Description
950 s/n / 95 AP / $140 retail – Artist’s Proof 55 SN $195
Image size: 13 1/2″ x 19 “
“O Holy night, the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear savior’s birth.”
Christmas Eve. My favorite night of the year. We all have our own traditions that we hold dear and every Christmas Eve my dog, Chaucer, and I spend it mostly the same way from year to year – visiting friends and dropping off gifts. Around 7 o’clock in the evening we get into the car and turn on CHML radio. As we drive around town, looking at the light displays and visiting friends, we listen to “Paul Reid’s Christmas”. And the night wouldn’t seem complete without hearing a familiar tenor sing “O Holy Night”.
There are few sights in a city as lovely as a church blanketed in snow with multi-colored light streaming out of stained glass windows. I feel very lucky to live in an old area of the city where there are, perhaps, more historic churches than in any other location. I have only to walk a few blocks in any direction to come upon one of these venerable, stone houses of God.
This particular church is on Forest Avenue and looked as if it was just waiting to be painted. It was originally built in 1850. In January 1887 the entire interior and most of the stained glass windows of the church were destroyed by a fire. A year later the interior had been re-built. Unfortunately the five bells in the tower are not in good enough condition to be rung and have remained silent for the past few decades. The church is now designated as a Heritage Building. I find it a beautiful example of a 19th Century, Gothic Revival church.
Original watercolor: $7,000
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