Monday, May 23, 2016

Art in Whistler


While we were in Whistler, we spent some time at the Audain Art Gallery. There was a wide range of traditional and contemporary Native artifacts. Steve loved this carved wall.



There was an impressive collection of Emily Carr paintings, and according to the Whistler tourism website:

"The collection includes The Crazy Stair, a painting by Emily Carr which recently sold at auction for a record breaking $3.3 million. This price was the highest ever paid for an Emily Carr at auction, the highest for a work by a Canadian woman artist and the fourth most expensive work at an art auction in Canada."






I love traditional button blankets. All three of my kids have made one as part of their Grade 4 First Nations studies.


Basketball shoes... creative, for sure!


Steve, the art critic! Bless his heart - he did it for me! I'm glad there were comfy benches for him to sit on in most of the rooms.


Beautiful painting... wait, that's a window Steve!



I asked ahead of time if I was allowed to take photos. They said as long as I did not use a flash then I was allowed to take all the pictures I wanted. But, selfie sticks are apparently not allowed!! I am sure glad I brought my real camera along so I didn't get in trouble! I don't actually own a selfie stick, so I guess I would have been ok, anyway!



This amazing mask was made with the hair from horses' tails. And it was massive!


The following two masks were part of the collection from the 1800s.



The building itself was a piece of art. I loved all the lines and shadows that you could find. It is a much bigger building that you would imagine from just what you see looking at it from outside.


Steve's favourite piece of art at the Audain was right outside the window... he calls this "Cats at Play!" It was fun to see that they are still making additions and improvements to this impressive art gallery. I would love to return to it the next time I am in Whistler to see what has been added. (Hopefully it doesn't take another 40 years for me to get there!)


This is the totem pole that was in the centre of town.


Loved these bronze sculptures of faces.




And, of course, the Master Artist is always at work. Without question, the most beautiful artwork around Whistler is God's creation of mountains.


So, this is 40...

Happy Birthday (Birth-month!) to me... It started before my birthday with a weekend getaway to Whistler. This was my first time in Whistler, (yes, ever!) and it did not disappoint. Loved it there.  Want to go back!






Steve thought I should have 40 pics of me for 40 years, but I think we made it to about 16...






My actual birthday was pretty special, too... my class celebrated me all week long :) and my family gave me a delicious chocolate cake and gifts. From my family I also got candles, a tabletop fountain, flowers and a garden gnome. Love them all!



Thanks to everyone that made this day extra special.