Emily Carr is now considered one of Canada's most famous artists. This recognition did not come quickly, as with many artists. Emily was criticized by those who did not understand her work and those who wondered why she couldn't paint pretty pictures of the West Coast.
Tenants became a necessary evil for the 23 years Emily Carr was landlady at the "House of All Sorts". Some expected new furniture, fresh flowers every day, some complained about the pets, some complained when pipes froze but they did provide Emily with some money and a wealth of stories. Emily wrote about many her tenants in her book, The House of All Sorts. Emily, it seems, did not always get along with her tenants. According to some accounts, the feeling was mutual for some tenants.
During these years she spent more time being a landlady than painting. Emily claims in Growing Pains, that for 15 years she did not paint at all. She personally described the time at the "House of All Sorts" as her "Blue Period".
At the same time that Emily was filling the house with tenants, she was also collecting a large menagerie of pets. Aside from her dogs, Emily had a monkey named Woo, a cat named Aldophus, a parrot, a cockatoo and others.
'Landladying' did not, unfortunately, supply her with enough means to support herself so she turned to other ways of supplementing her income. For a time she bred Old English Bobtail Sheepdogs behind her garden and later Belgian Griffons. She also raised chickens and rabbits to sell.
While for a time she did not paint, she created various pieces of pottery all with First Nations themes from clay she gathered herself. She originally had a small kiln built in the basement but after a fire threatened to burn the house, it was replaced with a kiln out in the garden. She also taught some art classes to children.
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