Pat Preston is mad about art, wild about watercolours and crazy for canvasses by local artists no matter where she is living, and she has lived from Toronto to Florida to Salt Spring Island.
The collecting bug only bit a couple of decades ago, but she has made up for lost time, as is evidenced on the walls, floors, surfaces, even the shower curtain of her condo near Beacon Hill Park.
Pat鈥檚 husband of 28 years, economist John Tylee, wasn鈥檛 much of an art fan before he met her, but has gradually moved into the frame.
鈥淣ow I鈥檓 a hanger on,鈥� he said with a smile.
鈥淚 get involved, express my opinions, occasionally I insist that something is so ugly I can鈥檛 have it in our house. But I do enjoy the art very much, and I鈥檝e learned a lot from Pat.鈥�
He tends to like figurative art, while she is into more abstracts, and fittingly the two moved into a condo three years ago built by Abstract Developments.
The building has eight contemporary-style, open-plan units in a four-storey building and the couple liked the artist鈥檚 concepts so much they signed up while the project was still on paper 鈥� not surprisingly knowing Preston鈥檚 penchant for two-dimensional representations.
鈥淲e wanted a location where we could do a lot of walking, we wanted a one-floor condo and we didn鈥檛 want to garden,鈥� she said succinctly.
The two love the layout, which separates the unit鈥檚 two bedrooms and two baths and allows for complete privacy 鈥� 鈥渧ery handy when guests visit鈥� 鈥� and they also appreciate the fact their 1,400-square-foot unit is one level.
Their previous home on Salt Spring had 3,300 square feet on three floors. 鈥淚t drove us crazy,鈥� said Tylee, adding another big negative was the double garage, which turned out to be a 鈥済reat crap collector.鈥�
They appreciate their new location because of its flat walking environment, proximity to parks, Dallas Road rambles and short stroll to downtown 鈥� but most of all they love the expansive wall space, generous windows and natural light.
鈥淚n modern condominiums you rarely get enough walls to hang paintings on,鈥� said Preston who noted people are often surprised by the condo鈥檚 eclectic collection.
In fact, the amazement begins the moment visitors step off the elevator onto the building鈥檚 top floor, as Preston has also hung paintings all along both sides of the fourth floor common area.
Inside, guests are met by a collage of brightly coloured sculpture, paintings, ceramics, baskets, and flowers all attractively arranged in a setting that includes geometric carpets as well as bold green, red, orange and yellow contemporary furniture.
The couple鈥檚 art collection ranges from a papier-m芒ch茅 cow that stands by the fireplace, to aboriginal works from Australia, a quartet of women鈥檚 portraits on teabags and a painting done in 1933 by a man on his honeymoon on Capri.
Two of Preston鈥檚 favourites are a painting by Lisa Hebden, of an older woman in a gold lame bathing suit and another showing the figures of two women standing together. 鈥淚鈥檓 often beside myself so I love this one,鈥� said Preston.
A large canvas of tulips by Helen Lucas has as many travel points as they do, having followed them from home to home since 1990, from Toronto to Delaware, Sarasota, Vancouver, Salt Spring and now here. (鈥淲e liked Salt Spring but it was a little too rural for us,鈥� he said. 鈥淟iving on a small island is an acquired taste which we didn鈥檛 acquire. We wanted something more urban.鈥�)
The condo鈥檚 interiors are painted gallery white and were designed by Sandy Nygaard. They feature laminate cabinets, engineered hardwood floors and millwork, and a very efficient kitchen, said Tylee.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great for two people working together.鈥�
Having moved so often, the couple explain they have downsized and upsized several times, so they are pros, but she admits having made two major mistakes regarding their collection: 鈥淚 sold a Takao Tanabe that I shouldn鈥檛 have, and a Charles Pachter.鈥�
Still, the condo鈥檚 walls don鈥檛 appear to have any gaps, and they continue to fill.
How did Preston become such a junkie for giclees, oils, watercolours, pen and inks, acrylics, even a beautiful tea towel that she framed and has hanging by the kitchen?
鈥淚 cannot tell. We had none of it at home. My parents came through the Depression and saw art as a frill.鈥�
She explains she kind of 鈥渇ell into it鈥� after graduating from journalism school, after being made responsible for two art collections while working for a large corporation.
Her passion has evolved ever since and pieces include works by Fleming Jorgenson, Susan Benson, Diane Venter and many more, including artists from South Africa, Japan, Mexico, Venezuela, California and more.
Her life is totally focused on art.
While living on Salt Spring she curated the art at a new library there, and since moving here three years ago, Preston has spearheaded a variety of projects including organizing artists鈥� studio tours for the Victoria Women鈥檚 Newcomers Club. She is on the board of the Vancouver Island School of Art and a member of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria associates鈥� volunteer committee too.
She also curates rotating exhibitions that hang monthly in the Moka House Coffee in Cook Street Village, which has a show opening Sept 5. (see sidebar)
Besides helping hang her art, and the rotating shows at Moka House, her husband, enjoys walking to town, the YMCA three times a week to work out, along Dallas road, to Oak Bay or Ogden Point.
鈥淭his city is fantastic 鈥� the best place for walking I鈥檝e ever lived in,鈥� and that includes other parts of sa国际传媒 and his youth in Zimbabwe, previously Rhodesia.
SIDEBAR
WHAT: Bridges Exhibition
WHERE: Moka House Coffee in Cook Street Village.
WHEN: Sept 4 through Oct. 1, opening Sept. 5 from 7 to 9 p.m.
The show features art by dozens of established and emerging Victoria artists - acrylics, giclee prints, photographs, water colours by the likes of Fleming Jorgenson, Ken Faulks, Alan Hopper, Robert Amos - and will also include a silent auction fundraiser for the Vancouver Island School of Art.
The exhibition, curated by Pat Preston, will highlight a variety of bridges.
鈥淚 chose the theme to celebrate the new bridge and, more importantly, to illustrate how bridges can bring the community together through art,鈥� she said.
Various artists and art collectors have donated pieces for auction (some framed, some not) and their names will not be revealed until the event.
