 | Eleanor and Peter Robson moved to Sparta in 1981 and together built a life focused on Peter’s art, their gallery business, shared adventures, and community connections and contributions. A recent chat with Eleanor revealed that although she had to begin a new chapter in her life when Peter passed away in May 2014, she has been delighted to find it connecting in countless ways to the story they began together. Read the entire article below or in Relish Elgin Holiday 2015 |
Peter Robson grew up in England, the eldest of five children in a busy, noisy household. He turned down a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in order to help out at home, but he was intensely driven from an early age to learn through reading and to seize opportunities for artistic training. He emigrated to Canada in 1966.
Eleanor with Peter Eleanor was born in Scotland, came with her family to Canada in 1956 and grew up in Toronto. At age sixteen, she started a dancing school which grew from a few students to 350. She completed Honours English at University of Toronto, paying for most of her education through funds from her business. Upon graduation she got a job on a 4-month trial basis at a high school in Mississauga, but quickly decided teaching wasn’t the career for her. She laughs, “The fact that I was barely older than the students and had zero practical experience may have had something to do with that.”
When she answered a Toronto Star advertisement for an executive assistant to a rug and tapestry designer she met her future husband, Peter. “He was designing handmade rugs and tapestries for places all over the world; in effect what he was doing was watercolours. My job was to transfer that information into a formula for people producing the rugs.”
Over the years, as they worked together in their carpet retail businesses, Peter would often say that someday he would like to go to a little village in England and sit by the river and paint. Then, while they were living in Barrie, tragedy struck. Ian, Peter’s middle child of three from his first marriage was killed in a car accident. Devastated, he and Eleanor sought a quiet place of refuge. Peter was familiar with Sparta and had family nearby so that’s where they chose to make a new home.
The two decided that Peter would paint. Eleanor remembers, “There was no master plan. We just wanted to do something he had always wanted to do. We had no idea if people would like what he did. I got a job in London. Peter went out into the countryside and painted and came back and painted some more, working out of a rented space at the west end of the Sparta Tearoom. In April of 1982 he had completed seventeen watercolours and they had a gallery opening, with the pieces unframed and propped on shelves. Eleanor remembers, “They all sold. We were tickled and thought, well maybe there is a possibility of doing this for a living!”
Peter’s artistic talents, ever-growing repertoire of techniques and broad knowledge of poetry, mythology, history and literature meant he was comfortable in a wide variety of styles. He and Eleanor developed the gallery and with each year it was discovered by more and more people. They also made connections which led to a blossoming demand for commissions of Peter’s work.
Over the years, the Robsons also purchased nine of Sparta’s historic buildings which were ramshackle at the time (including their own gallery and home, “The Abbey”). They restored them, preserving the facades, and hoped others would be attracted to Sparta to live and work as artisans.
Son Steve Robson joined the business as it expanded to include custom framing. Many of Peter’s paintings helped to raise significant funds in support of local charities. He and his brother Alan created the sculptures for the Pinafore Park “Memory Garden”, which he proudly called “a work of love”. In 2011 he was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award through the St. Thomas Rotary Club in recognition of his community service.
Due to health problems over the past few years Peter had to cut his once fourteen hour work days down to a few hours. However, right up until his death, he continued to forge ahead, managing to accomplish a lot in a limited amount of time. Although the Robsons’ community involvement during those years was a little more in the background, they continued to contribute generously whenever they were asked for donations of artwork.
Over the years, the Robsons also purchased nine of Sparta’s historic buildings which were ramshackle at the time (including their own gallery and home, “The Abbey”). They restored them, preserving the facades, and hoped others would be attracted to Sparta to live and work as artisans.
Son Steve Robson joined the business as it expanded to include custom framing. Many of Peter’s paintings helped to raise significant funds in support of local charities. He and his brother Alan created the sculptures for the Pinafore Park “Memory Garden”, which he proudly called “a work of love”. In 2011 he was awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship Award through the St. Thomas Rotary Club in recognition of his community service.
Due to health problems over the past few years Peter had to cut his once fourteen hour work days down to a few hours. However, right up until his death, he continued to forge ahead, managing to accomplish a lot in a limited amount of time. Although the Robsons’ community involvement during those years was a little more in the background, they continued to contribute generously whenever they were asked for donations of artwork.
Winter Warmth
Eleanor acknowledges that Peter’s passing was an enormous change but she was determined to carry on in the same spirit – sustaining the business, being involved in the community and finding personally enjoyable and meaningful activities to replace the gaps created by Peter’s absence.
Eleanor notes, “I love the business. Steve and I have worked together for more than thirty years. Some of Peter’s work had never been reproduced – we have kept very good archival records and can often bring back the original work as reference so that we can offer new prints.” Although the ‘romantic’ landscapes have a timeless appeal, Peter also did many ‘impressionistic’ style plein air paintings which have never been seen. She sees many opportunities for keeping the gallery offerings fresh along with continuing to provide complete custom framing services.
Eleanor notes, “I love the business. Steve and I have worked together for more than thirty years. Some of Peter’s work had never been reproduced – we have kept very good archival records and can often bring back the original work as reference so that we can offer new prints.” Although the ‘romantic’ landscapes have a timeless appeal, Peter also did many ‘impressionistic’ style plein air paintings which have never been seen. She sees many opportunities for keeping the gallery offerings fresh along with continuing to provide complete custom framing services.
Eleanor is also working on a retrospective show of Peter’s work at the St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre in 2017 (May 13th to July 1st). Preparation has entailed selecting pieces to represent a lifetime of work and arranging for loan of original pieces. Some of them will be coming from a distance - “Gateway to the Millennium” is a very large canvas which was a fundraiser for Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket and is currently on Vancouver Island.
The exhibit will also feature a massive incomplete canvas displayed with scaffolding and brushes – a museum replica of JMW Turner’s “The Wreck of the Minotaur” along-side one of Peter’s finished replica pieces. “Peter loved to work on museum replicas of work by artists he admired like John Constable and William Turner. They took a great deal of time and because they can’t be reproduced, not many people got to see them. Steve and I are really looking forward to the show and I think Peter would have been very pleased about it.”
The exhibit will also feature a massive incomplete canvas displayed with scaffolding and brushes – a museum replica of JMW Turner’s “The Wreck of the Minotaur” along-side one of Peter’s finished replica pieces. “Peter loved to work on museum replicas of work by artists he admired like John Constable and William Turner. They took a great deal of time and because they can’t be reproduced, not many people got to see them. Steve and I are really looking forward to the show and I think Peter would have been very pleased about it.”
Eleanor in Peter's studio in front of his in-progress
replica of JMW Turner's The Wreck of the Minotaur
replica of JMW Turner's The Wreck of the Minotaur
Just for fun, Eleanor has stepped back into her dancing shoes, reviving one of her early passions and lending her talents to several projects. She choreographed a routine for Aylmer Community Theatre’s production of “Dearly Beloved”, and is working on a couple of surprises for St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital Foundation’s “Black Tie & Pearl’s” 1920s themed gala fundraiser.
She has also become very happily involved with the St. Thomas Railway City Rotary Club. She admires the support for local and international causes given by many service organizations and wanted to contribute in that way. After attending a few meetings of Railway City Rotary she decided that this group was a good fit for her. She is obviously proud of the achievements of this relatively new club and their support for organizations like Inn Out of the Cold, Fresh Start, and Caring Cupboard, their encouragement of youth involvement through their “kids division” and their work to help eradicate polio worldwide.
Though she keeps very busy, Eleanor notes, “Peter is with me all the time. All of these things that people say tend to become cliché. But it’s not. Everyone goes through these situations in a different kind of way. I am lucky – I am surrounded all the time by the work and by him. My house is like an old shoe, I just put it on. I admit, I have conversations with him.”
She has also become attuned to noticing little coincidences of events. Eleanor often proudly wore Peter’s Paul Harris Award pin from the Rotary Club. A chance encounter with a Rotarian who noticed it resulted in her connecting with the Railway City Rotary group, which she later learned had been chartered the month Peter passed away. By chance, Peter’s show at St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre will mark the third anniversary of his passing. There are plenty more examples and Eleanor says, “I believe in serendipity.”
As a member of the Railway City Rotarians, she was pleased to take part in the annual teddy bear drive for Christmas Care at the Stars games before Christmas last year. The fact that she and Peter had been long-time Stars fans, and that Peter had indulged her love of teddy bears by giving her many as gifts over the years made the experience particularly meaningful.
Eleanor is also excited about another teddy bear gift she discovered after Peter’s death. Back in the 90s, he had dreamed up an imaginary land of bears with locations like Tiny Town, Wobbly Woods and Village of Sparta. He created twenty-four lovely whimsical watercolours and his close friend, John Peowrie composed short poems to accompany them. They had worked on the idea on-and-off over a period of four months and Peter had put together an outline for “The Story Time Bear” and filed the pages in a binder. However, both men had busy careers and the project was put on a shelf and forgotten.
Eleanor is anticipating with pleasure the work of putting together the book Peter had in mind, and donating it for a fundraiser. “After Peter passed, I found the manuscript and felt it was just like opening an amazing Christmas gift. With it I could create something wonderful. And that would just tie everything together.”
Find out more about Peter Robson Studios & Gallery at www.peterrobsonstudios.com. Visit the gallery at 46340 Main St, Sparta or call 519-775-2522.
Article thumb photo is The Mill Pond.
She has also become very happily involved with the St. Thomas Railway City Rotary Club. She admires the support for local and international causes given by many service organizations and wanted to contribute in that way. After attending a few meetings of Railway City Rotary she decided that this group was a good fit for her. She is obviously proud of the achievements of this relatively new club and their support for organizations like Inn Out of the Cold, Fresh Start, and Caring Cupboard, their encouragement of youth involvement through their “kids division” and their work to help eradicate polio worldwide.
Though she keeps very busy, Eleanor notes, “Peter is with me all the time. All of these things that people say tend to become cliché. But it’s not. Everyone goes through these situations in a different kind of way. I am lucky – I am surrounded all the time by the work and by him. My house is like an old shoe, I just put it on. I admit, I have conversations with him.”
She has also become attuned to noticing little coincidences of events. Eleanor often proudly wore Peter’s Paul Harris Award pin from the Rotary Club. A chance encounter with a Rotarian who noticed it resulted in her connecting with the Railway City Rotary group, which she later learned had been chartered the month Peter passed away. By chance, Peter’s show at St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre will mark the third anniversary of his passing. There are plenty more examples and Eleanor says, “I believe in serendipity.”
As a member of the Railway City Rotarians, she was pleased to take part in the annual teddy bear drive for Christmas Care at the Stars games before Christmas last year. The fact that she and Peter had been long-time Stars fans, and that Peter had indulged her love of teddy bears by giving her many as gifts over the years made the experience particularly meaningful.
Eleanor is also excited about another teddy bear gift she discovered after Peter’s death. Back in the 90s, he had dreamed up an imaginary land of bears with locations like Tiny Town, Wobbly Woods and Village of Sparta. He created twenty-four lovely whimsical watercolours and his close friend, John Peowrie composed short poems to accompany them. They had worked on the idea on-and-off over a period of four months and Peter had put together an outline for “The Story Time Bear” and filed the pages in a binder. However, both men had busy careers and the project was put on a shelf and forgotten.
Eleanor is anticipating with pleasure the work of putting together the book Peter had in mind, and donating it for a fundraiser. “After Peter passed, I found the manuscript and felt it was just like opening an amazing Christmas gift. With it I could create something wonderful. And that would just tie everything together.”
Find out more about Peter Robson Studios & Gallery at www.peterrobsonstudios.com. Visit the gallery at 46340 Main St, Sparta or call 519-775-2522.
Article thumb photo is The Mill Pond.
 | The cover image for Relish Elgin Holiday 2015 is Peter Robson's Story Time Bear, part of a planned children's book. The poem below by John Peowrie was written to accompany the illustration. STORY TIME BEAR FALLS ASLEEP It was almost before He could say 'goodnight', And almost before He could put out his light; The tin town folk From his book did creep, And before story bear knew – He was fast asleep. |
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