The Blessed West

by Thomas Mower Martin, 1902

'Tis forty years since first to Canada
I came from blythe old England's happy shore
Passed through Quebec and ever westward bore
Till in Muskoka's woods I came to stay
Hence summer short and winter's long delay
Drove me to old Toronto to restore
My fortunes during thirty years or more
Then to the blessed west I made my way
Now I look back on wasted years of cold
In winter and in summer burning heat
Too late to start again now I am old
In the mild climate of this calm retreat
But not too late to rest for the short time
I have to spend within this blessed clime

Thomas Mower Martin wanted to share his learning, experience and observations on nature and mankind.

Here are some quotes from Thomas Mower Martin's

A Catechism of the Universal Church   For Persons of All Creeds and of None

 What is heaven?

His reply, 'A state of existence in which we find delight in being useful to others'

What is Faith?

His reply, 'Faith consists in believing that the means for being good will be supplied to us to the extent that we use them.'

These fruits were undoubtedly from Martin's Toronto garden.  He was an avid gardener with fruit trees, shrubs of berries as well as many perennial flowers and vegetables. Like Johnny Appleseed, he carried pockets full of seeds of all the items in his garden on his travels into the wilderness, even to sprinkling the Rocky Mountains with tree and flower seeds. Like Johnny Appleseed, he too was of the Swedenborg faith.

Famous artists quotes

"Painting is silent poetry"                                                                                                           Moralia Plutarch

"Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing."
Marc Chagall

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."
Henry Ward Beecher

There are many Giclee prints to be found in the National Gallery in Ottawa,  in New York city at  the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and the Chelsea Galleries. They have brought prices of as much of $10,000 depending on the artist. Canvas prints deserve the same care as an oil painting and the as do fine art prints on art paper can be treated the same as a watercolour painting. If the giclee print has been coated you can wipe it with a slightly damp cloth if you think it has collected dust.

Some tips include:

Artist, co-founder of Ontario Society of Artists, 1872  first Director of Ontario art school, 1879
Charter member of Royal Canadian Academy of Art, 1880;  Royal British Colonial Society of Artists, 1909;  Canadian Pacific Railway artist 1887-1910