On March 29, 2003 I went on a tour of artist homes and studios in Calgary. Sponsored by the Triangle Gallery, it gave me the opportunity to see inside many abodes that I have often admired from the sidewalk. This home is the third home of eight in this series.

For this artist living and working are one in the same. She is a mixed media artist and has incorporated much of this work into her 1914 Arts and Crafts home. When I say mixed media artist I mean she uses anything she can get her hands on. This is refreshing and enjoyable because each part of her home has some curiosity worth further examination.

She lives in the Mount Pleasant area, an area that I lived and worked in for many years. The region was annexed in 1910 and the community began to develop around 1912. At one point it was a favourite area to settle for men returning from the Great War. The community is now very densely packed with a motley group of demographic types, young families, retired couples, students and many singles.

This house is a ginger bread house and contains a whole variety of period works, art from extensive travels and her own diverse folk style. I really like her art and her creative choices because they are based on something that comes from within, a reflection and a curiosity of the world around her and also a desire to become one with that world by working with it rather than destroying or throwing it out. Her style is very similar to my own and is very eclectic and perhaps a bit eccentric.