Many, many years ago I left my native Denmark to travel to Edmonton to marry a Canadian I had met at home.
After the wedding, we flew to Eldorado, Sask., situated just north of Lake Athabasca. My husband worked for the uranium mining company Eldorado Mining and Refining, a Crown corporation.
He had recently received a promotion to senior staff, which had entitled us to live in a new two-storey house in the company townsite. We had a lovely view of the townsite and Beaverlodge Lake, far below.
The site was isolated, no roads in summer or winter. This affected some people to the degree that they had to leave due to what we called SA国际影视传媒済etting bushed.SA国际影视传媒�
The mine had a generous budget for keeping the northern staff happy. We had a baseball team, and the summer of 1963 the mine gave permission for the company plane to fly the team to Yellowknife for a game. There were two extra seats on the plane, and a girlfriend and I were delighted to go along on a free trip.
We found Yellowknife to be interesting. We saw the entrance to one of the two gold mines and the small log house that was once the first bank in Yellowknife. In the stores were interesting pieces of jewelry made with raw gold nuggets and beautiful soapstone carvings. I bought one of a Northern man holding a big fish. There were also beautiful sealskin wall hangings, with lovely Northern designs cut out of dark and light skins.
At the local radio station, we admired an impressive set of drapes hand-blocked with Northern themes made by a local woman. I bought a wall hanging of the same beautiful design.
Leaning against the wall were a few paintings for sale and it didnSA国际影视传媒檛 take me long to fall for one of them! It depicted a proud-looking Northern man in a boat, the railing across his chest and his right hand is resting on the wheel of the boat, with the blue waters of the Arctic Ocean beyond him. He is wearing a shiny blue windbreaker, a hood with black-and-white fluffy fox skin framing his sweet, old wrinkled and weathered face. From the first, I felt that he spoke to me, his face had an expression of wisdom and resignation.
The painting is small, measuring 23x33 centimetres, (9x13 inches). It was not signed, with only the letters M.E.T. in the bottom corner. I asked the people if they knew who the artist was, but they said they did not.
Sometimes, when I felt that the world had treated me badly, I would go and look at him and imagine him saying to me, SA国际影视传媒淪o you think you have troubles.. well, wellSA国际影视传媒A国际影视传媒�
Over the years, the painting has moved with me many times. Some 20 years later, I lived in Ottawa and we went to a Christmas bazaar in Manotick, where I saw a number of calendars for sale. Each page had a drawing done by a local artist. I spied one drawing of a Northern woman, it was signed: M.E.T. I wondered if it could possibly beSA国际影视传媒�
I spoke to the people selling the calendar, and they said the drawing had been done by an artist by the name of Templeton. I looked up the name in the phone book, and there was only one listing with a manSA国际影视传媒檚 name. I called the number and a woman answered.
I explained that I had purchased a painting in Yellowknife some 20 years earlier. She asked me to describe the painting for her and I did. She then said, SA国际影视传媒淵es, I painted that.SA国际影视传媒� Her husband had been the administrator of the Northwest Territories, and she had travelled with him and used any spare time by painting. He had since died, but she had not wanted to change the phone listing.
She lived in Manotick and asked me to bring the painting and come to her home for tea. She took down a book in which she had listed her major paintings and the names of the purchasers. That line was blank beside the painting she called SA国际影视传媒淭he Eskimo Captain,SA国际影视传媒� and I stood by triumphantly as she filled it in with my name.
Later, she visited me in Ottawa and met my daughter. We had a few precious visits with Mrs. Templeton, and then sadly we went to her funeral. She had lived to be 95 years of age. She was a beautiful lady.
My painting has hung on many walls, but now it is hanging on its last one. I live at Russell Meadows, a retirement home in Russell, Ont.
I know when I am gone, my children will enjoy my Eskimo Captain as much as I have.
I canSA国际影视传媒檛 help but wonder how many paintings there are out there with the signature M.E.T. Her name was Maude Elizabeth Templeton.
You can contact me at e.volder@icloud.com if you have any comments or other information on Mrs. TempletonSA国际影视传媒檚 work.
SA国际影视传媒擡llen Volder Scott lived in Eldorado for 10 years. She moved across the country, settling in the Ottawa area. At 91, she is still surrounded by Northern art. Her favourite artists are Maud Lewis, Clarence Gagnon and Redout茅.
