Jennifer McIntyre, whose paintings are on show at Eclectic Arts (2170 Oak Bay Ave., 250-590-8095, until May 7) is from an artistic family. She welcomed me to her Oak Bay home to see some art works by them, and she began by showing me two plaster casts of children posing as the muses of painting and sculpture. They were by Charles S. Kelsey, her great-great-grandfather, who exhibited with the Royal Academy in London in 1838.

“My grandfather was also an artist,” she said. Leonard E. Kelsey taught himself by sketching in the British Museum, before coming to Canada in 1909. In Montreal he became an illustrator for Morgan’s Department Store, and his fine rendering of a woman’s shoe and a puppy dog, created for an advertisement, hangs in McIntyre’s home.

Her grandfather’s brother, Charles Kelsey was a designer of stained glass windows in Montreal, and she has a large example, done in a Pre-Raphaelite style. “My grandfather made the frame,” McIntyre pointed out.

She inherited a painting by Kathleen Morris from her parents — “a wedding gift to them in 1939” — and one by Richard Ciccimarra from her in-laws. These heirlooms hang comfortably with McIntyre’s collection of prints by Canadian artists.

“When we were young and had our first paycheques,” McIntyre told me, “my husband and I tried to buy a piece of art every year — and that meant prints.” Along with woodcuts by John Snow, Walter J. Phillips and Alistair Bell, a colour print from Pat Martin Bates greets visitors by the front door, etchings by Carole Sabiston decorate the dining room, and by the kitchen is a small acrylic by Grant Leier — “one of my heroes.”

At this point we repaired to her basement studio where, remote from family life, she works at a drawing table.

“I grew up in a household where people cared about art: Vancouver School of Art on Saturdays, Banff one summer when it was still like summer camp,” she said. Growing up in West Vancouver, she had Gordon Caruso as her art teacher in junior high school.

After graduating from high school, she came to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria, and never left.

“I didn’t want to be an artist,” McIntyre explained. “I wanted to be a teacher. I was 17. I knew nothing.”

As a student teacher, she visited the Oak Bay High School classrooms of Bill West and Carole Sabiston.

“I decided that’s where I wanted to teach. Carole Sabiston became my hero. Just walking into her classroom, it was just rich with colour, texture, objects, energy — absolutely inspiring! Bill West was next door with a huge old printing press. The kids were so engaged, it was just nothing like I’d ever seen in a high school before.”

The five-year secondary-school education program led to employment, as she was taken up directly from her practice teaching at Mount View High on Carey Road.

“I was 22,” she said, still a little amazed. “There was a very simple little art room, basically no facilities.” That school eventually became Spectrum, where McIntyre worked with Harry Stanbridge for five years.

“It was the go-to art school when Harry was there,” she recalled. “He could discover artists out of any group of kids, and he nurtured them.”

McIntyre’s talents were also discovered. School District 61 hired her to help guide teachers in elementary school, where for eight years she was teaching How to Teach Art.

“No cookie-cutter art!” was her motto, as she went from school to school, “teaching out of her car.” As a demonstration teacher in classrooms, she thrived on challenges, a new one every day.

Then, at last, she got a position at Oak Bay High School, where she spent 13 years and worked with Bevin Bigalky. She went on to employment in the art education faculty at UVic for a further nine. McIntyre told me that at UVic she found a community of like-minded people. Then, about 12 years ago, she took early retirement and set aside the career of art-teaching.

“I had a little chat with myself,” she recalled.

“As a teacher you are using your critical voice all the time, day in day out.” And now she paints a lot. “I had to turn off my critical voice — or turn it down.”

“I work in themes,” she said, and she knows how to get down to work.

“Don’t be fooled by the whole idea of inspiration,” she said. “It’s not about inspiration. It’s about putting yourself at your desk.” Then things happen.

“Time passes and you lose track of time, you’re sort of at one with it. I am not a spiritual person, but that’s a nice place to be. But you’ve got to be there for it to happen.”

In her paintings, McIntyre is not a storyteller. In her painting, the decorative values are to the fore. On the walls around her were colourful panels with patterned grounds, each enlivened by carefully painted representational objects. Some recent themes include fortune cookies, antique Chinese costumes, folk art objects and Japanese tea bowls.

McIntyre shows at Mattick’s Farm, at Art Rental and Sales at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and Eclectic Gallery. She is always at work, making things that will brighten someone’s home and cheer them in their day.

 

Also on show at Eclectic Gallery are the small abstract paintings of Carolyn Kowalyk. Plus, rare and unique pottery pieces by, and from the estate of, the late Walter Dexter. Dexter fans: Study this interesting array of ceramic art before it is dispersed.

– See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/robert-amos-artist-comes-by-talent-honestly-1.2233275#sthash.ZhysOL9P.dpuf

An RCMP officer who died on duty last week was remembered Tuesday as a loving wife and mother with a quirky sense of humour and a commitment to service.

Const. Sarah Beckett, 32, died April 5 when her cruiser was broadsided by a pickup truck in Langford.

http:/http://livestream.com/rcmpgrc/events/5182483/videos/119237670

The 11-year member of the force left behind a husband and two sons aged five and two.

Video Montage of Sarah’s life  https://twitter.com/globalbc/status/720013480753934336

“Goodbye, Sarah,” said her former colleague Staff Sgt. Phil Lue in an emotional message at the packed Q Centre hockey arena in Colwood. “Your memory will always stay with us and you will be missed.” Read More

– See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/west-shore-mountie-loved-life-prized-her-family-and-community-service-1.2228879#sthash.RdaWMaLN.dpuf

By: Cam Tucker Metro Published on Wed Mar 30 2016

When it comes to football, you can say Quinn van Gylswyk got a late start.

It wasn’t until he was 18 years old, after he graduated from Spectrum Community School near Saanich, B.C., that he says he began playing the sport.

Yet under the spring sun on a gorgeous Wednesday morning in Vancouver, van Gylswyk and teammate Terrell Davis had their ‘Pro Day’ – a work out session in front of scouts from the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and B.C. Lions, and NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders – at Thunderbird Stadium at the UBC campus.

Van Gylswyk, from Victoria, grew up playing soccer, but he credits his father with suggesting he play football after seeing the power he possessed in his kicking leg. The pressure that comes with the kicker position is something he says he thrives on.

Does he allow himself to think about what life would be like if he didn’t get into football?

“I’m not looking back to see what if I didn’t do this. I’m glad I took the chance,” said van Gylswyk, who played junior football for the Westshore Rebels before making the move to the UBC Thunderbirds in CIS.

In the 2015 CIS championship game, van Gylswyk not only punted for an average of 41.2 yards (his season average was 43.3, which was seven yards more than the average of his opponents), but he was perfect on four field goal attempts, including the winner with no time remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter, giving UBC its first national title since 1997.

“The feeling after I kicked that was … the best day of my life,” he said.

After going 40 for 49 on field goal attempts this year, good for 81.6 per cent and his longest from 47 yards, van Gylswyk’s big boot has grabbed the attention of professional scouts, too.

“He’s big for a kicker and punter,” said Geroy Simon, who is the Lions director of CIS scouting.

“He’s got a big leg. The thing is coming out here, it’s a little bit different than the (CFL) combine. We’re kicking in the bubble at the combine so he couldn’t get the height and a lot of the distance on his kicks, so it’s good to come out here and see him in person. It just confirms some of the things we saw during the season.”

Like most young players transitioning from college to pros, getting the most out of those raw skills on a consistent basis will be the key for van Gylswyk, said Simon.

“He’s got the leg to kick as a pro.”

Scouts also got a look at linebacker Terrell Davis, a graduate from Mt. Douglas Secondary in Victoria who also attended Arizona State University.

Davis was originally a running back, but converted to another physically demanding position in linebacker on the defensive side of the ball, where he flourished with 63 individual tackles, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions this past season.

“To be a running back, you’ve got to be pretty athletic and so the transition over to linebacker wasn’t too hard. It’s just learning the schemes and different techniques at the linebacker position that was difficult at the start,” said Davis.

“Honestly, I just like hitting people on defence. It’s a lot easier giving the hits than taking the hits. You last a little bit longer in the league that way.”

That versatility in his game could help his draft status, especially because those athletic abilities for the running back and linebacker positions could be used in special teams, as well, said Simon.

“The saying in pro football is the more you can do keeps you on the team,” said Simon.

UBC Thunderbirds kicker Quinn Van Gylswyk kicks the game-winning field goal against the Montreal Carabins during the second half of the Vanier Cup final on Nov. 28, 2015 in Quebec City.

By: Cam Tucker Metro Published on Wed Mar 30 2016

When it comes to football, you can say Quinn van Gylswyk got a late start.

It wasn’t until he was 18 years old, after he graduated from Spectrum Community School near Saanich, B.C., that he says he began playing the sport.

Yet under the spring sun on a gorgeous Wednesday morning in Vancouver, van Gylswyk and teammate Terrell Davis had their ‘Pro Day’ – a work out session in front of scouts from the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and B.C. Lions, and NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders – at Thunderbird Stadium at the UBC campus.

Van Gylswyk, from Victoria, grew up playing soccer, but he credits his father with suggesting he play football after seeing the power he possessed in his kicking leg. The pressure that comes with the kicker position is something he says he thrives on.

Does he allow himself to think about what life would be like if he didn’t get into football?

“I’m not looking back to see what if I didn’t do this. I’m glad I took the chance,” said van Gylswyk, who played junior football for the Westshore Rebels before making the move to the UBC Thunderbirds in CIS.

In the 2015 CIS championship game, van Gylswyk not only punted for an average of 41.2 yards (his season average was 43.3, which was seven yards more than the average of his opponents), but he was perfect on four field goal attempts, including the winner with no time remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter, giving UBC its first national title since 1997.

“The feeling after I kicked that was … the best day of my life,” he said.

After going 40 for 49 on field goal attempts this year, good for 81.6 per cent and his longest from 47 yards, van Gylswyk’s big boot has grabbed the attention of professional scouts, too.

“He’s big for a kicker and punter,” said Geroy Simon, who is the Lions director of CIS scouting.

“He’s got a big leg. The thing is coming out here, it’s a little bit different than the (CFL) combine. We’re kicking in the bubble at the combine so he couldn’t get the height and a lot of the distance on his kicks, so it’s good to come out here and see him in person. It just confirms some of the things we saw during the season.”

Like most young players transitioning from college to pros, getting the most out of those raw skills on a consistent basis will be the key for van Gylswyk, said Simon.

“He’s got the leg to kick as a pro.”

Scouts also got a look at linebacker Terrell Davis, a graduate from Mt. Douglas Secondary in Victoria who also attended Arizona State University.

Davis was originally a running back, but converted to another physically demanding position in linebacker on the defensive side of the ball, where he flourished with 63 individual tackles, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions this past season.

“To be a running back, you’ve got to be pretty athletic and so the transition over to linebacker wasn’t too hard. It’s just learning the schemes and different techniques at the linebacker position that was difficult at the start,” said Davis.

“Honestly, I just like hitting people on defence. It’s a lot easier giving the hits than taking the hits. You last a little bit longer in the league that way.”

That versatility in his game could help his draft status, especially because those athletic abilities for the running back and linebacker positions could be used in special teams, as well, said Simon.

“The saying in pro football is the more you can do keeps you on the team,” said Simon.

Golden homecoming

A chorus of “It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta do it” resounded after Paul Becker scored one of his hottest gigs in January.
The Victoria-born director, dancer and choreographer staged sexy end-zone sequences for a glossy Victoria’s Secret Super Bowl commercial that put a steamy spin on fantasy football.
“And you made fun of me for being a dancer!” Becker wrote in messages he texted to old high school friends along with photos of Victoria’s Secret models.
In the eye-catching commercial, Fox sportscaster Erin Andrews plays a coach encouraging five “Victoria’s Secret Angels” to “score more,” with the girls’ football plays choreographed like dance numbers.
It marked the start of another busy year for the grownup B-boy, who has come a long way since the days he performed with Kim Breiland’s Stages Dance Company.
The busy Los Angeles-based triple threat has since worked with stars including Ariane Grande, Michael Bublé, Ben Vereen, Liza Minnelli, Kristin Chenoweth, Miley Cyrus and The Muppets.
Becker has also frequently collaborated with his mentor Kenny Ortega, most recently on Disney’s Descendants, filmed here two years ago.
While the former Spectrum Community School student has received praise for his film and TV work that includes Twilight, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Mirror, Mirror and episodes of Once Upon a Time, he’s particularly pumped about finally making his feature-film directorial debut. Becker wrapped principal photography in New York last winter for Breaking Brooklyn, on which he was co-writer and choreographer.
Set in Brooklyn over Christmas, the dramatic feature focuses on a homeless 12-year-old aspiring tap dancer (Colin Critchley) and his rebellious older brother (Nathan Kress), who seek shelter in an old theatre. After meeting two forgotten Broadway legends played by Louis Gossett, Jr. (An Officer and a Gentleman) and Vondie Curtis-Hall (Dreamgirls) who teach them old-school dance moves, they unite to save a Brooklyn landmark.
“We had a decent budget, which was good because I could execute some of the things I wanted, and I got phenomenal actors,” said Becker, who wrote the script with Rory Owen Delaney while living in Brooklyn.
While there is one big tap- dance number and a “great finale,” with some Broadway and hip-hop in the mix, Breaking Brooklyn isn’t a conventional movie musical.
“It’s more of a Billy Elliot-meets-The Pursuit of Happyness,” Becker said. “It’s more music-driven and it’s got heart. All the dance numbers have a story.”
Becker said the narrative shows how the wide-eyed young wannabe dancer unites these “old showmen who don’t talk to each other anymore and resurrects their careers, scene by scene.”
Gossett, Jr., who became a “father figure,” was “very supportive and great to work with,” Becker said. “I had always wanted to tell this story,” he said. “It came to me while I was riding the subway in Brooklyn. I wrote the first draft on the subway.”
While Breaking Brooklyn, due this Christmas, is in post-production, Becker is completing the screenplay for his next film, among other projects.
Descendants 2 is on the horizon, and he’s working with Neil Patrick Harris, who plays villainous Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events, the new Netflix series shooting in Vancouver.
“It’s pretty epic and the sets and everything are amazing. I’m just blown away by the artistry. And [Harris] is great to work with,” Becker said.
Becker also directed and co-choreographed the closing ceremonies for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, which featured Serena Ryder, Pitfull and Kanye West. “It was always a dream of mine to actually do a big games show,” Becker said. “There were 60,000 people in the stadium. It was nuts.”
Despite what the tabloids say about Kanye West, the outspoken rapper was great to work with, Becker said. “He was very collaborative and creative and a gentleman to everyone. That was my Kanye experience.” Becker also reunited with Sofia Carson, who played Evie in Descendants, on Disney Channel’s remake of Chris Columbus’s comedy Adventures in Babysitting. “It’s a movie I grew up with, so I was really excited to be involved,” Becker said.
Doing Descendants remains one of his most gratifying experiences, said Becker, who is returning to take part in a master class at St. Andrew’s Regional High School on April 17 at 1:45 p.m.
Becker will share industry insights and participate in a Q&A. Mark Samuels, a dancer in Descendants, will teach choreography from the film.
An open call for experienced dancers will be held for Becker’s future films. “I never get the chance to really teach and give back and see new talent, so it’s a good opportunity,” he said.
For details, go to paulbeckermasterclass.com or call Stages at 250-384-3267.

© Copyright Times Colonist
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