Yesterday my family spent a magical afternoon surrounded by art and nature. We drove up to Unionville to visit the Frederick Horsman Varley Gallery. Varley is my favourite painter of the Group of Seven. He was born in Sheffield, England in 1881. He immigrated to Canada in 1912. Six years later Canadian War Records commissioned him to illustrate the war in Europe. When he returned to Canada, in 1920, he became a founding member of the Group of Seven. Throughout his life, he painted numerous landscapes and portraits. He spent his last years living with arts patron Kathleen McKay in her house in Unionville (a short drive north of Toronto).
Lake Garibaldi, B.C., 1928
Vera, c. 1930: I love Varley's colour palette of choice, blue and green. Nature informed much of his work.
