COOTES PARADISE

Artist: Marion Farnan (1911 – 2015)

Medium: Watercolour on paper

14" x 19"

Born in Hamilton in 1911, Marion Farnan studied painting at the Artists Workshop in Toronto, Doon School of Fine Arts and Dundas Valley School of Art.  

Beginning with oils, she became primarily a watercolour artist. Preferring to work on location, her subjects included landscapes, streetscapes, old farmhouses and barns and flowers. Her work is included in private collections. 

Co-founder of Dundas Valley School of Art with friend Emily Dutton in 1964, she worked passionately and tirelessly for the success of the school from its inception. She served on the Board of Governors of DVSA for 46 years and was the author of ‘DVSA -The First Forty Years: A Memoir.'  

For her dedication to the arts, she was awarded the City of Hamilton’s Citizen of the Year for the Arts Award, Hamilton Woman of the Year in the Arts, the Spectator Award for Service to the Arts, an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from McMaster University, an Honorary Diploma in Fine Arts from DVSA and Dundas Citizen of the Year. She died in 2015 at the age of 104. 

When asked about her secret to a long life, she would say “Everyone should start an Art School!”