stern.
âIf youâd try to be less messy, youâd do better,â she added.
âYes, Dede,â Emily answered. For once, she didnât care about Dedeâs scolding. She held tight to the important words, âvery good.â
Emily hurried up the stairs to her room. She propped her picture up on the cherry branch easel. Then she went back out to the landing. First, she leaned over and checked to see if Dede was gone from the hallway and no one else was there. Then, she lifted up her skirt, flung one leg over the banister and slid down to the bottom of the stairs. She skipped out of the house, careful not to bang the door.
For once, no one called after her. No voice scolded, âBe good, Emily. Behave, Emily.â
Emily walked to the cow yard, singing out hello to the cow, the rooster and the chickens. But she didnât climb the fence and go in. Instead, she walked past the cow pasture and on to the picket fence that surrounded the lily field. She didnât try to lift the picket gate. She just climbed over.
This time she did not have to imagine the lilies as she had during the winter. They were in full bloom. Emily stood in the middle of the delicate white flowers and looked up to the sky with them.
âIâm going to be an artist,â she said out loud.
She had won a contest today, and even Dede had said sheâd done well. Maybe it was just a little contest, and maybe her picture had been a bit smudgy, but it was a start. It meant she could be good at something, something that she, Emily, wanted to do. And she could do what she wanted. She could be an artist. She would keep telling herself that â no matter what other people said.
Emily drank in the perfume of the lilies and looked up through the tall pine trees. She felt that same strange, wonderful feeling she always felt in this spot. It filled her up and overflowed. She felt like she could float on her happiness right up over the lily field and fly like the wind out over the wild forest of Beacon Hill Park and the ocean beyond.
Afterword
Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1871. She grew up at a time when people expected girls and women to behave only in certain ways. Emily didnât always fit peopleâs expectations â when she was a girl or when she was grown up. Instead, she learned to follow her heart and believe in herself (even though it wasnât always easy). She studied art in San Francisco, England and France. Eventually, she began painting the wild places of the British Columbia west coast that she loved so much.
Even Emilyâs paintings were not what people expected. Instead of painting all the details of a landscape with tiny carefulbrush strokes, she used color, movement, light and space to show the feeling of life in the places she visited. She also painted things people had not seen painted before. She traveled all along the British Columbia coast, sketching and painting First Nations villages and wild places.
Emily continued to love animals, but she didnât get a dog of her own until she was grown up. After that, she always had lots of animals around her, including birds, dogs and even a monkey.
When Emilyâs health began to fail and she could no longer paint as much as she wanted to, she began to write. Even people who didnât understand or like her paintings liked the books she wrote about her life. If she were still alive today, Emily Carr would be pleased and surprised to know she is one of Canadaâs most famous and well-loved artists.
Emilyâs father did not live to see her become a real artist and to tell her sheâd done well. But years after his death, Emily found the old drawing of Carlow saved in adrawer in his desk. He really had liked it, and he had been proud of her even then.
Jacqueline Pearce is the author of several books for children and teens, including
The Reunion
(Orca, 2002). She lives in Burnaby, British
âIf youâd try to be less messy, youâd do better,â she added.
âYes, Dede,â Emily answered. For once, she didnât care about Dedeâs scolding. She held tight to the important words, âvery good.â
Emily hurried up the stairs to her room. She propped her picture up on the cherry branch easel. Then she went back out to the landing. First, she leaned over and checked to see if Dede was gone from the hallway and no one else was there. Then, she lifted up her skirt, flung one leg over the banister and slid down to the bottom of the stairs. She skipped out of the house, careful not to bang the door.
For once, no one called after her. No voice scolded, âBe good, Emily. Behave, Emily.â
Emily walked to the cow yard, singing out hello to the cow, the rooster and the chickens. But she didnât climb the fence and go in. Instead, she walked past the cow pasture and on to the picket fence that surrounded the lily field. She didnât try to lift the picket gate. She just climbed over.
This time she did not have to imagine the lilies as she had during the winter. They were in full bloom. Emily stood in the middle of the delicate white flowers and looked up to the sky with them.
âIâm going to be an artist,â she said out loud.
She had won a contest today, and even Dede had said sheâd done well. Maybe it was just a little contest, and maybe her picture had been a bit smudgy, but it was a start. It meant she could be good at something, something that she, Emily, wanted to do. And she could do what she wanted. She could be an artist. She would keep telling herself that â no matter what other people said.
Emily drank in the perfume of the lilies and looked up through the tall pine trees. She felt that same strange, wonderful feeling she always felt in this spot. It filled her up and overflowed. She felt like she could float on her happiness right up over the lily field and fly like the wind out over the wild forest of Beacon Hill Park and the ocean beyond.
Afterword
Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1871. She grew up at a time when people expected girls and women to behave only in certain ways. Emily didnât always fit peopleâs expectations â when she was a girl or when she was grown up. Instead, she learned to follow her heart and believe in herself (even though it wasnât always easy). She studied art in San Francisco, England and France. Eventually, she began painting the wild places of the British Columbia west coast that she loved so much.
Even Emilyâs paintings were not what people expected. Instead of painting all the details of a landscape with tiny carefulbrush strokes, she used color, movement, light and space to show the feeling of life in the places she visited. She also painted things people had not seen painted before. She traveled all along the British Columbia coast, sketching and painting First Nations villages and wild places.
Emily continued to love animals, but she didnât get a dog of her own until she was grown up. After that, she always had lots of animals around her, including birds, dogs and even a monkey.
When Emilyâs health began to fail and she could no longer paint as much as she wanted to, she began to write. Even people who didnât understand or like her paintings liked the books she wrote about her life. If she were still alive today, Emily Carr would be pleased and surprised to know she is one of Canadaâs most famous and well-loved artists.
Emilyâs father did not live to see her become a real artist and to tell her sheâd done well. But years after his death, Emily found the old drawing of Carlow saved in adrawer in his desk. He really had liked it, and he had been proud of her even then.
Jacqueline Pearce is the author of several books for children and teens, including
The Reunion
(Orca, 2002). She lives in Burnaby, British
Similar Books
