An Artistic Day in Vancouver

 Hullo! We got up early this morning and came to Starbucks to do some blogging...

This Starbucks was pretty big, and closet to the hotel which is beary convenient!

Then it was time for breakfast...

Salmon eggs benedict... yum!!

Alright... where are we off to today??

We are heading along Robson Street and I saw something Beanie Mouse might like!

Do you see... across the street... it's Ladurée!!

We just had breakfast, so we aren't stopping there...

This shop display had gold lady bugs in it! Nice!

Alrightee... here we are... the Vancouver Art Gallery!

They have a beary cool display set up...

Are you ready...??

It's Emily Carr!!! She is one of BCs most famous and beloved artists...

She was born in 1871 and died in 1945. She spent a LOT of time travelling around BC painting Indigenous cultures.

She was influenced by painters like Lawren Harris of the Group of Seven. When he saw her work, he told her that "you are one of us"...

This is one of her earlier works. 

She had spent time in France as well..

And if you look at the earlier works, you can see some of that French Impressionist influence...

Like this one...

But then you start seeing more of the Group of Seven influence... and Carr's own style...

They had some of her sketches as well.

This one was funny!! She painted some cats in the shrubbery!

She was trying to capture movement and flow and she did pretty good here!

We love her paintings.

This one is pretty cool... the tall majestic cedars and then you can see the Indigenous village down low, on the sandy shore.

From a lot of dark green and browns...

In later ears, she started adding more blues and whites...

And then some yellows...

We don't come here beary often... 

But to see her stuff... definitely!!

Alright... where to next???

TO BE CONTINUED

Adventure in Victoria

 Hullo!! Today we are going on a day-trip adventure to Victoria!!!

And, of course, we got our first real skiff of snow but the roads are bare and wet, so we are good to go. The Malahat is always interesting in the winter, but it was no problem...

Righto... we are in Victoria and of course... they are a couple of weeks ahead of us sooo....

Cherry blossoms are out!!!!

And the daffodils...

This is the BC Legislature, the provincial government's building...

You can't go in unless you are on a tour... so phooie...

It's pretty though.

That's the Empress Hotel in the background!

Here's an unfuzzy shot... and the flags are at half-mast because of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting... so sad.

Alright... let's adventure!

This is where the Seattle Clipper somes in... one day... one day... we will make that trip!

The harbour is beary pretty and... 

You know... they serve high tea at the Empress... probably with real clotted cream and not whipped cream... let's go and see what it costs...

Oooh... flowers!!!!!

We had to walk by Emily Carr with her little dog and...

Can you guess what is on her shoulder??

The dog is pretty fixated on it...

It's a monkey!! Where she got a monkey from... who knows...

She was a beary famous BC painter... who studied in England and later France. Do you know her work? Let me grab an example...

She traveled all over BC painting indigenous communities. Later, she got mentored by Lawren Harris, one of the Group of Seven who told her "you are one of us"... Beary cool.

That's one of her paintings on an old stamp!

Alright... let's head into the Empress Hotel....

Ooohh.. ahhh... lots of dark wood paneling...

And a fancy tea shop...

We didn't even go in... the dollar signs were flashing!

Hmmm... that's a nice painting....

Yep, it's beary expensive...

We also had a look at the high tea menu and... it was on sale for Vancouver Island residents for $100 per person!! And an extra $25 if you wanted champagne... although it does look beary good... And our local place charged $85/person... and gave us whipped cream instead of clotted cream. But... the Empress Tea place has a dress code too... sigh... Maybe another time!

This is the menu... and yes... they do have house-made clotted cream and it actually looks quite yum...

And the dress code is not... excessive... 

"Please refrain from wearing hats. Exceptions are fascinators and fancy tea hats.

• No tank tops, beach wear, or athleisure wear permitted.

• No flip-flops or bare feet permitted. Exceptions are elegant sandals.

• No clothing with explicit or offensive wording or graphics permitted."

But... it's only for Afternoon Tea and it was only 10 am!!! Next time!!

Right then... where to next???