Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
BE2003.2.1.43 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Title |
Grackle on Bird Bath |
Other Name |
Painting, Watercolour |
Description |
A scrapbook page with a watercolour painting of a grackle on a bird bath. There are marigolds in the background. It is signed 'AP'. The birdbath is painted in green. The blooms of the marigolds are orange while the grackle is painted in colours brown, blue, green, grey and black. A stone wall is seen in the background. Green tree branches are green blades of grass are also painted in the scene. |
Year Range from |
1910 |
Year Range to |
1930 |
Artist |
Preston, Anna |
Dimensions |
W-35.5 L-28 cm |
History |
This drawing was part of a scrapbook that was kept by artist Anna Preston (1887-1989). It is marked with a note that reads: For loan to any child who desires it for any desired period inside the time limit of eight weeks. A friend of the Harris family of Benares, Anna was also an author who enjoyed painting and writing about birds to educate children. She gave her illustrated bird book as a gift to Barbara Larson so that her vision could be continued. Her book illustrates several local species of birds such as the Eastern Bluebird, the American Goldfinch, and the Wood Thrush. She also describes many habitats and local naturalist haunts in Mississauga. She believed that natural areas should be protected as sanctuaries for wildlife. She writes: `that is what the sanctuary is for, to let people who live in cities and can't know much about birds an other way, come out and study them as much as they like.' Anna also published several articles for The Christian Science Monitor in the early 1900s. She often humanized the birds she painted and wrote about espousing the moral benefits of watching birds and their behaviours. Barbara Sayers Larson remembers Anna visiting Benares frequently and spending time with Annie Harris, her mother. |
People |
Preston, Anna |