Small
Time stood still when Arthur Adair Brooke’s watercolours were offered to a small community museum in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. The Salmon Arm Museum was being offered a priceless gift.
Part of a body of work, a significant collection created by a member of Canada’s pioneering community, was making its way back “home” from the United States. The collection of paintings span a period of time, documenting rural life in the Mt. Ida District of “the Valley” near Salmon Arm, and show baby Ruth growing up in a farming community. The record is precious.
It is evident that the painter poured his heart out as he captured his little girl on paper creating a narrative in watercolour form. Described by artists and archivists as a remarkable treasure, the collection is a significant record of time and place, a commentary on social history, and a virtual window into the early settlement history of western Canada.
The Story of Ruth begins October 5, 1921. The gate swings shut at Asterfield, a farm and residence of Annie Florence and Arthur Adair Brooke. Doctor Connolly arrives on the scene. At 11:30 pm, Connolly inspects the patient, and decides to take Mrs. Arthur Adair Brooke to the General Hospital in Salmon Arm, BC.
The event about take place is unplanned. With three adult sons, days on the Brooke farm revolved around farming and animals. For more than a decade, life in Salmon Arm was settled. Then a remarkable thing happened…a small miracle. Baby Ruth Adair Brooke was born. Although old enough to be grandparents, the parents were delighted.
The birth took place on the 6th. The wee girl was given her mother’s maiden name and shared her middle name with her father. The night before, Brooke set to work recording Ruth’s story in small-format books. He painted images like modern parents snap digital images, placing Ruth in her western Canadian landscape.
The following images are part of a collection of watercolours entrusted to the Salmon Arm Museum and represent a small fraction of Brooke’s life’s work.
Note: Where ellipsis is used… please click on the text icon to continue the artist’s annotations.
