This post comes with a link to Rain, a music video filmed at Glen Villa and in and around North Hatley, Quebec where I live.
The video features Canadian folk singer-songwriter David Francey. As you will hear from his accent, David was born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada as a boy. For some years he lived just down the road from us, and his wife Beth, a biologist, helped me learn to ‘read’ the woods that surround us.
David won the John Lennon prize and has received multiple Juno Awards. (The Junos are Canada’s top music prize.) His most recent album, So We All Say, is nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Association. The CFMA awards will be given this weekend in Calgary, so my fingers are crossed that David will win all four of his nominations, which include solo artist and English songwriter of the year.
The video was produced by my friend Tony Girardin, a talented guy who is himself an award-winning filmmaker. Tony asked if he could use Glen Villa as a site for the video, and knowing both Tony and David, I happily agreed.
So, take a look and a listen. Two areas at Glen Villa are featured, the waterfall
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| The waterfall after a big rain. |
and the China Terrace, my garden installation that re-imagines the old resort hotel that once stood on the property.
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| The video shows the ‘dining room’ in autumn. Here it is in early summer. I love the moss growing on the side of the table. |
In the background in the photo above, you can see the ‘bedroom’ with the bed David sits on in the video. I’m sure the seat was damp: the bedspread is made of moss. Several varieties make up a quilt-like bedspread, newly installed this year. A talented plants-person, Suzanne Campeau of Bryophyta, grew the moss for me. She also provided moss for projects at the Reford Gardens in Metis, Quebec.
Do you get the idea that I’m promoting talented friends? Why not! They’ve earned it.
I hope you enjoy listening to “Rain” and seeing photos from my part of the world.
Lovely, Pat. Thank you for posting.
Neat. Music goes perfectly with the scenery…
I agree, good harmony!
What fun to have a music video filmed at Glen Villa! Thanks for introducing me to this musician. Fun, fun post.
Love those chairs! Interestingly my most recent sculpture is made in part by 2 cast iron bed heads! When is it you are in Australia?
Glad you like the chairs, William. I liked the idea of outlining them rather than making them usable. But for the video they put some kind of seat on them.
We’re in Australia now — in Tasmania. In a couple of days we fly over Melbourne, en route to Perth. We come every year or so to visit family in WA. Tassie is strange and wonderful — we may have to return on another trip.
Tassie is a great place! Wizz me an email and we will see about a visit here if you can slot it in.
I liked it (both Glen Villa and the pretty country garden near the beginning). But where is he going in the boat?
Hi Cindy, David is boating on Lake Massawippi, going past our wonderful local hotel, Manoir Hovey (the big white building above the lake and a member of the Relais et Chateaux group of hotels). Before that,he rides past the wooded area called Baltimore Bay. Our local conservation organization is trying to preserve this natural resource in its current, undeveloped state. David ends up getting gas from the marina in the village of North Hatley. It’s great fun for us locals to see our area highlighted. Right now, it’s covered in snow!