Dear Vicki,
My husband and I recently bought one of your paintings, “Blue Polka Dot Pool.” I wanted to write to you to tell you about its journey to our home, because it struck me that it must sometimes be strange for your work to go out there into the world, and then you have no idea where it’s landed. Last year I was incredibly honoured to win a Governor General’s Literary Award (children’s text category). It came with a nice cheque! While some of the money went to savings, I wanted to do something special with some of it. I wanted to buy a piece of art. As a friend said, “From art, to art,” which summed it up nicely!

My husband and I started looking around at galleries here in BC. One night I was scanning through Bau-Xi’s website, and came across your striking “pool” series. Of course it was hard to tell from a picture on the internet, but we liked it enough that we spoke to Riko at Bau-Xi here, and she had it shipped out. I’m happy to say that when she brought it to our house, my husband and I were instantly smitten (and so are the friends who have seen it). It is a beautiful piece. It makes me feel calm, and content. Most of the time I think she’s happy in that pool; other times, depending on my mood, it reminds me of an Alice Munro short story, and I suspect there is a lot of emotional turmoil in her life, things simmering beneath the surface.

What I also love about it is that it doesn’t matter whether it’s day or night, rainy and dark or bright and sunny – it always stands out, and takes our breath away.

I’m attaching a couple of photos so you can see where it’s “living” – it certainly found a good home. I will continue to watch your career with interest!

Best,

Susin Nielsen