This renovated East Van character house is owned by a handsome family with three young children. The busy Mom wrote, “We bought the house when it was unloved and unliveable (literally – the furnace from 1950 had kicked the bucket). It had been a rental for 40 years and no-one had cared for it at all. We thought we would renovate over time but found out we were having twins about 6 weeks after we closed on it so it was a race to renovate as quickly as possible. We moved in a month before they were born. We bought the house so that we could spend our summer days in the yard. That is our favourite time of year – summer. And we love to sit outside in the afternoon and enjoy the sun. The front of the house faces north so it doesn’t get a lot of sun in real life but in my mind the sun surrounds the house.”

The transformation was extensive and impressive. Comparing the before-and-after pictures, one can see how the house went from nondescript white and brown to the bright standout it is today surrounded by bouquet-like bushes and buckets of flowers. The camellia bush in front is shown in full summer bloom. The kids’ items scattered on the stairs represent their three-year-old child and their two-year-old twins: bike, blanket, and stuffed kitty. There’s a spotlight effect of sunshine coming from the east and highlighting the path to the purple front door.

It’s a perfectly happy “Hello Bluebird” house so I painted it smiling and reaching out its arms.

Acrylic on canvas, 24″ x 18″
Spring, 2013
Located at: Private Collection