When artist Brian Scott moved from Vancouver back to the Comox Valley in 1980 he was overwhelmed by 50 shades of green! He was desperate for colour and found it in the arbutus tree. A full spectrum of colour, from cool yellow, orange, reds, purples with the blues of the sky and mountains. He purchased a lot on Hornby Island, built a studio with the help of Ronny Larson, a Norwegian builder, and painted there every summer for 20 years.
On Hornby they call the arbutus the "Goddess Tree" because of her shapely form. The school kids in Victoria used to call her the “Naughty Lady Tree” because she was “stripped and was streaking”. The artist is doing a retrospective of his arbutus paintings at the Filberg Lodge for Easter weekend. The showing runs Saturday and Sunday from 11a.m. - 4 p.m.