Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

The library has acquired four out of five titles in the series, The Unheralded Artists of BC. We now have the books about artists Ina D.D. Uhthoff, Mildred Valley Thornton, George Fertig and David Marshall. This artists series is published by Mother Tongue Press which operates from Salt Spring Island. All have fine reproductions printed on good quality paper – a bonus for the bibliophile. They are definitely worth a look.

The newest addition, The Life and Art of Ina D. D. Uhthoff, shines light on an influential woman of the arts in Victoria. Her biography shows how hard she worked to survive and care for her children as she balanced her artistic needs with the responsibilities of family.

Her husband had been damaged as the result of World War I (probably shell shock). Although they lived apart for much of their married life, she appears to have supported him, as well as her children, for many years. An amazing woman, her name is linked with the establishment of the Greater Victoria Art Gallery. She was a respected art teacher who knew Emily Carr. She founded and taught at the Victoria School of Art until forced to return to private teaching by the Second World War. Her paintings attest to her talent.

I suspect that she was formidable.

- Candace