Marilyn Jones | Emily Carr Chronicler

Why Emily Carr Kept a Can of Gasoline Beside Her Easel

Published: 26 July, 2026
Written by Marilyn Jones

Beginning around 1932, Carr largely abandoned traditional watercolour for her field studies. Instead, she began using oil paint (and sometimes house paint) thinned with gasoline on manilla paper, creating a medium that combined the fluidity of watercolour with the rich colour and permanence of oil. This technique became central to many of her finest forest paintings of the 1930s. Read more: Why Emily Carr Kept a Can of…

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Nan Cheney: Emily Carr’s Trusted Friend, Confidante, and Champion

Published: 25 July, 2026
Written by Marilyn Jones

Nan Lawson Cheney (1897–1985) was one of Emily Carr’s closest friends, trusted correspondents, and earliest champions. Although she is less well known than Lawren Harris, Ira Dilworth, or Mark Tobey, Cheney played a significant role in promoting Carr’s work, organizing her annual solo exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery from 1937 – 1941, and preserving her legacy through their friendship, extensive correspondence, and later publications. Read more: Why…

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Emily Carr, Her Influences, and Her Paintings of Environmental Loss

Published: 17 July, 2026
Written by Marilyn Jones

Emily Carr is often described as an early environmentalist. She did not campaign for conservation in the modern political sense, nor was she involved in environmental organizations. Through her writings, paintings, and personal observations, she expressed a deep concern about humanity’s impact on forests, Indigenous villages, and the natural world. Her work anticipated many ideas that later became central to the environmental movement. Read more: Why Emily Carr…

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