Alberta ̶ where I lived first and where I still say I'm from

Banff
watercolour and crayon
©2023 Charlene Brown

I was born in Banff, lived there until I finished high school, and returned to work there each summer until I finished university.

This is the only one of my Alberta paintings in which the place looks almost exactly the same as when I lived there.

Edmonton
watercolour and crayon
©2016 Charlene Brown

I lived in Edmonton from 1959 to 1962, my first three years at the University of Alberta.  However, the city pictured here was not there at the time. The only structures in this painting that I remember from my university days are the Provincial Legislature on the far left and the Fairmont MacDonald Hotel, which is just about exactly in the middle – and it is quite different from the MacDonald I remember. Back then, the hotel had a huge ‘Brutalist’ addition, and the whole structure was referred to as a ‘tiny perfect chateau and the box it came in.’ Anyway, the box has been removed, and dozens of much nicer boxes have been added to form today’s Edmonton skyline.

Calgary
watercolour, crayon and marker
©2012 Charlene Brown         

My final year at University of Alberta was completed at the Calgary campus, UAC, which became the University of Calgary a few years later. 

This painting of Calgary was based on photos I took from a 2012 WestJet flight to Calgary and most of the buildings in it– bank towers, Calgary Tower, Suncor (the fact the building is red is only part of the reason it was initially referred to as Red Square), the Bow Building, Olympic Park ski jump, and the Alberta Children’s Hospital  ̶  were not there when I was at university.