When the royal couple, William and Kate, tour Canada this week there's at least one Coast artist, Arlene Littler, who has already enjoyed a satisfying royal connection.
The lengthy career of the Gibsons' artist is still evolving. She began as a photographer interested in fashion and portraits, and she studied for a year in Germany. She photographed anything that caught her eye - from Montreal's winding staircases to the Eiffel Tower or an elegant building in Prague. As a professional, she took pictures for national magazines such as Chatelaine.
When Polaroid film was popular, Littler developed a technique of transferring the image from the instant prints onto paper, giving the images a softer, dreamlike effect. Her first collages were completed in the manual, cut-and-paste method in the days before computer programs, and she has since grown into a contemporary digital artist who offers greeting cards, one-of-a-kind memory books and mixed media collages.
Her images are those of human creation: a Rembrandt painting, carousel ponies, a cemetery, a Paris café. In the picture's background you might see Chinese money or an old postage stamp with accompanying hand writing collaged on her hand-made paper. The memory books are a colourful, hard-cover collection of photos and memorabilia custom designed for a client's special occasion.
"I do art to please myself," said Littler, who commutes to North Vancouver to work in another design field, newspaper production.
Her greeting cards are suitable for framing with images drawn from an extensive collection and colourfully printed. One of her favourites depicts a Thai Buddha on an uplifting, blue sky background. The words say: Strive on with Diligence.
"I believe that," she said.
When Littler wanted to display her latest digital art at Woods Showcase in Gibsons last April, sales manager Debra Warman was enthusiastic. Warman suggested that Littler create a card to commemorate the much publicized royal wedding.
"I rolled my eyes," Littler said. "I'm not a royal follower, but when I got home, I started thinking about it. It was a no-brainer as far as imagery goes."
The card would look like a playing card using collected memorabilia from the 1900s including a picture of King George's military uniform. She portrayed William as the king of hearts and Kate as the queen with ruby lips and wearing the royal tiara.
"Her make-up was a bit over the top," Littler explains, "but she's so beautiful I wanted to emphasize that."
Then she and her husband decided to send one of the cards to the couple to congratulate them. They signed it simply, Arlene and Andy.
"I put a P.S. on it: 'If you want more cards'" she laughs.
Just after Easter, a letter postmarked Buckingham Palace arrived in their mail. They steamed open the envelope to save it for posterity and were delighted to find a letter from St. James's Palace saying, "His Royal Highness and Miss Middleton are immensely touched that you should take the trouble to write as you did."
The letter is still on display at Woods Showcase.
This positive response gave Littler another idea. She prepared custom-made celebrity cards, in this case depicting Jeanne Beker, the fashion guru. If Ms. Beker receives the cards with Littler's compliments and uses them, it means substantial promotion for the artist. She hopes it could open up a whole new field in her continuing artistic evolution.
