More Intimate than a Photograph: Painting the Landscape
October 28, 2026 by Wendy Robicheau
The day was cool and crisp. Sitting in the lee of the slight breeze, Annie smiled broadly. For weeks she had been waiting to come outside and capture this scene on canvas, but the moment was never quite right. Today, the sunlight was perfect. Annie worked slowly, enjoying the feel of the brush in her hand. The colours of the day formed by her command. Engrossed in her art, Annie didn’t notice as a man approached her from the side. He put his hand lightly on the back of her neck.
“Nan dearest, you’re getting cold out here. Come inside for a cup of tea.” The statement was both a command and a plea.
Torn between the cold and the colours, Annie paused to decide what to do next.
[Fictional story written by the author based on the image of The Willow Corner, Acadia Villa 1893.]
Perseverance of the land is obvious to me when I examine local, historical photographs. But more intimate than a photograph is a watercolour of the landscape. I envision the artist studying the scene closer than most people and capturing it with delicacy and poise to the point of admiration. Annie Prat had the capability to create strikingly familiar landscapes as she saw them 100-years ago.
Born in Wolfville, Annie Prat (known as “Nan” to her family) lived in a home located in the vicinity of the Acadia Divinity College grounds. She and her sisters led fascinating lives and knew extraordinary people, like Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and William Inglis Morse. An online exhibition about the Prat sisters is available through the Nova Scotia Archives here https://archives.novascotia.ca/prat/ (but I digress from my topic).
Although her name does not appear in the Acadia Seminary calendars as a student of art, Annie learned to paint watercolours (and the Seminary seems the most likely place, given her location) before she formally studied art in Chicago. She painted miniature landscapes for 67-years of her very long life and gifted them to family members.
Annie painted flora too, including this brilliant watercolour of Daphnee Mesereum E. She kept handwritten notes on various flowers she had drawn. The notes were found tucked inside books, now located in Special Collections.
The Acadia Archives preserves 39 of her watercolours along with the Prat family papers. I invite you to see Annie’s world through her own works of art online here https://digital-archives.acadiau.ca/collections/prat-family.
[Parts of this article were modified or reproduced from a blog piece published in August 2026 for the Kings Hants Heritage Connection’s series on Stories of Our Landscape.]
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