the studio tourists to meander through our 5 rooms of studio workspaces. Vic and I offered lots to see, lots of works in progress and lots of nooks and crannies to poke around in.
 My Johnson Street Bridge prints "Looking South to the Blue Bridge" and new art cards were very well received during our two day studio show.Vic had new humour art cards plus two new art prints to show off. Vic's new android characters especially Angie Droid charmed all the sci-fi and robotics fans. SEE ANGIE IN HER STRIPED BIKINI later in this riveting article.



A View from Clover Point, Towards Dallas Road Bluffs
Acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson copyright 2005

Available in open edition art prints $60.
Image size 16 x 30 inches
and
Deluxe Archival Giclees on Premium Artists Watercolour paper 
19.5 x 36 inch  $ 495.

why do we do what we do? Do we do it for love? and what's it all about Alfie?

There is no such thing as a silly question and we are never offended Answering the many questions about our process of creating our art is the fun and essential part of what we do during the studio tour. Vic and I are always easy to get along with and will never ever get offended .... who doesn't love a good paint-by-number joke and a good story about those artists who do better after they are dead.

 For some, attending an artist's studio for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. Some artist's studios on the tour are minimalistic and elegant while others like our studio, are jammed packed with a variety of paintings on the walls, prints and paintings in the kitchen, bathroom, hanging on the doors and climbing up the walls. Lots of our paintings can hide in plain site. I was even tempted to display our art on the driveway leading up to our house but rain is very hard on artwork and Donna would have gotten wet too.

While venturing about in the artist's studios, did you happened to spot a piece of art that winked at you and wanted very much to go home with you? Did you stop for a moment and gaze into the face of a painting and your heart skipped a few beats? Did you feel confused and a bit giddy and you were not sure what you just experienced? Was your first reaction to run away from the painting or art piece that spoke to you so eloquently? Days later did you find that you kept thinking about that special painting's colours textures and how peaceful or charged up it made you feel?

Advice to the Love Sick Many gallery owners and independant artists will offer this advice to you and all who are experiencing the turmoil and confusion over that first profound moment of "love at first sight." This is the moment you must invite art into your life and take the plunge....
Do not be afraid and do not hesitate falling in love with art. Become a big fan and supporter of one artist or several artists. Don't wait or procrastinate, don't try to forget about that delightful moment you and art fell in love.
If you do not act on your intuition and gut feeling that art is good for your heart and soul, many bad things can happen.....
A serious and dedicated artist often has had many good years of producing stunning artworks that appeal to you but there will be a time when the artist artworks from a particular series will all be sold. Good to keep in mind, over the years an artist may change their style, subject matter or medium, or frequency of exhibitions. Or maybe the artist will move to Paris with her dog and take up drinking full time or worse case scenario, the artist will throw in the towel, close her studio and get a full time job operating a snow blower in downtown Winnipeg. Over time, who knows where all of those beautiful pieces of art will go? Will the favourite painting or sculpture that you thought you might buy later, end up at a Sotheby's auction house years later and selling for 179 times what you were willing to purchase it for? Many other bad things can happen and just think of those ongoing sleepless nights and anguish because you wished you had said,

 "I love you ART and need you in my life"

Purchase that special piece of art the day it made your heart skip a beat. Take the first exciting step to fufilling your dream as a bonafide card carrying art lover and art supporter.


Supporting artists in Victoria will:

1) make your hair shiny

2) make your skin glow

3) will put a spring in your step

4) shine a new light on you- friends and family will love the new you

5) many will envy your new art collection

6) your street cred and your COOL FACTOR will go up 1 million percent

7) broaden your knowledge of the artist's creative process
 and their importance to the cultural landscape of  B.C. and Canada

  
                                      

Beach Drive

  acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson, copyright 1998

painting image size 17.5 x 24 inches

Limited Edition prints sold out

available in greeting cards

click images to enlarge

VICTOR BOSSON

Publishers Clearing House Grand Prize Winner ANGIE DROID,
Takes Her Two Best Friends to the Mayan Riviera

Archival Art print by Victor Bosson, copyright 2013
Image Size 7.6 x 9.6 inches
Available in 3 different sizes, please inquire


To meet Angie Droid,
 visit Victor's online art print gallery www.galleryartlife.etsy.com

GOOD NEWS
 My NEW website is finally getting under way! Over the next several months, Vic and I will be working on its construction. These things take time for me and I am looking forward to being more hands on with my new site. Since I am juggling many projects in my "artlife" it will be a ongoing and slow process.

This blog has been so valuable to me. Through my blog, I can stay connnected with the outside world and I will continue to keep you up to date with my projects and stories through my blog.

I will make a formal announcement when my new website is at a stage where you can take a peak at it. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have about our art prints. e-studio@shaw.ca

My art print galleries and their locations are linked on my side panel above.

Please contact each gallery with your inquiries.
Picture Perfect Gallery
Broadmead Gallery
Options Picture Framing

Each gallery can assist with your purchases. Each gallery is happy to ship your purchase to your home or office or even out of the country. 

Here is a sample of my Neighbourhood Series limited edition prints from my "under construction" website www.weaver-bosson.com

Colours may display differently on each monitor

image strip copyright 2007

all rights reserved by Barbara Weaver-Bosson

Cat in the Window

by Barbara Weaver-Bosson, copyright 2001

 Limited Edition Fine Art Print

image size  9 x 12 inches

$ 85.

 

A View from Moss Rocks

Watercolour painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson, copyright 1997

Available in Limited Edition prints $ 98.

print image size 17.3 x 22.25 inches

 

Thank you for visiting my art blog, Archived monthly posts are on my side panel, please click each month for a different post.

 Please feel free to leave your comments.

All images, words, ideas, and content are copyright by authors and artists Barbara Weaver-Bosson and Victor Bosson. All rights reserved. Images and content can not be used in any media or publication in whole or part with out the expressed written permission from the authors and artists.

Barbara Weaver-Bosson's studio art show April 27 and 28th, 2013

Come By and Visit Our Art Studios!
Fairfield Artists Studio Tour
April 27th and 28th
11 am to 5 pm

April is one of the busiest months of the year for us, as we work day and night preparing for our 12th annual Fairfield Artists Studio Tour.

Vic and I and 37 other Fairfield Artists will be opening up our studios to the public for two days April 27th and 28th  11 am to 5 pm.

 If you are visiting Victoria or live in town, please mark this 2 day event down on your calendar. F.A.S.T. is fun and it's free!!!

Vic and I live in a very cozy house and we dedicate every single square inch of our living space to creating and displaying our art. During the event we make room for all of you to snoop, room to room and view our paintings and art prints and our works in progress. A selection of our paintings and prints are for sale, so please come by and say hi. Enjoy our unique and fun art event.

 

"Sunny with a Light Breeze" by Barbara Weaver-Bosson 
  2014 Fairfield Artists Studio Tour promotional image

 

Where to Find our Fairfield Artist's Studio Tour MAPS and BROCHURES

Visit these fine Fairfield businesses for our tour maps
Serious Coffee in the Cook Street Village 230 Cook Street
Thrifty Foods at the Fairfield Plaza 1590 Fairfield Rd  (maps at each checkout)
The Royal Bank in the Cook Street Village
Harbord Insurance at the Fairfield Plaza 1590 Fairfield Rd
Fairfield Eye Care at the Fairfield Plaza
Fairfield Gonzales Community Place 1330 Fairfield Rd.

For Artists Studio locations visit our F.A.S.T. website www.fairfieldartistsstudiotour.com

The many artists are scattered through the Fairfield neighbourhood. Everyone is welcome to come by and enjoy our art exhibitions and a tour through our studio spaces.

PARKING
To visit our studio, parking is best on Fairfield Road or at the Garry Oak Room 1335 Thurlow.
You can visit the 5 artsist that are showing at the Garry Oak Room and then walk over to Masters Road to our studio on Windermere Place.

For more information about our art studio tour and exhibition, contact us e-studio@shaw.ca

Here I am with my painting in progress of the harbour and the Johnson Street Bridge.

My Blue Bridge art prints are now available through my art print galleries and durng

 our studio art show April 27th and 28th.

Current GALLERY LOCATIONS
for my available ART PRINTS and CARDS

Please call these galleries first to inquire about your print and card selections.
Galleries are happy to ship art prints to your home or office.

Picture Perfect Gallery
University Heights Shopping Centre
# 324 B- 3980 Shelbourne Street
Victoria, B.C.
Phone 250-721-1313

Broadmead Gallery
Royal Oak Shopping Centre
# 102 - 4440 West Saanich Road
Victoria, B.C.
Phone 250-744-1447

Options Picture Framing
2651- Douglas Street
Victoria, B.C.
Phone 250-381-4022

Loves Olde Towne Gallery (for order inquiries)
# 102-535- Yates Street
Victoria, B.C.
Phone 250-385-6722

Neighbourhood Series Art Cards only

Thrifty Foods
Fairfield Shopping Plaza
1590 Fairfield Road
cards are displayed near the customer service desk

Side Street Studio Oak Bay location
# 204 2250- Oak Bay Ave
Phone 250-592-1262

Olde Towne Harbour View, Victoria
Limited Edition print by Barbara Weaver-Bosson all rights reservd
Image size 14 x 18 inches
 $ 98.

Available at Barbara's art print gallery locations

Victor Bosson's TOMBO Archival Art Print 9 x 11 in.
from the Fox's Kettle childrens Book by Laura Langston 1998

Visit Victor Bosson's Online Art Print Store http://www.galleryartlife.etsy.com

My 1995 Neighbourhood Painting - A View from the Terrace (Barkley Terrace,Victoria)

My 1995 Neighbourhood Painting
A view from Barkley Terrace

All things revolve around the weather here in Victoria and any indication of spring sends us all into elevated giddiness and we head out the doors to spot crocus, daffodils and blossoming trees. In my case, I love to climb rocks and look for viewpoints.

Below is a painting I did in 1995 titled A View from the Terrace. There are always so many areas of Victoria I want to paint. I think that is why I have been painting my Neighbourhood Series for over 25 years. My process for creating one painting is generally the same. Finding the right location with all the elements that will really ignite my inspiration can take a few visits to one location or area. In the case of A View from the Terrace, I went up to the Gonzales Hill area a few times before I found a perfect spot from Barkley Terrace.

Do I look suspicious?
One spring day, late in April, I set out to get new ideas for my next painting. I had many ideas up my sleeve but I was drawn once again to the Gonzales Hill area. As I walked along Denison and up down the hill and back and forth by the observatory, I decided that possibly a view from Barkley Terrace might be at comfortable elevation for my painting view.

Most days when I am wandering through neighbourhoods to gather reference, residents who spot me must think I am casing the area for a future break in. I refrain from wearing any hooden garment unless a downpour is expected, I am sure I look very suspicious with my casual clothes, sketchbook and bag of all sorts. This day was no exception as I searched along the road way for a comfortable place to sketch from.
One homeowner who was in her driveway, saw me wandering around the street peeking between the houses to the view below. She approached me and once I introduced myself, the kind women who seemed relieved, graciously offered me a place to sketch from - an unobscurred view from her living room. Her home was perched perfectly on the cliff of Barkley Terrace. Gonzales Bay and the panorama view was spread before me with homes neatly lining the streets of Hollywood Cresent and Cresent Road. I was thrilled to be a guest in her home for two occasions of sketching and snapshots of the bay and the Gonzales neighbourhood.


                                                                   A View from the Terrace
                                               Acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson copyright 1995.

The painting measures 24 1/4 inches x 32 1/2 inches and took many months to complete.
It was published in 1995 as signed and numbered limited edition prints. The prints have all sold out but the artcards are readily available.

ART CARDS
A View from the Terrace and several other Neighbourhood Series art cards are still available for purchase through my print galleries.

Please visit this link for my print gallery locations
 http://weaver-bosson.blogspot.ca/2012_11_01_archive.html

A Typical Day in the Neighbourhood

Watercolour painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson

 23 x 36.5 inches

sample image from my original painting catalogue

Colour and Happiness

February is one of those months where winter in some parts of Canada has just about driven everyone mad. Here in Victoria, this February 17th, it's a rare sunny day.

Today is sunny and is full of surprises. With my new birthday gift, I am one step closer to being a happy technophile.

Evidence of my happiness is a gift of my first Ipad. The IPad is from my dear computer literate Vic and the glorious spring flowers from a close friend who is far away in the frozen tundra of northern Alberta. Flowers and IPads do make a February birthday interesting and cheerful. 

 I look forward to learning how to use my new toy. I have downloaded a few drawing and painting apps which will be perfect for sketching. I have even downloaded a game of golf which is a bit difficult like real life golf. Below is my painting of the Fifth Tee at the Victoria Golf Club. We are fortunate to golf year round here in Victoria. My painting is very peaceful scene of a golfer on the Fifth Tee with the mountains and ocean as a gorgeous backdrop.

Colour = Happiness

Here are links to Tom Hawthorn's Globe and Mail article about how I love to express colour in my paintings even when Victoria's winter skies are grey.

Article
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/in-a-city-too-often-swathed-in-grey-an-artist-of-the-sun/article2417371/

To view 3 of my painting images in the Globe and Mail photo gallery, please click on this link.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/gallery-the-paintings-of-barbara-weaver-bosson/article2417403/

Looking South to the Blue Bridge

  above detail of my in progress painting titled Looking South to the Blue Bridge

 my finished painting of Looking South to the Blue Bridge (2012)

Victoria's Johnson Street Bridge and the working harbour

click on images to enlarge

Now available as fine art prints

image size 15.5 x 28 inches

 signed and titled

 $ 60 and up

Where to purchase my new prints?

http://weaver-bosson.blogspot.ca/2012_11_01_archive.html

click on link to visit my gallery listings in my November archive

Click on images to enlarge for a bigger image view.

The Fifth Tee -Victoria Golf  Club,Trial Island
  11.5 x 23 inches acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson all rights reserved
Giclee prints Sold Out

  The Fifth Tee original painting is available for purchase, please inquire e-studio@shaw.ca
 

I love to golf and had over the years golfed several times at the Victoria Golf Club with our friends and members Paul and Iris. I love the view that the Fifth tee and Fourth fairway offers of Trial Island and the magestic Olympic Mountains range. Several fairways of the Victoria Golf Club's course borders the ocean and both sides of Victoria's scenic Beach Drive. If you are in town visiting, please take the scenic drive and you will see this iconic view of the mountains, The Fifth Tee and Trial Island.

Kitsilano Houses and the West End Vancouver
 Acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson

14 x 19.5 inches

 Available for purchase, please inquire e-studio@shaw.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cat In The Window
Acrylic painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson
18 x 14 inches
Copyright 1999, all rights reserved by Barbara Weaver-Bosson



A View From Moss Rock
Watercolour painting by Barbara Weaver-Bosson
26 x 20 inches

also available in Limited Edition Prints
Copyright 1998, all rights reserved by Barbara Weaver-Bosson

  

My art prints of Victoria's Johnson Street Blue Bridge are now available

My painting of Victoria's Johnson Street Bridge
and Upper Harbour is now available in Fine Art Prints.
 

My painting of the Johnson Street Bridge and Victoria's working harbour

"Looking South to the Blue Bridge"

 by Barbara Weaver-Bosson, copyright 2012

 

click on image to enlarge

 

colours in this image may display differently on some monitors

 

Where to purchase my new prints?
Click here for my print gallery locations
http://weaver-bosson.blogspot.ca/2012_11_01_archive.html
 

 

 

 

 New Years Resolution # 1

 Enjoy Life and organize a lot of Pot Luck Dinners

The last few weeks have been a great break from our usual routine.Vic and I enjoyed spending our holiday time with our dear friends Ron and Marcie and Ken and Donna. We all have lots in common and that would be art. Many of us have backgrounds in fine arts, commercial illustration, design and potlucks.  We all became good friends during the mid 1980's due mostly to our good timing and our memberships in the Island Illustrators Society. Ken helped establish the IIS along side many of our other close artist friends. (which I will mention in my upcoming blogs.)
D and K live here in Victoria and R and M lived in North Saanich for hundreds of years and much to our dismay decided to move to Summerland (a small lakeside town in the Okanagan that is dryer, snowier, icier, and sunnier than Victoria). As R and M pulled into town for the holiday, we knew we were in for some heavy art talk, lots of potluck dinners and too much scotch and wine.

COLD TURKEY
For a good two weeks we all enjoyed a busy and upbeat holiday with many late nights, meeting friends of friends, discussing and arguing about art and most importantly how Downton Abbey should be on every evening. Donna, who always prepares far too much of the good food we eat, has been testing the waters of retirement. It is quite common nowadays that many of our friends who have real jobs in government or public sector are looking at retiring. Retirement is a relief for people who had demanding and stress filled jobs and are now finally enjoying their pensions and the freedom to choose the type of day they will have. The transition from working full time to stopping cold turkey would be a shock to anyones system. I know Donna has many cool ideas for her free time but is planning her retirement at a slower pace than just going cold turkey.

RECHARGING
Many of us artists can't imagine retiring but over the last few years have seen a change in pace and attitude of what projects to take on and what to leave alone. In the art world we have our challenges and stresses and at the end of a hectic year, need a bit of time off. These days my ideal ways to relax are finding a tropical beach with free drink service, flopping on the sofa for Downton Abbey Seasons 1 through 3 or combining the first two ideas with visiting friends and family. All or just one of these acitivites allow us to escape our familiar surroundings and recharge for the busy year that lies ahead.

RETIRING OR SIMPLIFYING
 As the holiday with our friends came to a close we had one other party to attend. It was not just another pot luck dinner, it was a birthday party. We were enlisted to help our delightful friend Betty celebrate a very significant birthday. Betty, now 90, knows how to tell a great story and throw a great dinner party but most importantly is one heck of a good painter. We know from previous visits and from the multitude of stacked canvases in her studio, Betty paints most every day. She loves to paint with Ron when he's is in town and her favourite subjects are still life, figurative and abstracts. Betty's painting style is filled with grace and simplicity. With Betty as a fine example and role model, she inspires us to simplify our lives and offers quiet advice ..... keep painting and don't sweat the small stuff.

BUY LOW AND SELL HIGH
The other side of the retirement question is one of money and pensions etc and how a well earned and deserved public or private sector pension is beneficial to maintaining a stable life and keeping a dry roof over ones head but sorry to say, I am sure you will thank me for not getting into that conversation. All hard working artists have a variety of different situations and I couldn't possibly generalize everyones circumstances or give sound investment advice or suggest how we each should proceed into our senior years but I have to mention... remember that silly banking and investment ad that played for years on tv? It still makes me laugh to this day FREEDOM 55!

ENDLESS INSPIRATION AND ART SUPPLIES
Collectively, we as friends and hoarders of art supplies, we may never ever fill up all our sketch books, use up our tubes of paints and fill up all our space on the computers hard drive. As far as the eye can see, we have far too many subjects or landscapes that will inspire us to paint, we have so much more to learn and so much more to experience and so much more to support or disagree about. All I know for sure, is we look forward to getting up everyday and getting into our studios. We may never just up and quit and retire from doing what we love to do. And as they say, "This is a Good Thing" for our arts and culture of Canada. Hopefully all of us will contribute for many more years to come.

In this New Year 2013 I would like to propose a toast to all

Cheers to all our good friends and colleagues! Here's to using our imagination and here's to visually making the world a more interesting and colourful place to live in.

To view Ron and Marcia Stacy's website
 visit http://stacystudios.com/

                    

Story of a painting and a Christmas Past

And Soon the Snow Began to Melt
acrylic painting and greeting card image by Barbara Weaver-Bosson Copyright 1997.


I have painted a few snow scenes over the years but in 1997 I felt the need to paint a scene of the peaceful aftermath of a rare snow storm that buried the city of Victoria during the last week of December 1996. Sixteen years later I recall

The Snow Storm of  '96

 I recall it was a very busy and crazy December and Christmas. The snow was falling fast and furious as I was in the taxi heading for the bus to the ferry. I was in dire need of a rest and my Christmas present to myself was a sunny holiday in Mexico. As the main cook and menu planner, I knew that while I was away Vic wouldn't be getting around to cooking much while he was working on his illustrations for "The Fox's Kettle."  Thoughtfully, I left him a freezer full of frozen dinners to enjoy.
The trip to the airport went smoothly but soon realized I was dressed for winter and not life on a beach. I ditched my knee high winterized rubber boots in the airport washroom and quickly headed for the gate and climbed on board the plane with the other happy holidayers. Out our tiny window seats we saw the weather turn very ugly. I found out later that we were on the last flight out of the Vancouver airport just minutes before all flights were cancelled.

 The amount of snow that fell during this storm was unprecendented and Victoria was at a stand still for days. Over the week in the beach resort, I was only able to get one successful call through to Victoria. I had no idea what our city had really gone through until I returned. Vic claims that he was not in any danger but was very grateful when two of our friends tunneled their way up to our front door and brought a him a gift of a good long visit.
 Many stories I heard from friends and neighbours were of how everyone had to dig themselves out, how neighbours trudged single file down one path through the waste deep snow, how city road crews tried to cope with inadequate equiment to initially clear roads, how CFAX radio station was broadcasting as an emergency network and arranging aid for individuals who were stranded without food or medications. Many people had to come up with make shift solutions until they could get a crew to repair damage to the caved in rooves in their homes and businesses. The great white blanket covered so much there was hardly a clue that cars were parked along the curbside or driveways. Those adventurous enough walked through the winter wonderland but found they could not carry themselves more than a block or two before becoming worn out from struggling through the deep snow. Others put on cross country skiis and headed out the door with ease. Out of town visitors had to stay put and accept the fact they could not get back home and their Victoria holiday would be extended until the roads were cleared and traffic was moving.
 
 I was away for all the challenges that the storm left but in the aftermath the story tellers all felt the storm had a positive effect on them. Most people who were not working in road or essential services and emergency jobs made sure their neighbours had the essentials of food, light and heat. Looking out for eachother gave communities a chance to get connected and help out however they could. The simple life came into clear focus for many families who played board games of monopoly or sat quietly reading by the window by daylight during the days power failure.

 The title of my painting And Soon the Snow Began to Melt  refers to my seeing only a hint of the snow left behind by the storm. In essence this painting is a statement of how life looks to be getting back to normal after one of  Mother Nature's fierce weather surprises.

Sending you my Warmest Wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. 

Cheers,
 Barbara