Christmas 1996 was an memorable year for artist Brian Scott.
He was supposed to meet fellow artist Stephano Savioli in Havana Cuba to paint the Old Town. However the Arctic airmass mixed with a Pacific storm and the Valley got four feet of snow overnight! Cumberland ground to a halt. Smokers had a major dilemma — they had to walk to the corner grocer to get their smokes.
It was a throwback to a much earlier time— no cars! People talked to each other on the street. Bronco Moncrief was out chatting with the locals about the situation and — not to worry — the Village would take care of them. Which it did.
Always the opportunist, Scott set up his easel in the snowbank and went to work. Cumberland was transformed into a classic winter wonderland. Christmas decorations lit up the landscape like a Disney Christmas movie.
To top it off, there was a full moon on Christmas Eve. Scott the artist had died and gone to heaven. He had managed to capture it all on canvas!
However, he was warned by the Cumberland snowplow guy that there was a by law about artist standing in snow banks painting oil pictures.
For many years the artist printed Christmas cards from these paintings and they have gone all over the world. For many years Northstar Trade Finance in Vancouver sent out Scott’s card. It was translated into English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese.
Scott’s Christmas show can be seen at his Black Creek studio/gallery every day from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m.
— Brian Scott
