Emily

This portrait celebrates an artist whose work I have long admired, but have only become truly familiar with in the past year. My new home in Victoria is one block from Emily Carr House and having now read many books both by her and about her, I have developed a deep appreciation for this remarkable woman.
My artworks are primarily portraiture, and frequently figures from the past, so I rely on photos to give me a sense of their features. There are very few photographs of Emily Carr, so I had to rely on one in the public domain that shows her, compellingly, with paintbrush in hand, holding a canvas, and I sculpted her image in hand-dyed cheesecloth. I painted background fabrics using her signature forest greens and browns, in swirls reminiscent of her daring brushstrokes, to give her the setting she was most at home in.