Banff

I love Banff so much...visited for the first time when I was a very young girl.  It was a long trip from northern Manitoba and it felt like such a big city to me at the time.  Makes me laugh to think of it now.  My husband & I lived and married in my northern town of Leaf Rapids in our early years and spent our honeymoon along with many anniversaries in Banff.  I feel so fortunate to live so close and to be able to celebrate our 25th Anniversary with our girls there.

We visited the Whyte Museum which never disappoints and this time it was probably one of the highlights for me.  Not only do I love the history of Peter & Catharine Whyte, I was also fascinated by an exhibit of watercolour sketches by Ontario artist John Hartman.  They were filled with colour and loose brush strokes along with simple frames that shared the integrity of the raw edges of the 11x14 paintings.  It was a series of work he created based on travels along the Columbia River in British Columbia.  It was especially fun for our family to recognize different locations as we had spent the summer along the Columbia in the Kootenays two years ago.

We also saw Tony Bloom's kinetic sculptures which were fantastic.  Last fall we were in his studio in Canmore and saw a few of the pieces in progress...so nice to see the finished work.

And I met up with a friend, printmaker Linda Cote (gosh I love her and her work...one day I hope to own one of her original carved block ravens) as well as being introduced to another artist whose work was stunning, Veronique Bottaro.  Definitely recommend a visit to her website.  I don't often meet other Veronicas and typically not artists.  I was particularly drawn to her wildlife and feather pieces.

And, of course, we ate extremely well, slept fabulously on the most comfortable mattresses in the quietest room, and walked along the river and mountains...how can you be surrounded by such glory and not take advantage of it?