Drive Me To The Moon - The Group of Seven, Monet and Cousin Fred!

From Top Left to Right Cousin Fred Varley - Emily Carr - Claude Monet = Tom Thompson - A.Y. Jackson and my favourite "drum roll" Victoria Zyluk.

You may have noticed that several of Victoria’s gallery pages are named after members of the Group of Seven—and one after Claude Monet. There’s a personal story behind that.

My journey into art began with a family anecdote: my mother once told me we were distantly related to Fred Varley, one of the original Group of Seven painters. Her father—my grandfather—was connected to Fred, though I was young when she first shared the story and promptly forgot it. Years later, as I prepared to move to Canada, she reminded me again. That memory resurfaced while I was building Victoria’s website, and I thought: why not name the galleries after artists who shaped Canadian art history—and one who shaped Victoria’s own artistic heart?

It became a playful way to organize the site and help visitors navigate paintings by price. The Tom Thomson and A.Y. Jackson Galleries feature the most affordable works. The Fred Varley Gallery—named for my “cousin Fred,” as my mother liked to say—holds pieces at a mid-range price. Emily Carr’s gallery steps up from there, and the Monet Gallery showcases Victoria’s most prized and expensive paintings. Why Monet? Well, if I had a real Monet hanging in my home, it would probably be worth more than the house itself.

There’s no deep philosophy behind this structure—just a nod to artistic legacy, a touch of whimsy, and a way to make browsing a little more intuitive. And perhaps, in sharing cousin Fred’s story, I’m honouring both family and the enduring spirit of Canadian art.

I'm not sure if cousin Fred would have approved of this photograph that I designed. Probably not, what do you think? Anyway the title of the photograph is an adaptation of "Fly Me To The Moon". I loved the music to that song. Anyway the exciting news is that is going to be on display at Impact Framing where I am part of a photography exhibition!

Don't forget to visit Victoria's works of art at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island in Vancouver, it's also on line. The Exhibition started today and runs until October 5.