PAINTING

Description: WATERCOLOUR PAINTING OF LETHBRIDGE CPR STATION (CURRENTLY HEALTH UNIT). FIRST STORY OF BUILDING IS PAINTED GREEN, SECOND STORY IS WHITE, AND HAS A RED ROOF. THERE IS A SINGLE WOODEN BOX CAR IN FRONT OF BUILDING AND TWO TRACKS ARE VISIBLE. BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER IS SIGNED "JACK ROY". PAINTING HAS A NARROW GREY AND WIDE WHITE MATTE. A BRASS LABEL ON MATTE READS "IN MEMORY OF LEN & EILEEN (BOYLE) ROY FORMER CPR EMPLOYEES IN LETHBRIDGE". FRAME IS PAINTED BROWN WITH AN AGED EFFECT IN GOLD. BACK OF FRAME IS COVERED WITH BROWN PAPER AND HAS A WIRE FOR HANGING. A LABEL AT BOTTOM OF BACK READS "CPR STATION LETHBRIDGE WATERCOLOUR 1982".

History: PAINTED BY THE DONOR, JACK ROY, AS GIFT TO PARENTS ON THEIR ANNIVERSARY. BORN IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1945, JACK ROY IS A GRADUATE OF THE ALBERTA COLLEGE OF ART, WHERE HE MAJORED IN PAINTING. HE PURSUED GRADUATE STUDIES IN FRANCE AT SCHILLER COLLEGE, STRASBOURG. JACK HAS EXHIBITED IN BOTH CANADA AND FRANCE. HE HAS RECEIVED INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION WITH AWARDS IN THE INVERESK INTERNATIONAL WATERCOLOUR COMPETITION, LONDON, ENGLAND. HIS WORK IS IN THE PERMANENT COLLECTIONS OF: SHELL CANADA LTD., CALGARY; PANCANADIAN PETROLEUM LTD., CALGARY; KRONENBOURG BREWERY, STRASBOURG, FRANCE; GENERAL HOSPITAL, CALGARY; WESTERN CANADA HIGHS SCHOOL ALUMNI, CALGARY; CATHOLIC CHARITIES, EDMONTON; PETRO-CANADA, CALGARY; AND TIME AIR, LETHBRIDGE. DONOR'S PARENTS, EILEEN (NEE BOYLE) AND LEN ROY BOTH WORKED IN THE EXPRESS DEPARTMENT AT THE LOCAL STATION FROM SOMETIME IN THE 1930S UNTIL 1947, WHEN LEN WAS TRANSFERRED TO KELOWNA. AT THE TIME DONOR GIFTED PAINTING TO HIS PARENTS THEY LIVED IN CANMORE. PAINTING WAS KEPT ON DISPLAY UNTIL THE TIME OF EILEEN'S PASSING IN JANUARY 2004 (LEN PASSED AWAY IN 2001). PAINTING WAS DONE BASED ON ARTISTS' SKETCHES, AND IS BELIEVED TO HAVE TAKEN 2 TO 3 DAYS. LEN'S FATHER, ANGUS, WAS ALSO EMPLOYED WITH THE CPR IN LETHBRIDGE; LEN WAS BORN HERE IN 1910. EILEEN WAS BORN IN GRANUM IN 1913 WHERE HER FATHER JACK BOYLE WAS THE CPR STATION AGENT FOR 42 YEARS.