~ By Liz Forbes for The Chemainus Writers
The horses in the field watch idly as I park beside the
house. Margitta's smile welcomes as she firmly closes
the front door on the three dogs straining to escape.
She whistles for Fyre and Kashmir, a pair of black
Arabians who nuzzle for treats as we lean over the
fence. They are the reason Margitta and her husband
Jim bought this acreage in the Cowichan Valley, leaving
a waterfront home in Brentwood Bay.
From her studio in the barn loft, music plays softly for
the horses. An icon, a blue porcelain hand, picked up
in Egypt provides protection from the evil eye, bright
paintings adorn the walls of the stable, and even the barn door is a canvas for her grandchildren's artwork.
In the loft, paintings lean in groups against the wall, are propped on benches, hang vertically from the vaulted
ceiling - a cat lounges impudently on a table piled with drawings - senses overwhelm. I am drawn to her ink
studies, the fluid brush work and colour wash capture the movement of horses, figures, a market in Algiers, then
I see the grass lands of Kenya, red earth and stark trees rendered in oil stick - these images from their travels
become a visual journal. Margitta has a story for each painting - the old woman seated in her regular corner of
the pub in England, Sally the elephant, flirty and pretty painted on a large canvas - a gift to her husband. Margitta
creates whatever mood she is in - mixed media, watercolour, gouache or ink, landscape or figures. Currently she
is playing with vibrant abstracts in acrylic. She paints fast, capturing her energetic personality in her work.
The need to draw, paint and write has driven Margitta all her life. Newly arrived from Sweden, Margitta spent
her childhood on Texada Island where she entertained herself with writing, drawing, painting and walking
the beach with her dog. She has always made time to paint or write, often working during the night after her
husband and children were in bed or in earlier times, wrapped in a coat against the cold of night in a Nova Scotia trailer. She
achieved her goal of a Fine Arts Degree from U Vic on her 50th birthday, studying under Pat Martin Bates.
We go to the house where we drink dark coffee, perfectly brewed, surrounded by German Shepherds, a golden mutt and a wild
part Siamese who clings to my neck. Her house is gorgeous, filled with her art and other's from around the world. We talk about
her novel - yes; she has written a novel and is in the revision stage. She is also presenting a show of her artwork in the Telus
Lobby, Cowichan Theatre from February 4 to March 17.
Margitta, who loves life, says the Cowichan Valley is an exciting place to live. I leave her, feeling excited about life as well.
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