Rocketed from the doomed planet Karrington as an infant, Emi-Lee was found and raised by a kindly rural couple who instilled in her a deep and abiding respect for truth, justice and livestock. Armed with her unearthly aesthetic prowess, she brushed into legend as…Super Painter!
Okay, so maybe that's not exactly how it happened. Thing is, I was supposed to interview Emily Carrington, an Island painter now based in British Columbia, about her watercolour paintings and her life to date. That plan was sunk by cellular phone technology, but we do have Emily's life in miniature…
Born in Saint John in 1967, Emily moved to P.E.I. in 1979, eventually graduating from Montague Regional High School. She completed three years of a biology degree at UPEI in between various jobs, including farm work in Alberta and sign shop jobs in P.E.I. and B.C.
Carrington has been living in B.C. for two years now, but she keeps in touch with the east coast and continues to produce watercolours strongly influenced by the rural P.E.I. environment and the colours of the changing seasons.
This month, her friends at the Montague Frame Shop and Gallery will be displaying a special exhibition of her work, which focuses on her favourite subjects of rural life: landscapes, livestock and farm folk.
Carrington's work presents an archetypal picture of farm life.
Her work is also unusually vivid and colourful-surprising in light of the faint, muted tones of most watercolours. Carrington's exhibition, "Farm Animals", can be seen in Montague during the month of October. If you're on the planet, stop by.