I’m sure you’ve heard of Emily Carr, one of Canada’s (and B.C.’s) most famous artists. Carr was born and lived for most of her life in Victoria, B.C. (December 13, 1871 – March 2, 1945). She painted in a loose Post-Impressionistic style, not unlike her contemporaries in the Group of Seven. Favourite subjects were B.C. landscapes and scenes from her travels along B.C.’s west coast where she was inspired by the life and surroundings of Canada’s First Nations peoples.
Much has been written about her as an artist but I was delighted to find Emily Carr As I Knew Her by Carol (Williams) Pearson, that tells us what she was like as a teacher and friend.
Carol Williams came to Carr as a student in 1917 when she was only seven years old. During a few summers of instruction their friendship deepened (Carr’s pet name for Carol was Baboo), until Carr invited Carol to live with her. At one point she even requested that Carol’s parents allow her to adopt Carol as a daughter. The answer was ‘no,’ but the relationship between Carol and Emily Carr continued until Carr’s death in 1945.
Through Pearson’s memoir we get an intimate glimpse into Emily Carr’s life. Carol tells stories of “Miss Carr’s” kindness—to people and animals, her menagerie of pets, how impervious she was to the reaction of locals to her eccentricities, her standards for her own art and that of her students’, her sense of humour, and much more.
Chapter titles include “Painting Lessons,” “Gathering the Clay” (where Pearson tells how Carr would test the prospective clay for her pottery by chewing on it), “Sketching Trips,” “Her Animal Friends” (I especially enjoyed stories of the monkey Woo’s intelligence and shenanigans), “The Guest Room,” “Letters,” and finally, “Treasures” (where Carol tells the touching story of a weak and ill Emily, near the end of her life, summoning Carol from her home in Ontario to help deal with the treasure trove of memorabilia she had collected over the years).
A sculpture of Emily Carr with her pet monkey Woo. She always dressed mischievous Woo in a skirt. (Located at the intersection of Government and Belleville Streets, Victoria, BC).
Emily Carr As I knew Her is beautifully written with sensitivity, love, and admiration. You won’t come away from this intimate glimpse into Carr’s life disappointed to discover your hero had feet of clay—just the opposite! Fans of Emily Carr owe it to themselves to read this book.
First published in 1954, I accessed a digitally republished 2016 edition of the book through my local library. It is also available on Amazon.ca as a Kindle download.
Violet Nesdoly 