Katherine Day Introduction

Introduction to the Biography of Canadian Artist Katherine Day

Illustrator, Print-Maker, Folk Artist and Contemporary Homesteader

     "The country of Odeonia, of which this book, (The Very Rich Hours of Adrienne Monnier), is in large part a chronicle, is one that the reader need never have visited in order to be among its citizens, in order to owe allegiance to it. One may even be a citizen of this country, without ever having known of its existence. For though Odeonia once occupied a specific place in time - the Rue de l'Odeon and its two bookshops on the Left Bank of Paris, between the wars - it survives timelessly as a country of the spirit, of the spirit that is embodied in, and disseminated by books," wrote biographer Richard McDougall, in his study of the two most famous booksellers in Paris, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1976, the year artist Katherine Day passed away. As an avid reader, until the end of her life, and a resident of Paris, while studying with artist Nicholas Eekman in the 1930's, it's more than likely she visited with Adrienne Monnier.
     "Paul Valery, Varley Larbaud, Andre Gide, Leon-Paul Fargue, Paul Claudel, Jules Romains, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce were among the citizens of Odeonia, while Colette, Rainer Maria Rilke, T.S. Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Sherwood Anderson, and Ezra Pound - along with many other writers of several nationalities, were friendly passers-by whose visits from time to time to the country of Odeonia, also form part of its chronicle. And in the broader sense through the same spiritual attraction that draws the reader, they too became citizens of Odeonia, for the two bookshops of that country - Adrienne Monnier's des Amis des Liveres, truly a 'house of the friends of books,' and Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Company - were the archives of not only the writers that frequented them but of their work as well; and there were those who felt besides, as Marianne Moore was to say about Adrienne Monnier's shop, that they had personally a place there, and never a presence."
     Writer, Richard McDougall, notes in his biography of Monnier that, "The migration to Paris was not only a flight away, but a flight to: 'The presence in Paris of Joyce and Pound and Picasso and Stravinsky and Everybody - not quite since T.S. Eliot was in London, - had a great deal to do with it'. Innumerable other names could be written under that general designation - 'Everybody'; or like Gertrude Stein, Sylvia (Beach) might simply have said that Paris was where the twentieth century was. The City of Light at that moment of history was beyond any doubt the center of Western civilization." Nicolas Eekman and Pablo Picasso were artist friends.
     The subject of our present biography, Katherine Day, was in the invigorating, inspirational midst of this historic uprising of the arts, as a serious force to reckon with, as it had never been, and among her tutor, Nicolas Eekman's shared friends, were important artists such as Jean Lurcat, Louis Marcoussis, Max Ernst and of course Picasso. She also received art instruction from another well known French artist, Henri Jannot, an artist with a growing importance in the art scene of Europe, at the time, himself, a former student of Lucien Simon at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. There is no doubt that when Katherine Day studied art in Paris, in the mid 1930's, she was in the company of legends of art, literature and music. It is an important consideration, because she would soon decide against remaining part of this international community of creative movers and shakers. The occupation of France by the Germans in World War II, certainly had an impact on the artist, but it wasn't the only reason she decided to return to the region of which she was most familiar, Orillia, Ontario.
     Katherine Day, in her apprentice years, studying art with Nicolas Eekman, in Paris, may well have dined and otherwise mingled with some of the most accomplished artists, musicians and authors of the 1930's. Legends of art, performance art and literature who were in the fledgling process of influencing the artistic and cultural atmosphere of Europe and, arguably, the world forever more. Paris was the place to be for an aspiring artist who was open to being influenced by the rich cultural current in this pre-war city oozing with history and creative enterprise.
     Although Katherine Day was eager to immerse herself in the art and cultural mix of the time, she was also keenly interested in finding a place in which to work, that more closely resembled a home where she could build a studio, and the gardens to surround it, for her own best suited source of inspiration. Miss Day could have remained a player in international art, and who knows what she may have accomplished abroad. Yet what she attained as a well-considered alternative, was no lesser achievement, when quality of life is given the weight it deserves.
     In the text of an unpublished how-to manuscript on rug-hooking, which she adored as a crafter, there is a small passage with an interesting local reference. "Burlap may be dyed, and takes a grand soft colour. The curtains in Stephen Leacock's house, in Brewery Bay, were of burlap the last time I was there, dyed a velvety raspberry colour, hanging in sumptuous folds down the window to the floor, very rich and suitable for the big windows in that lovely lakeside house near Orillia. The deep colour furnished the room. Burlap takes green or blue equally well, and indeed in the natural colour makes pleasant drapes. It is an unsophisticated material not suited to smart town rooms with wire and frame furniture, but it looks wonderfully at home with fat chairs and bookshelves full of books. (Obviously referencing Leacock's summer home)."
     This was Katherine Day's comfort zone. Working as an artisan / crafter, and I dare say, folk artist, rug-hooker, quilt designer, while at the same time, being an outstanding artist, print maker and illustrator. Her world was more beautiful and inspiring when she was at home. Her home was located on a picturesque stretch of country lane in Oro-Medonte, now known as the Horseshoe Valley Road, a short commute to Orillia, where she was born in the year 1889. She designed both her country cottages, the first being "Hawthornes," on a fifty acre parcel of hilltop, looking over Bass Lake, and the second, being built a short distance away, known with great affection as "Pax" Cottage. Both locations that satisfied her urges to create, and this she did for decades, living there until her mid eighties, never giving up her work and art until poor health ended her independence.
     Her father Isaac Day was born in Creemore, Ontario in 1858, and is first recorded on a national census in the year 1861. He died in the County of York on the 25th of April, 1932. Katherine is three years old when she is included in the census of 1891.
     John and Mary Day had seven children, and Isaac was listed as the second youngest son. In the 1881 census, Isaac is noted as being a student. In the census of 1891 it is recorded that Isaac had married the first of three wives (during his life), being Jane, the marriage having taken place in 1883 in Orillia. In the same census, Isaac is noted as being a School Inspector (having originally been a teacher), it is noted the young couple by this point, had three children, Reginald the oldest at five years of age, (Kate) Katherine, at three and John (John-Oswald) being four months. In the 1901 census the Days have added children Frederick, Clara, Allan and Ellen. In 1905, their mother Jane dies of complications from giving birth, two weeks after Ellen is born, and at seven months of age, the baby also dies.
     Isaac takes his second wife, Agnes Monon Bruce Hutcheson, a teacher, and then a third wife, Ellen Delmage in 1906, who died in 1930, two years before her husband. Katherine had lost her mother, Jane, when she was sixteen years of age, and had two step-mothers in her life. It must also be noted here, that on her birth certificate, her name appears as "Catherine," and not Katherine. There are many times when she is registered as "Catherine," yet on the cover of her 1909 school notebook, she has printed clearly "K. Day."
     During World War I, she travelled to England as a volunteer with the Canada Imperial War Service, as a nursing aid to assist wounded soldiers. When she returned to Canada in July 1919, she was able to apply for a gratuity from the government for her services overseas. Upon return, it was her intention to pursue social work in her home province, a career choice we have little information to go on, for this biography. She was a frequent overseas traveller, and is noted in respective immigration documents, as having arrived back in Canada, after being abroad, in 1919, 1920 (from England), 1926, from France, 1934, England, and in 1938, also from England. It is likely that during these years, when she was studying art in Paris, and London, she travelled from France to England to depart to Canada via ocean liner. While in England in September, 1934 she stayed at 10 Bloomsley Square in London, and in February, 1939, at the White Hall Hotel, in London. She was listed then as being an artist. In 1939 she would also co-host an art exhibit in New York, with her artist mentor, Nicolas Eekman, making it a busy year for the fledgling artist / print-maker.
     As part of the archives collection we were able to purchase, earlier this spring, being the papers, journals, and sketch books orignally from the dispersal of her estate, there is a fascinating accounting book, commenced on July 28th, 1970, listing her expenses and revenue from various sources, including the sale of her art work, and combs of honey from her bee hives, which had been a tradition since her first year residing at Hawthornes, in Oro-Medonte. In July 1970, Katherine was eighty-one years old, and still active in her art and crafts work, as evidenced by the purchases in the small notebook, where she recorded expenditures as small as thread, zippers, buttons and dress and pants patterns, and as large as the construction materials and labour, expended to build an addition onto Pax Cottage.
    Katherine, as she had enjoyed for many years of her home life, loved to shop in the traditional downtown of Orillia, and there are many notations about her taxi trips to and from the downtown, returning to Pax Cottage. She was well recognized on these trips, and always a welcome customer at the Margaret's Sewing Centre, Hunts where she got her bread, the post office, and where she was able to purchase sunflower seeds to feed her hundreds of birds, (from Battaglias), that visited her property in Oro-Medonte. She donated as much money as she could afford, being of modest income, to many different charities, and was faithful to the fundraising efforts of St. James Anglican Church in Orillia. Even if she purchased a poppy for Remembrance Day, Easter Seals for her outgoing letters, or contributed to get a tag on a special fundraising day; plus if she left a tip for the hairdresser, it was duly recorded in her accounting book.      She purchased her butter from the Dominion Store, shopped at Loblaws for general groceries, dined at the lunch counter frequently, that was situated between this grocery outlet, and the Metropolitan Department Store, in downtown Orillia, opposite the Opera House, where she quite enjoyed toast and tea, and a visit with her friends, many who were staff members of both stores. Other stores she visited regularly included Hall's Pharmacy, Bill Spence Groceries (mostly for dog food), Walkers, McConnell's, Ritchie and Mould, Raney's Fuels, Ruggles Upholstery, Woolworth's and the unnamed hairdresser in downtown Orillia.
     The final entry in the accounting book, dated November 1, 1972, clearly illustrates the decline of her handwriting capability, due to ongoing poor health, includes the references, "show storm doors, 2 main, & peonies missing," with no other reference to what she meant. There is a crumpled paper napkin tucked between the final pages, on November 1972, of this same accounting journal, that I can't bear to throw away, because it was most likely left there by the artist, folk-artist, writer and modern day homesteader, prior to another period of hospitalization, of which several are recorded in the book, as costing sixteen dollars and fifty cents per stay. She had purchased a cane on December 7th, 1971, in between periods of hospitalization.
     It is also recorded in her accounting book, that on the 12th of November, 1971, there was a "Sale of print - 'The Deer', for the sum of $10." She also made money during the Christmas season, by selling some evergreens from her property on the Horseshoe Valley Road. She lived on a small pension cheque during this time as well, so every penny had to be accounted for, including taxi fares and tips to the host of drivers, who made the trip back and forth from Pax Cottage to Orillia, so she could attend Church and attend to shopping which she did several times each month.
    Katherine Day was 87 years old when she passed away, in 1976, after a long and prosperous life. Her teacher / mentor, Dutch Artist, Nicolas Eekman, a man who she held in high esteem, passed away several years earlier. After departing company, after a 1939 joint exhibition in New York, Katherine continued to follow the progress of his art career in Europe, and other showings in North America. His exhibition notices were found in her collected papers, up to and including 1969.
    After spending the past six months researching details of her past, I feel today, much different than I did when research began in earnest last spring. I had considerable concern about whether or not it was a biography that was desired by the long since deceased artist. I worry about such things, and the vibes I was getting, initially, were not favourable for quite a number of reasons. It's a little hard to describe but to a writer, unresolved negative energy at the beginning of a project, can be a game-ender. Over time, and reading every shred of material I had available on her life and times, with a few additions I hadn't anticipated, as well as many motor trips through her neighborhood of Oro-Medonte, those negative feelings gradually began to diminish. To the point that today, it seems I've known Katherine Day forever, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
     What you are going to read, over the next fourteen days, (if that is...., you intend to remain with the story), is what I would call a "surface" biography, or "template" that has been prepared with the expectation more information with be forthcoming in the next few months to year, which will enhance and correct material already published. It's a way of reaching more information sources, in a shorter period of time, including art owners, courtesy this high tech era of communication. And because of the online format, not only have we spared trees, which Katherine would undoubtedly consider a good thing, (by not printing a book), we can correct, adjust and improve on the dynamic of the biography, without having to live with a hard copy text that wouldn't be altered until a second printing; if indeed there was market demand for a second edition.
     I've worked on dozens of biographical texts as a regional Ontario historian, but nothing has proven more interesting, and been more alluring, than this generally cheerful story about an accomplished Canadian artist and modern day homesteader, who was passionate about art, and her role in establishing her own social/cultural footprint, in Oro-Medonte; and most of all, enjoyed making patrons happy with her creations, whether a print, a painting, a quilt or hooked rug. She was just as pleased when a customer commented on the quality of the wonderfully delicious honey combs, made by her cherished bees, of which she was their mortal queen. She was content as a dweller in the rural clime, to have a cozy cottage in which to live and work, and of course the good company of her cats and dogs, the chickens and goats who knew her as a kind soul; a person who thought of them all as her willing partners that made the homestead work.
     Feeling my age these days, with all the hallmark aches and pains, associated with decades of poor posture, being huddled over a typewriter, particularly the wear and tear on these poor old fingers and joints, I'm not at all sure how many more of these biographies, I will be able to entertain before my own retirement. My wife and research partner, Suzanne, doesn't believe I have the emotional capability to retire, and she may be right. I love my job. If however, I was to conclude with this most enjoyable project, in the kindly company of dear Katherine Day, I would most certainly feel fulfilled as a writer, at the forty year peak of what has been a most entertaining career. I hope you will enjoy the story spread out over the next two weeks, and take a few minutes, on September 30th, to view the video my son Robert produced, to pay sincere tribute to the late artist, who enthralled all of us in the Currie family, for these past six months of research. She died at the time I was starting out as a fledgling writer. I must live with the regret that I never knew her in life, but suffice that I have had this opportunity to enjoy the fruits of her biography.
    Chapter one will be published tomorrow on this facebook page. If you have information about Katherine Day you would like to share, images of her paintings in your private collection, or components of her journals you may have acquired some time in the past, do not hesitate to contact us through this facebook page.
     Note - I have not given an exact location of Katherine Day's former residences for good reason. These are private residences and not public museums, and it would be inappropriate for me to send hundreds of visitors to the properties unannounced. Please respect private property and the owners' right to privacy.