My First Canadian House Portrait Commission!

Victorian Farm House on Prince Edward Island, Canada

You can imagine my delight when one of my clients from Monrovia, California, asked if I would create a painting of the family farm situated on Prince Edward Island where she grew up.  She told me that she planned to hang it alongside her own lovely Craftsman family home  where in turn she and her husband raised their children.

This was the one photo I had to work from but it gave me the detail I needed.

Home on Prince Edward Island, Canada  (600x350)
Victorian Family Home on Prince Edward Island, Canada

And here is the final pen and watercolor painting of this lovely family home.

Family home Prince Edward Island, Canada (600x463)
Pen and watercolor of family home on Prince Edward Island, Canada

Despite the difference in location, I would say that my client’s current family home in Monrovia, has a definite warm “family feel” about it too so I thought I would share it with you.

My clients current Craftsman family home in Monrovia, CA
My client’s current Craftsman family home in Monrovia, CA

This commission roused my curiosity about Prince Edward Island and I found that it has a very interesting past.  Here is a brief history, courtesy of World Atlas.

 

The island is often referred to as “the birthplace of Canada” as the capital city, Charlottetown, is where the idea of creating the nation was born. It’s history traces back 10,000 years, when ancestors of the Mi’kmaq people were believed to have arrived. These natives foraged and hunted in the area, which was connected to the mainland. Approximately 5,000 years passed before the sea levels rose, removing the land bridge and transforming the region into an island.

Although Europeans did not settle permanently on the island until the 18th century, Jacques Cartier became the first European to discover the area in 1534. It was not until 1720 that the first French settlement, Port La Joie, was established on what Cartier described as “the most beautiful stretch of land imaginable.”

The colony at Port La Joie was followed by the fishing port of St. Peters, which represented the main settlement over the next 20 years. During these early times, the island’s population ranged from about 300 to 450 people.

In 1755, the population skyrocketed to 5,000 after the British expelled the Acadian settlers from Nova Scotia, leaving many to relocate on the island.  Three years later, the British seized the Fort at Louisbourg and drove out the French settlers.

In 1769 the island was officially established as a British colony with its own government, separate from Nova Scotia, which previously possessed control. With this colonial status came the creation of Charlottetown as the island’s capital.

Over the years, new settlers continued to arrive, and the first British census taken in 1798 reported a population of 4,372 people.  In 1799, the island was given its current name of Prince Edward Island, in honor of England’s Prince Edward.

Until next time…

Leisa

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