May 14th: Through the Eyes of an Artist
St. Matthias’ was officially founded as a mission of St. George’s, Place du Canada, in 1873, which means our community is 150 this year! For the next 12 months, we’ll be diving into the archives to shine the spotlight on particularly interesting parts of our history.
When we look into the past, an important question is whose eyes we are seeing through. In the case of documents like letters and annual reports, often we know the author and in many cases we can put together some salient facts about their lives that allow us to understand their perspective. In the case of photographs, we often have the illusion of neutrality, although the photographer’s choice of subject, angle, and so on is based on their particular perspective as well, even when the photographer’s name is lost to us. With art, we are somewhere in between: we often know the artist’s identity and can make educated guesses about their perspective, but it is easy to think of visual representations as somewhat objective.
The particular artist whose work is above is almost impossible to think of in this way: his sketches of the church from decades of sitting through sermons in roughly the same position immediately invite us to place ourselves in his physical space, and when he changes perspective, we feel the intentionality.
William David Morrow, usually called Bill, was born in 1921 and baptised in 1924 by Rev. Edward Bushell. His parents, Norah and Thomas, had been married in the new St. Matthias’ building in 1914. Norah, who had been a member of the parish since childhood, was an artist as well. Her pastel drawing of the interior of the old building is the only coloured representation we have, and the difference between Norah’s warm colours and the cool of our black and white photograph is incredible.
Bill followed in his mother’s footsteps, getting married at St. Matthias’ in 1949 to Shirley Ann Thompson. They would go on to have children together, among whom is our own Heather, and Bill would spend many services occupying himself with sketchbook and pencil or scratch paper and marker. His attention to small details is among the most beautiful testaments to the work of the whole congregation: he paid attention to the work of décor and hymn-board filling, the work of preaching and praying, the work of being present. His perspective, whether zoomed out or zoomed in, is a celebration of the St. Matthias’ community, and we are very blessed to have it.
