Emily Carr: The Lone Pine

Emily Carr was a struggling Western Canadian artist who was painting at the same time as the Group of Seven artists were painting on the East Coast. She painted alone and was working in a very similar way to her Canadian contemporaries.  She eventually became very good friends with Lawren Harris but her vision remained very unique.  The geographic area as well as the subject matter of her paintings informed her work. She also had her own ideas of Canadian art, producing the vision of west coast art that still remains today. Carr ‘s distinguished work has made her the best-known woman artist in Canadian history.

Emily Carr is a mentor for me. She entered into a man’s world and was recognized by the art critics by the quality of her work and the originality and uniqueness of her voice. She did not paint with the desire of being “discovered or appreciated” Of course she needed to make a living but her motivation was to make art. She painted because she had to.