super8porter / MARIONSTORY /

John's Mother, the Painter

Marion in Peggy's Cove

>>> Peggy's Cove Photos. >>> Marion's Paintings.
>>> Her Brother George - Writer, Poet, Filmmaker.

In Toronto at an early age, Marion Johnston was encouraged by painter Carl Schaefer who was a friend of her family, a student of Canadian artists the Group of Seven, and an art instructor at Central Technical School in Toronto. Marion studied art there (another of her instructors was Doris McCarthy), graduating in Spring 1937.

That summer, she and her friend Grace Whiten opened a public art gallery and shop in the east coast fishing village of Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, renting an abandoned shack in the village centre that Marion had found on an earlier visit with her parents. The shack already had a noble and dramatic history. It was the General Store built in 1850, but after being both moved across the street and cut in half by a great storm in 1898, it just survived as the village's occasional meeting place referred to as Parliament House, and the store's original wooden counter inside was used to mend fishing nets.

Marion and Grace not only gave the shack a new life, even sleeping there, but were the first to open a public art gallery or studio in Peggy's Cove, which artists had been visiting and painting for years for its picturesque landscapes and buildings. In addition to Marion's and Grace's paintings, their Peggy's Cove Tea Room and Craft Shop also offered their home-made clam chowder, for which they harvested local clams.
They were pioneers renewing Peggy's Cove as a world-famous tourist destination.

^^^

When Marion and Grace tried to rent the shack again the following summer, it had already been rented by painter William deGarthe from the nearby city of Halifax. A regular visitor to Peggy's Cove, he had obviously been inspired by Marion's and Grace's shop to use it for his public Marine Studio. He became the Cove's resident artist, documenting its history and culture in paintings, sculptures and books. His Fisherman's Monument was declared an official Provincial Park in 1985, and in 1994 the Province transformed his Peggy's Cove home into the William deGarthe Gallery for many of his works.

His Marine Studio shack was destroyed in another storm in 1964, but when he moved into a larger building he salvaged the original General Store's wooden counter. He died in 1983, but his widow Agnes at age 94 was still running the studio in 2000 when Marion's son John visited and photographed Agnes posing with the old wooden counter.

>>> Peggy's Cove photos. >>> Marion's Paintings.

>>> New Book of Marion's brother George Johnston's Poems.

>>> Marion's brother George's Memoir of their Parents, w/ Photos.

>>> Catalogue of George Johnston's 8mm & Super 8 Home Movies.

>>> John Porter's "Lost Porter Cousins", and Father's Physics Theory.

^^^


	John's Mother, the Painter Marion in Peggy's Cove >>> Peggy's Cove Photos. >>> Marion's Paintings. >>> Her Brother George - Writer, Poet, Filmmaker. In Toronto at an early age, Marion Johnston was encouraged by painter Carl Schaefer who was a friend of her family, a student of Canadian artists the Group of Seven, and an art instructor at Central Technical School in Toronto. Marion studied art there (another of her instructors was Doris McCarthy), graduating in Spring 1937. That summer, she and her friend Grace Whiten opened a public art gallery and shop in the east coast fishing village of Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, renting an abandoned shack in the village centre that Marion had found on an earlier visit with her parents. The shack already had a noble and dramatic history. It was the General Store built in 1850, but after being both moved across the street and cut in half by a great storm in 1898, it just survived as the village's occasional meeting place referred to as *Parliament House, and the store's original wooden counter* inside was used to mend fishing nets. Marion and Grace not only gave the shack a new life, even sleeping there, but were the first to open a public art gallery or studio in Peggy's Cove, which artists had been visiting and painting for years for its picturesque landscapes and buildings. In addition to Marion's and Grace's paintings, their *Peggy's Cove Tea Room and Craft Shop* also offered their home-made clam chowder, for which they harvested local clams. They were pioneers renewing Peggy's Cove as a world-famous tourist destination. ^^^ When Marion and Grace tried to rent the shack again the following summer, it had already been rented by painter William deGarthe from the nearby city of Halifax. A regular visitor to Peggy's Cove, he had obviously been inspired by Marion's and Grace's shop to use it for his public *Marine Studio. He became the Cove's resident artist, documenting its history and culture in paintings, sculptures and books. His Fisherman's Monument* was declared an official Provincial Park in 1985, and in 1994 the Province transformed his Peggy's Cove home into the *William deGarthe Gallery* for many of his works. His Marine Studio shack was destroyed in another storm in 1964, but when he moved into a larger building he salvaged the original General Store's wooden counter. He died in 1983, but his widow Agnes at age 94 was still running the studio in 2000 when Marion's son John visited and photographed Agnes posing with the old wooden counter. >>> Peggy's Cove photos. >>> Marion's Paintings. >>> New Book of Marion's brother George Johnston's Poems. >>> Marion's brother George's Memoir of their Parents, w/ Photos. >>> Catalogue of George Johnston's 8mm & Super 8 Home Movies. >>> John Porter's "Lost Porter Cousins", and Father's Physics Theory. ^^^