Outstanding Canadian: Emily Carr

Throughout history, countries have evolved over time and Canada is no exception. By the 1920s, a general reorientation of Canadian painting was underway, led by the Group of Seven, perhaps the best-recognized painters in Canadian history. Nevertheless, one would believe that Emily Carr personifies the energy of the decade. One might conclude that the woman was an outstanding person with the knowledge from her themes of art, significance to the Group of Seven and her community, and her overall recognition to Canada.

It was Emily Carr's originality of mind and her fierce and independent spirit which provided the basis of her magnificent paintings - works which document her long process of personal discovery, and express the mood, the mystery and the soul of the West Coast. Although she traveled and studied abroad, it was her birthplace which inspired the two great themes of her work: the native culture of the Pacific Coast and the power of nature expressed in images of rain-forests and seascapes. An example would be “A Haida Village” which portrays the subtle image of totem poles in a Native village.

Emily Carr always celebrated her independence and difference from the world around her. Her life was left in the West Coast, where people in communities near were valuably influenced by her realistic art style. The native culture was most influenced since their recognition was never realized in paintings before by the eyes of Canadians. Emily was deeply moved by the work of the Group of Seven, which was similar to her own in its vivid interpretations of wilderness landscape.

Carr changed the way Canadians view the rugged grandness of