My Dad is from Saint John New Brunswick. As I grew up in Fredericton our family made frequent trips to visit my grandparents there. The trips usually included a visit to my great Aunt Agnes Joynes. She was a sister to my grandmother and also lived in St. John. Aunt Ag never married and, it seems to me, never regretted it, She always marched to a different drum. That was evident to me, even as a child. I liked her. Agnes had grown up in Rural New Brunswick writing poetry and painting in an environment where such pursuits were not highly valued. She had some of her poetry published. I don't know how much she painted or if she sold any of her work. When I was in my early teens Aunt Agnes gave me her paint box. The inside was stained with colour and smelled of linseed oil. The few brushes were in rough shape and many of the tubes of paint were dried out but I received it gratefully for the treasure it was. I have one of my Aunt Ag's paintings that I found in the back of a closet at my parents home. It's a small panel about eight by ten inches. I cleaned it up and varnished it to bring up the colour a bit and ordered a classy frame for it. It's bright and cheery and a reminder of aunt Ag and her gift (which I managed to lose although I still have the wooden palette that slid inside the cover). The painting is of a flower garden with lattice fences and a bird bath right smack in the middle. It hangs on my bedroom wall and when I look at it I imagine her pleasure in painting it. I am thinking along these lines because this showing is my first one in Saint John, and I have been thinking back to those family visits years ago - and also because, in these late winter days, I take great pleasure in the time that I am able to spend at my easel. February is the longest month of the year in this country and paint and canvas help me to make it through. Painting is an invaluable source of strength for me. I hope you like what you see here. Your response to my work is very important to me, but it has been done first of all for the pleasure of painting and I've been wishing that I could say another thank you to Aunt Ag for getting me started.
Aunt Ag's Painting