-Story by Joe Blake Photography by Don Denton
I first met Oak Bay artist Robert Amos more than 40 years ago. He was painting pictures of buildings and sites that were vanishing from the landscape and he told me he was going to be the artist who painted Victoria.
Not long after that, Amos began making pictures of the city91裸聊视频檚 iconographic images 91裸聊视频� the Legislative precinct, the Empress Hotel, Chinatown. When he and his wife, artist Sarah Amos, moved to Fairfield to raise their two daughters, Amos began to paint Cook Street Village. Seven years ago, this creative couple moved to Oak Bay and built their current home-studio.
91裸聊视频淭he late mayor Nils Jensen met me on his bicycle tour one day and said, 91裸聊视频業 want to make Oak Bay the art capital of the Capital Region91裸聊视频�,91裸聊视频� Amos tells me.
We91裸聊视频檙e in his studio front room, where he stores his notebooks, diaries and sketchbook archives. There are shelves of them 91裸聊视频� personal chronicles of his career and development as an artist. There are also a handful of his published books, like last year91裸聊视频檚 critically acclaimed best-seller E.J. Hughes Paints Vancouver Island.
In October, Amos celebrates the publication of his second volume of Hughes91裸聊视频� biography, and he91裸聊视频檚 already at work on volume three, the war years.
91裸聊视频淚 just like the way his paintings look!91裸聊视频� Amos exclaims, smiling like a Cheshire cat. 91裸聊视频淚 wrote about him, met him, and got an invitation to spend the day with him.91裸聊视频�
Amos then shows me a series of commissioned paintings of a house in Oak Bay documenting a half-century of life for the mother and daughter who live there. It91裸聊视频檚 another current project, in addition to lectures on Hughes and Emily Carr.
91裸聊视频淎 close look, of what it91裸聊视频檚 like to paint,91裸聊视频� Amos says dramatically. 91裸聊视频淣inety minutes of close observation. We91裸聊视频檙e going to do some video recording of the lectures, too.91裸聊视频�
Born in Belleville, Ontario in 1950, Amos spent his school years in Toronto, followed by two years at Queens University taking English literature courses. Amos got a part-time job lifting crates at an art gallery and that91裸聊视频檚 when he saw his first art show.
91裸聊视频淗eart of London!91裸聊视频� he says. 91裸聊视频淭hat was the title of the show. I thought91裸聊视频y life could be the subject matter, too 91裸聊视频� a framed experience, painting. I went to York to study fine art, art history and Japanese art and a professor bought some of my paintings. In my final year, I did nothing but studio work.91裸聊视频�
Amos landed at Western Front in Vancouver and a waterfront studio on Carrall Street, near Gastown. He hung out with The Pier Group of artists that included Victoria designer J.C. Scott. Performance art, live co-op radio plays, live music, and dreams of going to Japan 91裸聊视频� Amos lived a bohemian life and continued it when he came to Victoria with fellow artist Andy Graffiti, setting up shop in Chinatown above Fan Tan Alley.
91裸聊视频淭he place looks amazing!91裸聊视频� he recalls. 91裸聊视频淭hat view coming into town over Royal Oak? Beautiful!91裸聊视频�
Amos got a job at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, where he stayed for five years. He says he saw a lot of Japanese art, Japanese wood block and German expressionism.
91裸聊视频淭hen I quit and went to Japan for a year of travel in Japan and Thailand,91裸聊视频� Amos says. 91裸聊视频淚 studied Japanese. I met Sarah. We got married. We travelled. We were crossing into Malaysia at Langkawi and I had to declare my occupation, that I was an artist. That was a big moment. I am an artist!91裸聊视频�
Amos is probably Victoria91裸聊视频檚 most public artist. Besides decades of writing about art in his Times Colonist column and Monday Magazine before that, and producing CBC Radio reports on Victoria91裸聊视频檚 art scene, Amos is at work in Greater Victoria91裸聊视频檚 neighbourhoods 91裸聊视频� literally painting the town.
He91裸聊视频檚 been artist in residence at The Empress and the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, where he also wrote drafts of his E.J. Hughes book during breaks from two months of summer painting in a sunny room across from the David Foster Theatre.
Amos is also a fixture at the annual Bowker Creek Brush Up and at local schools, since his early collaboration with Barb Adams at Monterey. He91裸聊视频檚 also a member of Oak Bay91裸聊视频檚 public art advisory committee.
91裸聊视频淚 think that91裸聊视频檚 the only organization I91裸聊视频檝e ever joined,91裸聊视频� Amos grimaces. 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 like meetings!91裸聊视频�
Every Friday for the last 17 years, Amos has visited Mount St. Mary91裸聊视频檚 Hospital where he reads to the residents while they paint and draw.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 probably the happiest times of my life,91裸聊视频� he says, smiling. 91裸聊视频淚 love painting landscapes, houses and gardens, cars, dogs 91裸聊视频� anything, but it91裸聊视频檚 still a struggle to sell a painting. The art business is still a struggle.91裸聊视频�
But despite that, and after decades of dedication to his craft, Amos has achieved what he set out to do: he91裸聊视频檚 painted Victoria. And the paintings and drawings of Oak Bay and other neighbourhoods are his lasting legacy.
Visit Robert Amos91裸聊视频� .
