Emily Carr

One of the best stories about Emily Carr is that in order to conserve space and to discourage guests, she would suspend chairs from the ceiling of her studio. If she liked you, she would lower a seat. If she didn’t, you’d just have to stand with Carr’s monkey, cats, dogs, squirrels and rats scrabbling around your feet — her pet parrot usually remained perched on her shoulder — until Carr was finished with you. One of Canada’s great artists and most fascinating characters, Carr was what could charitably be called an eccentric. “An oddment and a natural-born solitaire” was how she described herself, “contrary from the start.” - Rachel Giese