-Story by Joe Blake Photography by Don Denton
I first met Oak Bay artist Robert Amos more than 40 years ago. He was painting pictures of buildings and sites that were vanishing from the landscape and he told me he was going to be the artist who painted Victoria.
Not long after that, Amos began making pictures of the cityB次元官网网址檚 iconographic images B次元官网网址� the Legislative precinct, the Empress Hotel, Chinatown. When he and his wife, artist Sarah Amos, moved to Fairfield to raise their two daughters, Amos began to paint Cook Street Village. Seven years ago, this creative couple moved to Oak Bay and built their current home-studio.
B次元官网网址淭he late mayor Nils Jensen met me on his bicycle tour one day and said, B次元官网网址業 want to make Oak Bay the art capital of the Capital RegionB次元官网网址�,B次元官网网址� Amos tells me.
WeB次元官网网址檙e in his studio front room, where he stores his notebooks, diaries and sketchbook archives. There are shelves of them B次元官网网址� personal chronicles of his career and development as an artist. There are also a handful of his published books, like last yearB次元官网网址檚 critically acclaimed best-seller E.J. Hughes Paints Vancouver Island.
In October, Amos celebrates the publication of his second volume of HughesB次元官网网址� biography, and heB次元官网网址檚 already at work on volume three, the war years.
B次元官网网址淚 just like the way his paintings look!B次元官网网址� Amos exclaims, smiling like a Cheshire cat. B次元官网网址淚 wrote about him, met him, and got an invitation to spend the day with him.B次元官网网址�
Amos then shows me a series of commissioned paintings of a house in Oak Bay documenting a half-century of life for the mother and daughter who live there. ItB次元官网网址檚 another current project, in addition to lectures on Hughes and Emily Carr.
B次元官网网址淎 close look, of what itB次元官网网址檚 like to paint,B次元官网网址� Amos says dramatically. B次元官网网址淣inety minutes of close observation. WeB次元官网网址檙e going to do some video recording of the lectures, too.B次元官网网址�
Born in Belleville, Ontario in 1950, Amos spent his school years in Toronto, followed by two years at Queens University taking English literature courses. Amos got a part-time job lifting crates at an art gallery and thatB次元官网网址檚 when he saw his first art show.
B次元官网网址淗eart of London!B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭hat was the title of the show. I thoughtB次元官网网址y life could be the subject matter, too B次元官网网址� a framed experience, painting. I went to York to study fine art, art history and Japanese art and a professor bought some of my paintings. In my final year, I did nothing but studio work.B次元官网网址�
Amos landed at Western Front in Vancouver and a waterfront studio on Carrall Street, near Gastown. He hung out with The Pier Group of artists that included Victoria designer J.C. Scott. Performance art, live co-op radio plays, live music, and dreams of going to Japan B次元官网网址� Amos lived a bohemian life and continued it when he came to Victoria with fellow artist Andy Graffiti, setting up shop in Chinatown above Fan Tan Alley.
B次元官网网址淭he place looks amazing!B次元官网网址� he recalls. B次元官网网址淭hat view coming into town over Royal Oak? Beautiful!B次元官网网址�
Amos got a job at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, where he stayed for five years. He says he saw a lot of Japanese art, Japanese wood block and German expressionism.
B次元官网网址淭hen I quit and went to Japan for a year of travel in Japan and Thailand,B次元官网网址� Amos says. B次元官网网址淚 studied Japanese. I met Sarah. We got married. We travelled. We were crossing into Malaysia at Langkawi and I had to declare my occupation, that I was an artist. That was a big moment. I am an artist!B次元官网网址�
Amos is probably VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 most public artist. Besides decades of writing about art in his Times Colonist column and Monday Magazine before that, and producing CBC Radio reports on VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 art scene, Amos is at work in Greater VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 neighbourhoods B次元官网网址� literally painting the town.
HeB次元官网网址檚 been artist in residence at The Empress and the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, where he also wrote drafts of his E.J. Hughes book during breaks from two months of summer painting in a sunny room across from the David Foster Theatre.
Amos is also a fixture at the annual Bowker Creek Brush Up and at local schools, since his early collaboration with Barb Adams at Monterey. HeB次元官网网址檚 also a member of Oak BayB次元官网网址檚 public art advisory committee.
B次元官网网址淚 think thatB次元官网网址檚 the only organization IB次元官网网址檝e ever joined,B次元官网网址� Amos grimaces. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 like meetings!B次元官网网址�
Every Friday for the last 17 years, Amos has visited Mount St. MaryB次元官网网址檚 Hospital where he reads to the residents while they paint and draw.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 probably the happiest times of my life,B次元官网网址� he says, smiling. B次元官网网址淚 love painting landscapes, houses and gardens, cars, dogs B次元官网网址� anything, but itB次元官网网址檚 still a struggle to sell a painting. The art business is still a struggle.B次元官网网址�
But despite that, and after decades of dedication to his craft, Amos has achieved what he set out to do: heB次元官网网址檚 painted Victoria. And the paintings and drawings of Oak Bay and other neighbourhoods are his lasting legacy.
Visit Robert AmosB次元官网网址� .
