On our last evening on Vancouver Island Alan and I stopped in Courtney. We found ‘The Potters’ Place’ gallery just as it was closing so had a quick look around and met that day’s volunteers Joe and Helen Stefiuk. Thanks for staying open a bit late for us, Joe and Helen.
We drove to the outskirts of the town to find Lesley Norris’ charming rural retreat. She had invited us for supper and the chance to see our tile project installed, over a year since it had been fabricated in my studio. The two blogs below tell the story of how and why they were made and I’ve been looking forward to seeing how they look in Lesley’s 1905(?) house ever since.
https://www.gillianmcmillan.com/2016/01/18/fireplace-tile-project/
https://www.gillianmcmillan.com/2016/02/15/metcalfe-tiles/
The house is filled with Lesley’s eclectic art collection, including her own silkscreen prints and a number of pieces by her friend Eric Metcalfe for whom she made the silkscreen prints. The little house is a comfortable, quiet retreat where she stays when she’s not at work in Vancouver or enjoying her even more rural home on a West Coast island.
The tiles have been installed around her fireplace and make a bold, colourful and elegant statement, in a skilfully restored old house. Many thanks go to her architect son I gather.
We enjoyed a leisurely summer drink in her garden and a yummy salmon pasta and a salad made of freshly picked ingredients from said garden. While she prepared our meal I was encouraged to explore the house to see her art collection. Here are some of the pieces.
Thank you so much Lesley for allowing us to check out how the tiles look in their home, and for making us Lower Mainlanders welcome in the quiet Courtney valley. After supper Al and I drove forty minutes north to stay the last night of our holiday in Campbell River.
