'November Willow', (Canadian west coast Impressionism, Gorge Waterway, willows, Takata tea house, Victoria BC)

November in my part of the world is a time when the

willows both native and otherwise really show off their

colour. On these dark and dreary days that we have

been having they glow like lamps in the landscape.

However this Friday morning we were delighted by

bright sunny skies and brisk temperatures.

The early morning frost can be blamed for "inspiring" the

early snow in this piece. This was painted in a very

historic part of Victoria, which is now part of the

Gorge Waterway park system. However starting in

the early 1900's this was the terminus on the Gorge Loop

of the long since vanished BC Electric street car system.

It became a site of beautiful gardens, amusements, plays

and musical performances. For many years the Takata

family had a wonderful floating tea house and Japanese

strolling garden here. There was also a large sampan that

could be boarded in Victoria's inner harbour and ridden

to the tea house and surrounding park. There is

an effort underway to restore some of the old

Japanese garden to its former glory, which was heavily

vandalized and slowly destroyed following the

invasion of Pearl Harbour in WWII.

For a more detailed history, complete with some

wonderful old photo's please refer to Dennis Minaker's

fantastic book 'The Gorge of Summers Gone' A History

of Victoria's Inland Waterway.

Oil on wood panel 11 x 14.

Your thoughts and comments are always welcomed!

Jeffrey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please email me for information about purchasing

this painting using PayPal's secure on-line system.

jjboronart@shaw.ca

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"From the blue-black of night, beyond where the campfires flicker,

a latern-lit boat nears the jetty where a temple-roofed

building is both refreshment booth and landing stage...

its a merry throng that debarks to return to the park

over the three semi-circular arched bridges."

-Colonist newspaper, July 19, 1908