The pastoral, treed landscapes of Metchosin havenB次元官网网址檛 changed much in 80 years B次元官网网址� a good thing for someone seeking traces of Emily Carr.

A keen eye for detail in CarrB次元官网网址檚 paintings and West Shore rural pastures has helped Elaine Limbrick unearth new stories about VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 most iconic artist.

She is in the midst of compiling a guide book of West Shore locations Carr visited and painted.

B次元官网网址淥ut here we have beautiful landscapes and seascapes,B次元官网网址� says Limbrick, a Highlands resident and president of the West Shore Arts Council. B次元官网网址淲e arenB次元官网网址檛 just sports arenas.B次元官网网址�

Following the footsteps of a woman who died in 1945 is not an easy task, but Limbrick has become a sleuth in the process.

She has spent the last three years interviewing  people whose relatives or friends had connections with Carr, as well as reading her books and books written about the artist, famous for painting flowing landscapes and First Nations totems.

Through memoirs, dates of paintings and landmarks in the paintings, Limbrick has started identifying exact West Shore locations of many paintings. She has identified about 20 locations.

B次元官网网址淭here are lots of little clues,B次元官网网址� Limbrick says. B次元官网网址淚 am still discovering them.B次元官网网址�

She had already been researching CarrB次元官网网址檚 life, but Limbrick began to dig deeper when she started working on the Metchosin green community mapping project about two years ago. As she learned more about Carr, the more she was determined to complete the guidebook, which she hopes to compete this spring.

As part of her research, Limbrick studied CarrB次元官网网址檚 painting titled Mrs. JonesB次元官网网址� Farm, which is on display at the Vancouver Art Gallery. She suspected it was a landscape from Metchosin.

She started looking at land in the area and found a farm, now called Glengarry farm, which was owned by the Jones family when the painting was created, circa 1938.

After contacting the farm owners, LimbrickB次元官网网址檚 hunch was proven correct. The farm, off Taylor Road, is owned by Douglas and Gretta Ruth. Gretta is the granddaughter of Jones, the woman titled in the painting.

Carr and GrettaB次元官网网址檚 grandmother were friends from a young age and lived in James Bay. GrettaB次元官网网址檚 grandmother would help the painter financially when she needed it, and it was GrettaB次元官网网址檚 job to deliver the envelope of money.

GrettaB次元官网网址檚 grandmother also allowed Carr to her park her makeshift camping trailer B次元官网网址� fondly known as the Elephant B次元官网网址� at the farm. The painting Mrs. JonesB次元官网网址� Farm came from one of those times, Gretta says.

B次元官网网址淪he was always nice to children,B次元官网网址� Gretta says. B次元官网网址淏ut I didnB次元官网网址檛 like the monkey,B次元官网网址� referring to CarrB次元官网网址檚 monkey named Woo.

While Limbrick has tracked down the origin to that particular painting, she has many more pieces to identify. B次元官网网址淓milyB次元官网网址檚 time was 80 years ago. The trees must have been little,B次元官网网址� Limbrick says. B次元官网网址淵ou have to remember landscapes change.B次元官网网址�

As a tool, Limbrick pays close attention to what mode of transportation Carr would have used at the time, whether it be horse, rail or car, to narrow down where images could have come from.

B次元官网网址淲hen you are working on Emily you have to be like a detective,B次元官网网址� Limbrick says. B次元官网网址淭here is all kinds of new evidence on Emily Carr.B次元官网网址�

Carr painted on various farms and seascapes such as Albert Head Lagoon and Esquimalt Lagoon. Carr even skinny-dipped in Goldstream River. Limbrick has discovered Carr spent time painting and travelling in communities now known as View Royal, Langford, Colwood and Metchosin.

B次元官网网址淭he Metchosin Emily knew was not the same boundaries we know today,B次元官网网址� Limbrick says explaining at that time Colwood didnB次元官网网址檛 exist and Metchosin spanned from Esquimalt to Goldstream park.

As a child, Carr would travel by horse and carriage with her parents from Victoria to Four Mile House in View Royal.  As an adult she would park her trailer near Four Mile House for the winter.

Carr would spent two months a year in Metchosin living in her trailer, which doubled as a semi-mobile studio.

B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檇 go camping by herself in the forest and never know if a cougar was going to get her. She heard a cougar because she wrote about it,B次元官网网址� Limbrick says. B次元官网网址淚 still do think she was a very courageous woman.B次元官网网址�

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com